daylight-saving time

American  

[dey-lahyt-sey-ving] / ˈdeɪˌlaɪtˈseɪ vɪŋ /

Or daylight-savings time

noun

1. the civil time observed when daylight saving is adopted in a country or community.

---

daylight-saving time British  

noun

1. Also called (in the US): daylight time.  time set usually one hour ahead of the local standard time, widely adopted in the summer to provide extra daylight in the evening See also British Summer Time

---

daylight-saving time Scientific  

/ dā′līt-sā′vĭng /

1. Time during which clocks are set one hour or more ahead of standard time to provide more daylight at the end of the working day during late spring, summer, and early fall. First proposed by Benjamin Franklin, daylight saving time was instituted in various countries during both world wars in the 20th century and was made permanent in most of the United States beginning in 1973. Arizona, Hawaii, most of eastern Indiana, and certain US territories and possessions do not observe daylight saving time.

---

Etymology

Origin of daylight-saving time

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Other research has shown a similar financial toll tied to daylight-saving time.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 6, 2026

And both of California’s U.S. senators are cosponsors of the federal Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight-saving time permanent across the country.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2022

It is the latest step in the EU’s harmonisation of daylight-saving time first launched in the 1980s in an attempt to prevent divergent approaches from undermining the European single market.

From The Guardian • Mar. 26, 2019

It has also been unable to deal with the small issues—in a recent attempt to mollify the roughly eighty per cent of Europeans who dislike daylight-saving time, the E.U.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 7, 2019

It was precisely noon, daylight-saving time, on July 4th, 1921, when I stood on the corner referred to and, strange to say, found it practically deserted.

From The Cruise of the Kawa by Chappell, George S. (George Shepard)