burn the midnight oil
CulturalExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet those who do choose to burn the midnight oil could end up paying a heavy price.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026
Yes, Swift chose to burn the midnight oil to spill her album's secrets, night after night, in keeping with its theme — but fans didn't have to choose to stay up.
From Salon • Feb. 2, 2023
Those familiar with Duterte say his nocturnal schedule forces those around him — from staff to the press corps — to burn the midnight oil.
From Washington Post • Aug. 26, 2021
Adjusting to the new regime requires radical steps, testing employers and workers in a nation where many burn the midnight oil.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2018
One cannot burn the midnight oil without paying some penalty for it....
From Hypatia — or New Foes with an Old Face by Kingsley, Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.