Word
nights
US/ˈnaɪts/
UK/nˈaɪts/
Definitions
01plural of night
n. more than one night.
n. the plural form of 'night', referring to multiple periods between sunset and sunrise.
“The cat stayed outside for three nights before finally coming home.”
“After several nights of heavy rain, the river began to overflow its banks, threatening the nearby farmland.”
Antonyms
02regularly at night
adv. happening every night or during the night-time on a regular basis.
adv. functioning as an adverb of frequency to describe actions occurring habitually during the night.
“He works nights at the local hospital so he can sleep during the day.”
“She typically works nights at the laboratory, preferring the quiet environment for her data analysis.”
Informal
Usage
Often used without a preposition to describe work shifts or habits.
Pitfall
I work at nights.
I work nights.
When using 'nights' as an adverb to mean 'regularly at night', do not use the preposition 'at'.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English nightes, from Old English nihtes (“at night, by night”), equivalent to night + -s (adverbial genitive suffix). Cognate with Old Frisian nachtes, Old Saxon nahtes, German nachts (all “nights, at night”).
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/nights