# overnight

Pronunciation: US say "oh-vur-NYT" /əʊvə(ɹ)ˈnaɪt/; UK say "oh-vuh-NYT" /əʊvə(ɹ)ˈnaɪt/

## Adverb

1. During or throughout the night, especially the evening or night that has just passed.
   - Simple: During the night, or all through the night that has just passed.
   - _Temperatures dropped sharply overnight, and the roads froze solid._
   - _The bakers prepare the dough and let it rise overnight._
4. Within a very short, unspecified period of time, as if all at once.
   - Simple: Suddenly, in a very short and surprising amount of time.
   - _The small bakery became a citywide sensation overnight._
   - _Public opinion on the policy shifted almost overnight._

## Adjective

2. Taking place during the hours between dusk and dawn.
   - Simple: Happening during the night, between sunset and sunrise.
   - _The hospital keeps a small overnight staff on each ward._
   - _Heavy overnight rain left the fields waterlogged by morning._
3. Completed or carried out before the following morning.
   - Simple: Finished or ready before the next morning.
   - _The lab guaranteed an overnight turnaround on the blood test._
   - _Customers can choose overnight shipping at checkout for a small fee._
6. Of an event or trip for which the participants stay through the night.
   - Simple: Lasting through the night, so the people taking part sleep there.
   - _She signed her son up for an overnight summer camp._
   - _The company hosted an overnight workshop at a country lodge._

## Verb

5. To spend the night somewhere; to stay in a place for a single night.
   - Simple: To stay somewhere for the night.
   - _The delegates overnighted in the capital before the summit began._
   - _Truckers sometimes overnight at rest stops along the highway._
7. To ship an item by a service that delivers it the following day. *(US)*
   - Simple: To send something so it arrives the next morning.
   - _The firm overnighted the closing documents to its client._
   - _If you overnight the package today, it should arrive tomorrow._

## Noun

8. A stay of a single night, especially in a hotel or other lodging facility.
   - Simple: A stay of one night, usually at a hotel or other lodging.
   - _Her schedule allowed only a brief overnight between connecting flights._
   - _The conference package includes two overnights at the resort._
9. An item that is delivered or completed before the following morning.
   - Simple: Something delivered or finished by the next morning.
   - _The mailroom sorts the overnights first thing each day._
   - _She flagged the proposal as an overnight to ensure a quick turnaround._
10. Viewership ratings for a television show published the morning after broadcast, which may be revised later.
   - Simple: Early TV ratings that come out the morning after a show airs.
   - _The network celebrated when the overnights showed record numbers._
   - _An impressive overnight gave the new drama an early boost._

## Noun

11. Yesterday evening, the first part of the night just past. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Yesterday evening, or the first part of last night.

## Origin

Inherited from Middle English overnyght, from Old English ofer niht ("through the night, overnight"), which is essentially over plus night. The verbal use, from the late 19th century, may have been influenced by German übernachten, though it could also have developed independently.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/overnight (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).