burn the midnight oil
Formsburns the midnight oil, burning the midnight oil, burned the midnight oil
- 1To stay up very late at night to work hard or study.
Like keeping a light on late into the night to keep working while everyone else sleeps.
She burned the midnight oil to finish her school project on time.
We had to burn the midnight oil before the big test on Monday.
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Origin
It first meant burning oil in lamps to make light at night. The phrase 'midnight oil' in its literal sense goes back to the mid 1600s.