lights-out

IPA/ˌlaɪtsˈaʊt/
IPA/ˌlaɪtsˈaʊt/

lights-out — noun

1. the set bedtime in a boarding school, camp, barracks, or similar place, when eve

1.nounB2
Definition

the set bedtime in a boarding school, camp, barracks, or similar place, when everyone must stop using the lights and go to bed

Example

At lights-out, Lucía closed her novel and climbed into the top bunk.

at lights-out — fixed bedtime in shared sleeping quarters

The campers had ten minutes to wash up before lights-out.

before lights-out — time limit before the nightly cutoff

Common collocations
  • at lights-out
  • before lights-out
  • after lights-out
Synonyms
  • bedtime

    the everyday word for when someone should go to bed, without the institutional rule

  • taps

    mainly military; often names the bugle call or end-of-day signal rather than the bedtime period itself

Grammar Patterns

at lights-out

before/after lights-out

Usage Note

Usually refers to shared places with fixed rules, such as boarding schools, camps, barracks, or hospital wards. In ordinary home life, bedtime is usually the more natural word.

Common Mistakes

Our family has lights-out at nine every night.
Our family has bedtime at nine every night.
lights-out is mainly used for a shared institution or camp with formal rules, not a normal home routine.

2. an order or warning, often in the military, that tells everyone to put the light

2.nounC1
Definition

an order or warning, often in the military, that tells everyone to put the lights out immediately

Example

When the sergeant shouted 'Lights out!', Selim switched off the barracks lamp.

Lights out! — spoken order to turn off the lights

The bugle sounded the lights-out signal across the dark camp.

lights-out signal — formal signal giving the order

Common collocations
  • lights-out signal
  • lights-out command
  • lights-out call
Synonyms
  • command

    more general; not limited to turning lights off

  • signal

    can be a whistle, bugle, or gesture, not necessarily this specific order

  • order

    broad everyday word; lights-out is a specialized kind of order

Grammar Patterns

lights-out signal

lights-out command

lights-out call

Usage Note

Most often used in military or highly regulated settings. It can name the spoken order itself or the whistle, bugle, or other signal that delivers the order.

Common Mistakes

The teacher gave us a lights-out during the test.
The teacher told us to put our phones away during the test.
lights-out is specifically an order or signal to turn lights off, not a general command.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

lights-out is closest to bedtime, but bedtime is the everyday word for when one person, especially a child, should go to sleep. lights-out adds the idea of a rule in a shared place where the lamps must be turned off. curfew is different: it sets the latest time you must be back somewhere, not the time you must stop using the lights and sleep. In military English, taps can mark the end of the day, but it is the bugle call or ceremony itself, not the bedtime period. quiet hours only means a period when noise must stay low. A camp may start quiet hours at nine and have lights-out at ten.

bedtime ↗curfewtaps ↗quiet hours

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

This expression grew out of the ordinary command lights out, meaning 'put out the lamps' or 'switch the lights off'. English later used the same wording as a noun for the nightly bedtime rule in places such as barracks, camps, and boarding schools.