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The idiom “dead of night” specifically refers to the darkest part of the night, usually between midnight and dawn. Don’t use it to describe any time during the nighttime hours. Confusing it with similar phrases “Dead of night” is often confused with other phrases like “pitch black” or “in the dark.”
The phrase in the dead of night is idiomatic for late at night, or in the stillest part of a night. While the variation “the dead of the night” is not grammatically wrong, the excrescent the is a bother and a possible source of ambiguity.
The time of most intense stillness, darkness, or cold. This usage dates from the sixteenth century. Shakespeare had it in Twelfth Night (1.5), “Even in the dead of night,” and Washington Irving used the alternate phrase in Salmagundi (1807–08), “In the dead of winter, when nature is without charm.”
Jul 14, 2024 · The phrase ‘Dead of Night’ might conjure up images of a still, silent darkness. But in the realm of idioms, it takes on a figurative meaning. When someone refers to the ‘Dead of Night,’ they’re talking about the darkest, most silent and still part of the night.
'Dead of night' is an English idiom. It means 'the quietest, darkest part of the night.'
Jun 2, 2024 · dead of night. (idiomatic) Middle of the night. Synonyms: deep of night; see also Thesaurus: midnight.
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Jul 15, 2019 · Dead of Night is a classic of chiller cinema, combining five truly frightening stories into one brilliant film. Here's why you need to watch it.
