Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lasting through the night.
  • adverb Through the night; all night.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Lasting a night.
  • Through the night.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Lasting all night.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb Through the night.
  • adjective Lasting a night (i.e. the duration of one night); lasting all night.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective lasting, open, or operating through the whole night

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English nihtlonge, nihtlonges, from Old English nihtlanges ("for the night "), equivalent to night +‎ -long.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English *nihtlong, from Old English nihtlang ("lasting through the night, night-long, a night in length"), equivalent to night +‎ -long.

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Examples

  • Pirates who frequented the port cities brought with them a way of life that embraced wild dances, nightlong parties, racial integration, and homosexuality.

    A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010

  • *** World-Wide Pakistani security forces ended a nightlong Taliban siege of a Karachi air base that left 10 dead.

    What's News— 2011

  • It took hundreds of Pakistani navy commandos, marines and paramilitary soldiers, fighting a nightlong gunbattle, to end a siege by a small group of Taliban militants at an air base in the country's largest city Monday, exposing nuclear-armed Pakistan's inability to protect even its most heavily guarded areas from terrorist attacks.

    Taliban Raid Exposes Pakistan Matthew Rosenberg 2011

  • Pakistani security forces ended a nightlong Taliban siege of an air base that left at least 10 dead.

    What's News— 2011

  • The march his haunt--Beowulf, lines 102-103 ... walked nightlong

    Old English gods and myths: Eotens Carla 2010

  • The march his haunt--Beowulf, lines 102-103 ... walked nightlong

    Kings of Lindsey Carla 2010

  • The march his haunt--Beowulf, lines 102-103 ... walked nightlong

    Kings of Lindsey Carla 2010

  • The march his haunt--Beowulf, lines 102-103 ... walked nightlong

    Archive 2010-08-01 Carla 2010

  • The march his haunt--Beowulf, lines 102-103 ... walked nightlong

    Kings of Lindsey Carla 2010

  • It later emerged that the pastor, who is married with one child, had spent the previous night with a member of his congregation after lying to his wife that he was attending nightlong prayers popularly known as kesha in the town and would, therefore, be away from home.

    RNB Quicklinks: The Church Around The Corner 2008

Comments

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  • Daylong she had been coming,

    And all the forest sang

    Of beauty: elfin-softly

    The bluebells rang.

    Nightlong she was in shadow,

    She who went away

    As the moon does in the silver

    Veils of day.

    - William Griffith, 'A Forest Rendezvous'.

    September 23, 2009