OVERNIGHT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overnight mean? 

• OVERNIGHT (adjective)
  The adjective OVERNIGHT has 1 sense:

1. lasting, open, or operating through the whole night

  Familiarity information: OVERNIGHT used as an adjective is very rare.

• OVERNIGHT (adverb)
  The adverb OVERNIGHT has 2 senses:

1. during or for the length of one night

2. happening in a short time or with great speed

  Familiarity information: OVERNIGHT used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERNIGHT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lasting, open, or operating through the whole night

Synonyms:

all-night; nightlong; overnight

Context example:

an overnight trip

Similar:

long (primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified)

• OVERNIGHT (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

During or for the length of one night

Context example:

the fish marinates overnight

Sense 2

Meaning:

Happening in a short time or with great speed

Context example:

these solutions cannot be found overnight!

 Context examples 

An overnight fast is required for the blood glucose test used to diagnose type 2 diabetes.

(Researchers identify method to verify if children fasted before medical testing, National Institutes of Health)

Men exposed to a cool environment overnight for a month had an increase in brown fat with corresponding changes in metabolism.

(Cool temperature alters human fat and metabolism, NIH)

I had been telling her all that had happened overnight.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Experts expect the shower to peak overnight Saturday into Sunday, though the Perseids could be a bit harder to see this year with the moon nearly full.

(Perseid Meteor Shower Provides Opening Act for Solar Eclipse, VOA News)

Or the amount of urine produced overnight can be more than the bladder can hold.

(Bedwetting, NIH)

Normal fasting plasma glucose intervals (in the morning after an overnight fast) in children are 3.3 - 5.6 mmol/L (60-100 mg/dL); adult range - 4.1- 5.9 mmol/L (74-106 mg/dL).

(Plasma Glucose Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

The charred ashes of the overnight fire lay in the grate.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A patient who comes to a healthcare facility for diagnosis or treatment but is not admitted for an overnight stay.

(Outpatient, NCI Thesaurus)

At the more than 14,000-foot elevation, it's difficult to breathe, water freezes overnight in camps, and the scientists often must walk alone in search of fossils.

("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)

The current findings contribute to a better understanding, particularly because researchers looked at overnight measurements of oxygen levels.

(Researchers identify genetic variations linked to oxygen drops during sleep, National Institutes of Health)