bedtime

IPA/ˈbedtaɪm/
KK[bˈɛdtˌaɪm]IPA/ˈbedtaɪm/

bedtime — noun

  • bedtimesingular
  • bedtimesplural

1. the usual hour when someone goes to sleep or should already be in bed for the ni

1.nounA2
Definition

the usual hour when someone goes to sleep or should already be in bed for the night

Example

By eight thirty, it was bedtime for both twins after the party.

it's bedtime

Grandpa reads Ella one story at bedtime every night.

at bedtime

Common collocations
  • early bedtime
  • late bedtime
  • regular bedtime
  • past bedtime
  • set a bedtime
Synonyms
  • lights-out

    narrower and more institutional, especially in camps, schools, or the army

  • sleep time

    a simple everyday phrase, often used by adults speaking to young children

Grammar Patterns

it's bedtime

at bedtime

past bedtime

bedtime + noun (bedtime story, bedtime routine)

Usage Note

Common with at, before, and past, and often used without an article in the fixed expression 'It's bedtime.' When talking about a child's routine, speakers often add words like early, late, regular, or strict.

Common Mistakes

My son goes to bed in bedtime.
My son goes to bed at bedtime.
use 'at' with this noun when you mean the usual sleeping hour.
It is the bedtime.
It is bedtime.
in the fixed expression, English usually drops the article.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Bedtime is the usual hour for going to sleep, especially in daily family routines. Lights-out is narrower and more literal: it is the moment when a school, camp, or army group expects everyone to turn off the lights and settle down. Sleep time is a simple phrase adults often use with very young children, and it sounds less fixed and less dictionary-like than bedtime. Curfew is different again because it is the time you must be home, not the time you must be asleep. A teenager may have a ten o'clock curfew but an eleven o'clock bedtime. Parents often say 'It's bedtime' at home, while a camp leader may announce 'lights-out in five minutes.'

bedtime ↗lights-out ↗sleep timecurfew

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • it's bedtime
  • set a bedtime
  • have a bedtime
  • bedtime story
  • bedtime routine

Prepositions

  • at bedtime
  • before bedtime
  • past bedtime

Etymology

Old EnglishModern English

A plain English compound joining bed and time. It became the ordinary name for the hour when a person should go to bed, especially in family routines. Both parts are very old in English: bed comes from Old English, and time does too, so bedtime is built from native English words rather than from a later borrowing.