day
day [day days] BrE [deɪ] NAmE [deɪ] noun
1. countable a period of 24 hours
• I saw Tom three days ago.
• ‘What day is it today?’ ‘Monday.’
•We're going away in a few days/in a few days' time.
•They left the day before yesterday (= two days ago).
•We're meeting the day after tomorrow (= in two days).
•New Year's Day
•Take the medicine three times a day.
•We can't go there today. You can go another day.
see also ↑field day, ↑off day, ↑red-letter day, ↑sports day
2. uncountable the time between when it becomes light in the morning and when it becomes dark in the evening
• The sun was shining all day.
• I could sit and watch the river all day long.
•He works at night and sleeps during the day.
•Nocturnal animals sleep by day and hunt by night.
3. countable, usually singular the hours of the day when you are awake, working, etc
•a seven-hour working day
• It's been a long day (= I've been very busy).
• Did you have a good day?
•She didn't do a full day's work.
•I took a half day off yesterday.
• (NAmE)Have a nice day!
see also ↑workday
4. countable, usually plural a particular period of time or history
•in Queen Victoria's day
•the early days of computers
• Most women stayed at home in those days.
• (informal)in the old days (= in the past)
see also ↑glory days, ↑heyday, ↑nowadays, ↑present day There are many other compounds ending in day. You will find them at their place in the alphabet.
more at back in the day at ↑back adv., back in the days at ↑back adv., in all my born days at ↑born, break of day/dawn at ↑break n., call it a day at ↑call v., (as) clear as day at ↑clear adj., in the cold light of day at ↑cold adj., your good deed for the day at ↑deed, every dog has his/its day at ↑dog n., it's early days (yet) at ↑early adj., at the end of the day at ↑end n., end your days/life at ↑end v., the evil hour/day/moment at ↑evil, from that day/time forth at ↑forth, give me sth/sb (any day/time) at ↑give v., late in the day at ↑late adv., live to fight another day at ↑live 1, the livelong day at ↑livelong, have a nice day! at ↑nice, a nine days' wonder at ↑nine, night and dayday and night at ↑night, the good/bad old days at ↑old, the order of the day at ↑order n., the other day/morning/evening/week at ↑other adj., pass the time of day at ↑pass v., (as) plain as day at ↑plain adj., save, keep, etc. sth for a rainy day at ↑rainy, Rome wasn't built in a day at ↑Rome, your salad days at ↑salad, save the day/situation at ↑save v., not give sb the time of day at ↑time n.
Idioms: ↑all in a day's work ▪ ↑any day ▪ ↑day after day ▪ ↑day by day ▪ ↑day in, day out ▪ ↑day of reckoning ▪ ↑from day one ▪ ↑from day to day ▪ ↑from one day to the next ▪ ↑have had your day ▪ ↑have seen better days ▪ if he's/she's a day ▪ ↑in somebody's day ▪ ↑in this day and age ▪ ↑it's not somebody's day ▪ ↑make a day of it ▪ ↑make somebody's day ▪ ↑not have all day ▪ ↑of somebody's day ▪ ↑of the day ▪ ↑one day ▪ ↑one of these days ▪ ↑one of those days ▪ ↑some day ▪ ↑somebody's days are numbered ▪ ↑take it one day at a time ▪ ↑that'll be the day ▪ ↑the day ▪ ↑these days ▪ ↑this day ▪ ↑those were the days ▪ ↑win the day
Word Origin:
Old English dæg, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dag and German Tag.
Thesaurus:
day noun U, C
1.
•Owls sleep by day and hunt by night.
daytime • • morning • • afternoon •
Opp: night, Opp: night-time
in/during the day/daytime/morning/afternoon
all/every/each day/morning/afternoon
spend the day/morning/afternoon doing sth
Day or daytime? Day can either mean a particular completed period, or a period of time that is continuing; daytime never refers to a particular completed period:
•during the day/daytime
• Did you have a good day?
✗ Did you have a good daytime? Daytime is used especially in compounds:
•daytime television/temperatures
✗ a day televsion/temperatures
2. C, usually pl.
•a history of Europe from 1492 to the present day
period • • time • • age • • century • • era • |formal epoch •
in/during … day(s)/a period/the time of…/…times/the… century/the age of…/an era/an epoch
(the) present day/period/time/century/era/epoch
(the) medieval/Victorian/post-war, etc. days/period/time/era
Which word? Era, age and epoch are used more often to mean a period in history. Day and time are often used, especially in the plural, to talk about the present
•these days
• modern times
When day or time means a period in history, it is often used after a person's name
•The battle happened in King Alfred's day.
Example Bank:
•As day dawned I found her already hard at work.
•Be sure to start the day with a good breakfast.
•Gone are the days when you could do a week's shopping and still have change from £20.
•Gone are the days when you could smoke in restaurants.
•He thought of her less as the days passed.
•He's getting stronger by the day.
•How did your day go?
•I am entitled to ten paid sick days a year.
•I do a 9-hour day
•I hope we meet again some day.
•I knew I had a full day's driving ahead of me.
•I never thought I would see the day when free elections would be held in this country.
•I was in your area the other day.
•It happened on the very day that Kemp was murdered.
•It was the day of the big game.
•It's been one of the worst days of my life.
•It's been one of those days when everything's gone wrong.
•Kids grow up so quickly these days.
•Memories of happy days on the hills never fade.
•Morale was sinking day by day.
•Much has changed since the days of my youth.
•On a bad day chaos reigns and nobody can predict when a plane will leave.
•On the day of his wedding he was very nervous.
•Some players go into management once their playing days are over.
•That was in the bad old days of rampant inflation.
•The letter arrived the very next day.
•The restaurant is closed all day Saturday.
•The tabloid press had a field day with the latest government scandal.
•They stayed for ten days.
•Things were very different in my grandfather's day.
•We hope to finish the job in a few days.
•We preferred to travel at night and rest by day.
•We spent the day gardening.
•We went to the beach for the day.
•We're open every day except Sunday.
•When that day comes, I plan to be far away.
•a fine summer's day
•a hard day at the office
•a study of European drama, from Ibsen to the present day
•in his younger days
•in the early days of television
•the dark days of recession
•the government of the day
•the heady days of the ‘swinging sixties’
•the pattern of the school day
•those killed in the hail of bullets fired on that fateful day
•Ah, those were the days!
•Dickens gives us a vivid picture of poverty in Queen Victoria's day.
•He works at night and sleeps during the day.
•I could sit and watch the river all day long.
•I took half a day off yesterday.
•It's been a long day.
•Most women stayed at home in those days.
•She didn't do a full day's work.
•Slavery continues to exist, even in this day and age.
•The short winter days prevented them from finishing all the work.
•The sun was shining all day.
•There were no supermarkets in the old days when I was a boy.
•What a beautiful day!
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