evenings

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of evening.

   Long winter evenings were perfect for reading by the fire.

   They reserved their evenings for quiet family dinners.

   Note

   Here the -s is the ordinary plural, which makes the word identical in spelling to the adverb meaning "in the evening". The noun is easy to tell apart because it takes an article, a possessive or an adjective, as in their evenings or long winter evenings. It can also carry any sense of the singular, including a party or gathering held in the evening, as in a series of musical evenings.

2. 2
   adverbdated

   In the evening; during the evening hours, typically as a recurring occurrence.

   The pharmacy stays open evenings to serve commuters heading home.

   He had ordered her not to go out evenings, and warned her that she must never let him catch her in company with a young man, who was paying attention to her belonging to Colonel Lloyd.

   1846, Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

   Similarnightly, nights

   Oppositemornings

   Note

   Behind the -s lies an old adverb-forming ending, not the plural: Dutch avonds and German abends are built the same way. The adverb follows the verb directly, with no preposition, as when Frederick Douglass, in his Narrative (1845), is ordered "not to go out evenings." It now sounds informal and somewhat dated, and in careful writing "in the evening" or "in the evenings" is the safer choice.

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