0%

burn the midnight oil

burn the mid·night oil
B b

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [burn stressed th ee mid-nahyt oil]
    • /bɜrn stressed ði ˈmɪdˌnaɪt ɔɪl/
    • /bɜːn ðə ˈmɪdnaɪt ɔɪl/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [burn stressed th ee mid-nahyt oil]
    • /bɜrn stressed ði ˈmɪdˌnaɪt ɔɪl/

Definitions of burn the midnight oil words

  • noun burn the midnight oil to work or study late into the night 3
  • noun burn the midnight oil to study or work very late at night 3
  • noun burn the midnight oil a burned place or area: a burn where fire had ripped through the forest. 1
  • noun burn the midnight oil Pathology. an injury usually caused by heat but also by abnormal cold, chemicals, poison gas, electricity, or lightning, and characterized by a painful reddening and swelling of the epidermis (first-degree burn) damage extending into the dermis, usually with blistering (second-degree burn) or destruction of the epidermis and dermis extending into the deeper tissue with loss of pain receptors (third-degree burn) 1
  • noun burn the midnight oil slow burn. 1
  • noun burn the midnight oil the process or an instance of burning or baking, as in brickmaking. 1
See all 52 definitions of burn the midnight oil

Information block about the term

Origin of burn the midnight oil

First appearance:

before 900
One of the 4% oldest English words
before 900; Middle English; Old English midniht. See mid-, night

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Burn the midnight oil

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Burn the midnight oil

burn the midnight oil popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 83% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

burn the midnight oil usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for burn the midnight oil

verb burn the midnight oil

  • bear down — If someone or something bears down on you, they move quickly towards you in a threatening way.
  • cram — If you cram things or people into a container or place, you put them into it, although there is hardly enough room for them.
  • grind — to wear, smooth, or sharpen by abrasion or friction; whet: to grind a lens.
  • overwork — to cause to work too hard, too much, or too long; weary or exhaust with work (often used reflexively): Don't overwork yourself on that new job.
  • study — a room, in a house or other building, set apart for private study, reading, writing, or the like.
All 6 Synonyms of burn the midnight oil

See also

Matching words

Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?