overnight
overnight — adjective
1. planned for one night, or happening between evening and morning.
planned for one night, or happening between evening and morning.
We booked an overnight train from Taipei to Tainan.
collocation: overnight train / bus / flight
The clinic offers overnight care after minor surgery.
An overnight guest slept in the small room upstairs.
Snow closed the mountain road during the overnight storm.
- overnight train
- overnight flight
- overnight guest
- overnight care
- nighttime
focuses on the part of the day, not always a one-night stay
- night-long
emphasizes lasting through the whole night
- all-night
stronger than overnight and usually means continuing until morning
- daytime
happening during the day instead of at night
Usage Note
Often used before nouns like train, bag, guest, or care. Distinguish from adjective/2 RAPID CHANGE, which is about speed of change rather than time at night.
Common Mistakes
2. appearing or changing in a very short time, with no warning.
appearing or changing in a very short time, with no warning.
The singer became an overnight star after one TV interview.
collocation: overnight success / star
Overnight popularity brought the app more users than expected.
The town saw an overnight rise in hotel prices.
Mina's overnight fame made school life suddenly difficult.
- overnight star
- overnight success
- overnight fame
- overnight rise
- gradual
describes change that happens step by step
Usage Note
Most often comes before nouns such as success, fame, popularity, or rise. Distinguish from adverb/2 VERY QUICKLY: this adjective modifies a noun, while the adverb modifies the whole event.
overnight — verb
1. to spend one night in a place instead of leaving the same day.
to spend one night in a place instead of leaving the same day.
We overnighted at a farm near Sun Moon Lake.
pattern: overnight somewhere
Because the bridge closed, forty drivers overnighted in town.
The hikers overnighted in a temple after the heavy rain.
Our group overnighted before catching the early ferry.
- overnight at a hotel
- overnight in town
- overnight with friends
- stay
much broader and not limited to one night
- sleep over
more informal and often used for staying at someone's home
- lodge
more formal and often used in travel contexts
- leave
go away the same day instead of staying the night
Grammar Patterns
overnight + place phrase
Usage Note
Usually followed by a place phrase, often with at, in, or with. Unlike adverb/1 THROUGH THE NIGHT, this sense is the main verb of the sentence.
Common Mistakes
2. to send something by a service that brings it on the following day.
to send something by a service that brings it on the following day.
The shop overnighted the passport to our hotel.
pattern: overnight + object + to place
Mina overnighted the contract before the Friday deadline.
The nurse overnighted the test kit to the lab.
Can you overnight these keys to Marcus in Osaka?
- overnight a package
- overnight a passport
- overnight documents to
- hold
keep the item instead of sending it out
Grammar Patterns
overnight + object
overnight + object + to + person/place
Usage Note
The object is usually a package, document, key, or test item. Speakers often add the destination with to when they want to show where the item should arrive.
Common Mistakes
overnight — adverb
1. through the night, or for a night's stay.
through the night, or for a night's stay.
We stayed overnight at my aunt's apartment in Kaohsiung.
pattern: stay overnight
The dough rose overnight on the kitchen table.
Several nurses worked overnight after the bus crash.
Please soak the beans overnight before cooking them.
- stay overnight
- work overnight
- soak overnight
- travel overnight
- all night
focuses only on the whole night, not a one-night stay
- through the night
close in meaning, often slightly more formal
- for the night
often used when someone stays somewhere until morning
- by day
during daytime rather than at night
Usage Note
Common after stay, work, travel, rise, and soak. Distinguish from adjective/1 FOR THE NIGHT: this sense tells when or how long an action happens, not what kind of noun something is.
Common Mistakes
2. in an extremely short time or at surprising speed.
in an extremely short time or at surprising speed.
The small bakery became popular overnight after the food video.
collocation: become popular overnight
House prices in the village did not rise overnight.
The empty corner lot became a busy car park overnight.
The team built an online store almost overnight.
- change overnight
- become famous overnight
- not happen overnight
- gradually
over a longer period rather than in a short burst
Usage Note
Often used with become, change, rise, improve, or return, especially in negative statements such as not happen overnight. It suggests unusual speed or an unrealistic hope for speed.
Common Mistakes
overnight — noun
1. a stay of one night away from home.
a stay of one night away from home.
The hotel package includes breakfast and one overnight.
countable noun: one overnight
After one overnight in Hualien, we drove south.
The trip needs two overnights before the final meeting.
Our budget covers meals, tickets, and one overnight.
- one overnight
- two overnights
- book an overnight
- stay
much broader and not limited to one night
- stopover
often used for a break in a journey, especially with travel
- night stop
less common but clear in travel planning
- day trip
a visit that ends without staying the night
Grammar Patterns
one/two + overnight
Usage Note
Usually countable after one, two, or another. It often appears in travel or business planning rather than in everyday conversation.
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
For adjective/1, overnight is useful when something is for one night or happens during the night: an overnight train, an overnight guest, overnight care. Nighttime is broader and simply places something in the night part of the day, as in nighttime traffic. All-night is stronger and stresses that something continues until morning, such as an all-night study session. Nightly usually means happening every night, so a nightly show repeats, but an overnight stay happens once. Nocturnal is mostly used for animals or habits that are active at night, so it sounds more scientific. A hotel can offer overnight parking, but not nocturnal parking. An owl is nocturnal, not overnight.
Etymology
Overnight was formed inside English from over and night. In older use, over could mean through a period of time, so overnight first meant through the night or for one night. From that basic time idea, English later built the modern uses about staying one night, sending something for next-day arrival, and changes that seem to happen within a single night.