DAY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Day mean? 

• DAY (noun)
  The noun DAY has 10 senses:

1. time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis

2. some point or period in time

3. a day assigned to a particular purpose or observance

4. the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside

5. the recurring hours when you are not sleeping (especially those when you are working)

6. an era of existence or influence

7. the period of time taken by a particular planet (e.g. Mars) to make a complete rotation on its axis

8. the time for one complete rotation of the earth relative to a particular star, about 4 minutes shorter than a mean solar day

9. a period of opportunity

10. United States writer best known for his autobiographical works (1874-1935)

  Familiarity information: DAY used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DAY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

24-hour interval; day; mean solar day; solar day; twenty-four hour period; twenty-four hours

Context example:

there are 30,000 passengers per day

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

time unit; unit of time (a unit for measuring time periods)

Meronyms (parts of "day"):

high noon; midday; noon; noonday; noontide; twelve noon (the middle of the day)

60 minutes; hour; hr (a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day)

dark; night; nighttime (the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside)

day; daylight; daytime (the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "day"):

tomorrow (the day after today)

today (the day that includes the present moment (as opposed to yesterday or tomorrow))

yesterday (the day immediately before today)

morrow (the next day)

eve (the day before)

date; day of the month (the specified day of the month)

date (a particular day specified as the time something happens)

Derivation:

daily (of or belonging to or occurring every day)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Some point or period in time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

these days it is not unusual

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

time (an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "day"):

off-day (a day when things go poorly)

crack of doom; Day of Judgement; Day of Judgment; day of reckoning; Doomsday; end of the world; eschaton; Judgement Day; Judgment Day; Last Day; Last Judgement; Last Judgment ((New Testament) day at the end of time following Armageddon when God will decree the fates of all individual humans according to the good and evil of their earthly lives)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A day assigned to a particular purpose or observance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

Mother's Day

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

calendar day; civil day (a day reckoned from midnight to midnight)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "day"):

Flag Day; June 14 (commemorating the adoption of the United States flag in 1777)

February 22; Washington's Birthday (the day on which George Washington is remembered)

Davis' Birthday; Jefferson Davis' Birthday; June 3 (celebrated in southern United States)

Armed Forces Day (the 3rd Saturday in May)

Mother's Day (second Sunday in May)

First of May; May 1; May Day (observed in many countries to celebrate the coming of spring; observed in Russia and related countries in honor of labor)

Patriot's Day (the 3rd Monday in April; Massachusetts and Maine celebrate the battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775)

April 14; Pan American Day (a day celebrating political and economic unity among American countries)

All Fools' day; April Fools'; April Fools' day (the first day of April which is celebrated by playing practical jokes)

March 17; Saint Patrick's Day; St Patrick's Day (a day observed by the Irish to commemorate the patron saint of Ireland)

March 2; Texas Independence Day (Texans celebrate the anniversary of Texas' declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836)

February 2; Groundhog Day (if the ground hog emerges and sees his shadow on this day, there will be 6 more weeks of winter)

Father's Day (US: third Sunday in June)

Citizenship Day; September 17 (celebrated in the United States)

American Indian Day (US: the 4th Friday in September)

October 24; United Nations Day (a day for celebrating the founding of the United Nations)

Allhallows Eve; Hallowe'en; Halloween (the evening before All Saints' Day; often devoted to pranks played by young people)

saint's day (a day commemorating a saint)

June 23; Midsummer Eve; Midsummer Night; St John's Eve; St John's Night (the night before Midsummer Day)

school day (any day on which school is in session)

speech day (an annual day in the schools when speeches are made and prizes are distributed)

washday; washing day (a day set aside for doing household laundry)

wedding day (the day of a wedding)

anniversary; day of remembrance (the date on which an event occurred in some previous year (or the celebration of it))

February 12; Lincoln's Birthday (the day on which President Abraham Lincoln is remembered)

Admission Day (in some states of the United States: a legal holiday commemorating the day the state was admitted to the Union)

Arbor Day (a day designated for planting trees)

Cinco de Mayo (the fifth of May which is observed in Mexico and Mexican-American communities in the United States to commemorate the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862)

commencement day; degree day (the day on which university degrees are conferred)

November 5 (anniversary of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot)

Inauguration Day; January 20 (the day designated for inauguration of the United States President)

bissextile day; February 29; leap day (the name of the day that is added during a leap year)

V-day; Victory Day (the day of a victory)

rag day (a day on which university students hold a rag)

red-letter day (a memorably happy or noteworthy day (from the custom of marking holy days in red on church calendars))

payday (the day on which you receive pay for your work)

election day; polling day (the day appointed for an election; in the United States it is the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November)

field day (a day for outdoor athletic competition)

field day ((military) a day for military exercises and display)

ides (in the Roman calendar: the 15th of March or May or July or October or the 13th of any other month)

market day (a fixed day for holding a public market)

Walpurgis Night (eve of May Day)

December 31; New Year's Eve (the last day of the year)

January 19; Lee's Birthday; Robert E Lee's Birthday; Robert E Lee Day (celebrated in southern United States)

Tet (the New Year in Vietnam; observed for three days after the first full moon after January 20th)

holiday (a day on which work is suspended by law or custom)

February 14; Saint Valentine's Day; St Valentine's Day; Valentine's Day; Valentine Day (a day for the exchange of tokens of affection)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

day; daylight; daytime

Context example:

it is easier to make the repairs in the daytime

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Meronyms (parts of "day"):

forenoon; morn; morning; morning time (the time period between dawn and noon)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "day"):

afternoon (the part of the day between noon and evening)

midafternoon (the middle part of the afternoon)

eve; even; evening; eventide (the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall))

Holonyms ("day" is a part of...):

24-hour interval; day; mean solar day; solar day; twenty-four hour period; twenty-four hours (time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis)

Antonym:

night (the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The recurring hours when you are not sleeping (especially those when you are working)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

she called it a day and went to bed

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

work time (a time period when you are required to work)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "day"):

workday; working day (the amount of time that a worker must work for an agreed daily wage)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An era of existence or influence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

he was a successful pianist in his day

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

epoch; era (a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The period of time taken by a particular planet (e.g. Mars) to make a complete rotation on its axis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

how long is a day on Jupiter?

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "day"):

lunar day (the period of time taken for the moon to make one full rotation on its axis (about 27.3 sidereal days))

Sense 8

Meaning:

The time for one complete rotation of the earth relative to a particular star, about 4 minutes shorter than a mean solar day

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

day; sidereal day

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

time unit; unit of time (a unit for measuring time periods)

sidereal time (measured by the diurnal motion of stars)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A period of opportunity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

every dog has his day

Hypernyms ("day" is a kind of...):

chance; opportunity (a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances)

Sense 10

Meaning:

United States writer best known for his autobiographical works (1874-1935)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Clarence Day; Clarence Shepard Day Jr.; Day

Instance hypernyms:

author; writer (writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay))

 Context examples 

I shall be either at the house or in the police-station all day.’ What say you, Watson?

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When father died, we were left very poor, but one day we were told that there was an advertisement in The Times, inquiring for our whereabouts.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She wondered if she had been cold all her days.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

We could write in the meantime, and he used to write every day.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Directly after the eclipse appears, you will have another day to look forward to, the Luckiest Day of the Year, December 27.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

And here it may, perhaps, divert the curious reader, to give some account of my domestics, and my manner of living in this country, during a residence of nine months, and thirteen days.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace; and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I was not wrong when I decided that his days had been spent on the sea.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)