all-nighter
Pluralall-nighters
- 1A period of studying or working that lasts the whole night, with no sleep.
She pulled an all-nighter before the deadline and submitted the report at dawn.
Three all-nighters in one week wrecked his sleep schedule.
- 2An event, session, or activity that continues throughout the entire night.
The film festival closed with an all-nighter of horror classics.
What began as a quick meeting stretched into an all-nighter.
Note
The word is built the plain way, from the adjective all-night plus the noun-making -er, so it names a thing by how long it lasts. A party, a screening or a meeting all qualify; the only requirement is that it outlasts the night. This broad sense is the frame that a night of study or work narrows, and the later slang uses borrow the same shape.
- 3A person held in jail overnight, such as someone arrested and detained until morning.
The desk sergeant logged three all-nighters before his shift ended.
They processed the all-nighter at dawn and sent him before the judge.
Note
American crime slang turns the word onto the detainee: whoever spent the night in a cell, not the night itself. It parallels the British client sense in naming a person after the night they account for. The two belong to different countries and different worlds, so a reader from one side may take it the other way.
- 4A paid engagement with a prostitute that covers the entire night rather than a short visit.
The girls charged a premium for an all-nighter over a single hour.
He arranged an all-nighter through a contact in Soho.
Note
In British criminal slang the word puts a price on time: what is bought is a whole night rather than an hour. The same word also covers the client who pays for it, so only context separates the booking from the buyer. Most listeners will hear the everyday sense of a night without sleep, so this use needs an unmistakable setting.
- 5A client who has paid a prostitute for the whole night rather than a brief visit.
Her all-nighter dozed off long before dawn.
An all-nighter was worth several short customers to her.
Similarjohn, punter, trick, fare, score
Note
Here the night attaches to a person: the customer, not the arrangement. It shares its slang and its trade with the booking sense, but it counts people, so a sentence about several all-nighters must make clear whether it means nights paid for or the clients who paid. A pronoun or verb that points to a person usually settles it.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from "all-night" plus the suffix "-er" (all- + night + -er).