Definition of daylight in English:

daylight

noun

mass noun

1The natural light of the day.
‘the area is dangerous even in daylight’
‘there were two hours of daylight left’
as modifier ‘the daylight hours’
- ‘High above he could see daylight filtering through vegetation.’
- ‘Because we had only oil lamps for light I only worked during daylight hours.’
- ‘He came with a weapon right in broad daylight in front of tourists.’
- ‘As daylight faded, fireflies started to spark high above in the canopy.’
- ‘Plants were illuminated by natural daylight, supplemented by sodium lamps.’
- ‘They also recommend hunters check out the land during daylight hours to identify public footpaths and other obvious dangers.’
- ‘The shade's structure excludes direct sunlight but allows diffuse daylight to pass through.’
- ‘The roof of the protective shelter needs repairs to shut out the daylight streaming through.’
- ‘She stared at the dancing flames for hours, daylight passing to twilight and then to darkness.’
- ‘The American forces were responsible for the daylight bombing, the British for nighttime bombing.’
- ‘Poinsettias thrive on bright, sunny natural daylight.’
- ‘The daylight was fading fast as the sun went down behind the mountains.’
- ‘I was awakened by the beams of daylight shining through the cabin window.’
- ‘Sam shook her head, squinting her eyes in the rapidly fading daylight.’
- ‘Councillors agreed to restrict the use of the car park to daylight hours, with the gates being locked at 8pm each evening.’
- ‘Natural daylight was supplemented with mercury vapour lamps.’
- ‘This site is open all year round in daylight hours and is free of charge.’
- ‘Cool thieves stole a £15,000 steel cabin in a daring daylight raid.’
- ‘At the other end bright daylight shone through a frosted panel.’
- ‘Soon there was enough daylight filtering in to see their way clearly.’
natural light, sunlight, light of day
daytime, daylight hours, day, hours of sunlight
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1. 1.1 The first appearance of light in the morning; dawn.
  ‘I returned at daylight’
  ‘she had been up before daylight’
  ‘Before daylight Peter had returned to the scene of his crime and picked up where he had left off teaching.’
  ‘It wasn't until daylight this morning, I found that a window in my front door had been badly cracked.’
  ‘I returned to the same spot at daylight and resumed where I left off.’
  ‘The man and the woman work on it from daylight to dusk.’
  ‘The next morning at first daylight we prepared the cars, we packed our bags, we got ready to leave the hotel.’
  ‘They worked from daylight to dusk to get it all ready.’
  ‘As it was, the darkness of night was beginning to give way to the gloaming before daylight.’
  ‘The daylight creeping up on night just outside my window would be the last of anything I saw out that window.’
  ‘I definitely wanted the animal out of my driveway before daylight and the Monday morning carpool.’
  ‘Night passed and daylight began to creep over the horizon; the chirping of wild birds woke me.’
  ‘It was daylight before Dusty had returned.’
  ‘Just after midway between midnight and daylight, Aver left the house.’
  ‘But as daylight broke, Mr Grogan was returned victorious.’
  dawn, daybreak, break of day, crack of dawn, sunrise, first light, first thing in the morning, early morning, cockcrow
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2. 1.2 An appreciable distance or difference between one person or thing and another.
  ‘their views on education are so close that it's difficult to see daylight between them’
  ‘the growing daylight between himself and the leading jockey’
  ‘Brent Peters' men finally put some daylight between the two sides in the 90th minute.’
  ‘The Blues now began to see daylight between themselves and their hosts with a 12-23 lead.’
  ‘Garryowen responded quickly and two tries and a penalty put daylight between the teams.’
  ‘Joe McCann and Sean McDermott continued to score vital baskets to keep daylight between the teams.’

