night and day

Idioms

Also day and night. Continually, without stopping. This phrase is used either literally, as in The alarm is on night and day, or hyperbolically, as in We were working day and night on these drawings. Shakespeare put it by night and day in The Comedy of Errors (4:2): “Time comes stealing on by night and day.”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A 30-year-old Chinese seafarer on a vessel waiting to sail into the Persian Gulf describes, night and day, seeing missiles and drones flying overhead.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

The ice lid contracts and expands with temperature fluctuations between night and day, opening cracks that fill with shards of newly frozen lake water.

From Barron's • Feb. 15, 2026

“Converting a building from 1990 versus one from 2010 is night and day due to the differences in code eras.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026

“Anybody who has flown on a Starlink-equipped aircraft will say it was night and day between anything they experienced in the past,” Quilty said.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 11, 2026

Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023