all-night

/ˌɔːl ˈnaɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌɔːl ˈnaɪt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈȯl-ˈnīt/ (ame, mw)

all-night — adjective

1. going on without a break from the evening until the next morning

1.形容詞B1
釋義

going on without a break from the evening until the next morning

例句

The emergency room team worked an all-night shift after the bridge collapse.

collocation: all-night shift

Farid and his band played an all-night set at the jazz club on Friday.

同義詞
  • nightlong

    more literary and poetic; less common in everyday speech

  • overnight

    broader in meaning — can also describe something sudden (overnight success) or a single-night stay

文法句型

all-night + noun

用法筆記

Always used before a noun, never after 'be'. You can say 'an all-night party' but not 'the party was all-night'.

常見錯誤

❌We had an all night party.
✅We had an all-night party.
💡The adjective form needs a hyphen.
❌The meeting was all-night.
✅It was an all-night meeting.
💡'all-night' cannot be used after the verb 'be'.

2. staying open and ready to serve people during the night-time hours

2.形容詞B1
釋義

staying open and ready to serve people during the night-time hours

例句

Yuki stopped at an all-night pharmacy on her way home from the airport.

collocation: all-night pharmacy

The only all-night diner in town served hot soup to the tired truck drivers.

同義詞
  • round-the-clock

    emphasises 24-hour operation, not specifically night-time — a round-the-clock service never stops at all

  • late-night

    stays open later than usual but does not necessarily stay open until morning

文法句型

all-night + noun (business or service)

用法筆記

Describes businesses or services that stay open at night. For places that never close at all, use '24-hour' instead.

常見錯誤

❌The pharmacy is all-night.
✅It is an all-night pharmacy.
💡'all-night' must come before the noun it describes.
❌I went to a 24-hour café at midnight.' (when it closes at dawn)
✅I went to an all-night café.
💡Use 'all-night' for night-only; '24-hour' means it literally never closes.