all-nighter

American

[awl-nahy-ter] / ˈɔlˈnaɪ tər /

noun

Informal.

something that lasts, is available, or is open for business throughout the night.

The poker game turned into an all-nighter. Are any of the grocery stores all-nighters?
an act of staying up all night, as to study or finish a task.

I had to pull an all-nighter to get the paper done on time.

all-nighter British

/ ˌɔːlˈnaɪtə /

noun

an entertainment, such as a pop concert or film screening, that lasts all night

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of all-nighter

1890–95; all night + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

all-nighter

Aditya Sharma recently went to bed at 6 a.m. after an all-nighter with his crew of generative-AI bots—systems that plan and execute multistep tasks like pulling data and writing code.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

"England's big all-nighter" leads the Daily Mail - as does a picture of Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon drinking from a wine glass.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

Writing in a desperate junk-food-fueled all-nighter, Sally appears to have entered a manic phase.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026

“I pulled almost an all-nighter last night, so he’s been keeping us up,” he said, exhaling a light chuckle.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2025

This just might be the weirdest all-nighter Autumn and I have ever pulled.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023