three-dog night
A very cold night.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“It is a three-dog night, so please bring another blanket.”
“Turn up the heater because tonight feels like a three-dog night.”
“My grandmother always calls a freezing winter evening a three-dog night.”
“The temperature dropped so low that we called it a three-dog night and stayed inside by the fire.”
“You should probably wear your thickest coat because the weather report says it will be a three-dog night.”
“The hikers realized it was a three-dog night when they saw frost forming on the inside of their tent.”
“After the heating system broke down in the middle of January, the family spent a three-dog night shivering under every spare rug they could find.”
“As the blizzard howled outside, the family huddled together, fully aware that this was truly a three-dog night.”
Attributed to a saying among the Eskimo, the term describes a night of such low temperature that one would require three sled dogs in the igloo to provide sufficient warmth. The phrase relies upon the heat of the pack to survive particularly frigid conditions, where a single dog is deemed a social comfort but three are a thermal necessity.
- 01
bank night
An event where patrons are enticed to buy entry tickets into some venue, for example a movie theater, with the anticipation that they will be entered into a drawing to win an amount of money if their ticket is drawn and they are on-site at the time of the winning.
- 02
call it a night
To go to bed to sleep.
- 03
call it an early night
To go to bed or cease one's activities earlier in the evening than usual.
- 04
creature of the night
A prostitute.
- 05
day or night
At any time; 24/7
- 06
dead of night
Middle of the night.
- 07
make a night of it
To continue a pleasurable social activity for the whole evening or night.
- 08
night in, night out
During every night; continuously.
Last updated August 10, 2026