Phrases

— the living daylights out of

Do the specified thing to (someone) with great severity.
‘he beat the living daylights out of them’
‘he can scare the living daylights out of a cinema audience’
- ‘We stayed friends however, until he decided that girls had germs, and promptly settled for bugging the daylights out of me.’
- ‘But some teams overcame that inherent deficit by slugging the daylights out of the ball on 0-0.’
- ‘He was employed as a ‘scary actor’ - one of the living figures who people the dungeon and scare the living daylights out of visitors.’
- ‘It had him pinned and was choking the daylights out of him.’
- ‘One day in an ice-stricken back alley I saw a fat little man beat the daylights out of four larger, stronger assailants.’
- ‘These true stories of dark doings, loose ends, and unexplained terror keep us up at night, defy all reason, and scare the living daylights out of us.’
- ‘It was such a treat to shock the daylights out of him.’
- ‘I looked up to see a seventeen-year-old standing over me, about to beat the living daylights out of my eleven-year-old body.’
- ‘He could be very funny, harshly cruel, and would use his sharp wit and temper to scare the living daylights out of paranoid politicians who had him followed in the night.’
- ‘He teases the daylights out of me.’
- ‘I would take them out into the front street and beat the living daylights out of them.’
- ‘I told him since he seemed unable to assure that my daughter would be safe in his school I'd sue the living daylights out of him, the school, the city etc.’
- ‘Performing at Prithvi has terrified the daylights out of me.’
- ‘The only reason why I didn't beat the living daylights out of Travis was because Lisa begged me not to.’
- ‘"Yeah and you scare the living daylights out of me because of it.’
- ‘So one night she hides in the cemetery and figures to scare the living daylights out of him.’
- ‘Why are we not working right now to develop their good will prior to our bombing the daylights out of them?’
- ‘The young man grabbed Kayla's arms before she could beat the daylights out of the captain.’
- ‘The film looks like jolly fun, but includes images that will scare the daylights out of little kids.’
- ‘"You scared the living daylights out of me, " Natalia whispered harshly.’
- ‘The cops aren't smart enough to hear news helicopters chopping over their heads as they kick the daylights out of suspected car thieves.’
- ‘You hurt one man of mine and knocked the daylights out of another, stole my horse and tried to kill me.’
- ‘He would have beaten the daylights out of anyone who would have treated his only daughter in such a fashion.’
- ‘I growled and tried to figure out a way to get some slack for my arms so that I could beat the living daylights out of the idiot that had hold of me.’
- ‘Birds were chirping brightly outside… I wanted to punch their daylights out.’
- ‘He wisely refrained from punching the daylights out of the man.’
- ‘She sat there, muttering to herself and overall amusing the daylights out of me.’
- ‘The snooty royal English sat on their powdered bums and taxed the daylights out of the poor citizens.’
- ‘The Professor admits to having gone on much longer than intended about a subject that will bore the daylights out of readers.’
- ‘Thus, swearing evolved a useful purpose as a buffer between fury and the instinct to beat the living daylights out of each other.’
- ‘Have I mentioned that heights scare the living daylights out of me?’
- ‘He had a sudden urge to beat the living daylights out of Taylor.’
- ‘It turned out to be nothing, but scared the daylights out of me.’
- ‘We've got a reputation of being real nasty when it comes to contracts, because I'll scratch the daylights out of a contract, and they don't like that.’
- ‘She wasn't ashamed to admit he scared the living daylights out of her.’

see daylight

1Gain public exposure or attention.
‘old photographs that rarely see daylight’
- ‘I never thought it would see daylight again.’
- ‘The memorable trips are there, captured in old photographs that rarely see daylight.’
- ‘But I see daylight down the road and feel it is part the Master's plan.’
- ‘If all the circumstances of his killing see daylight, the pressure for a full public inquiry will be irresistible.’
- ‘It is just a fact and its real meaning will never see daylight ".’
- ‘Since the man did not see daylight in the English-language press, I am going to recount several of his more famous appearances.’
- ‘The Democrats can see daylight ahead.’
- ‘Sorry about all the comments that were submitted yesterday evening and that didn't see daylight till this morning.’
- ‘Also on the 24th, the long-awaited Peter Gabriel album will finally see daylight.’
- ‘And why an entire generation has entered the world and reached maturity with plans for a new Bronx Terminal Market just starting to see daylight.’
be completed, be accomplished, see light of day, see the light of day
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2Begin to understand what was previously puzzling or unclear.
‘Sam saw daylight. ‘You think he might be your father?’’
- ‘I don't really expect that the white politicians are going to see daylight tomorrow because we have a new national chief.’
- ‘It was as if she was seeing daylight for the first time.’
understand, comprehend, realize, find out, see the light, work out what's going on, get the point
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