daylight

UK: /ˈdeɪlaɪt/ US: /ˈdeɪˌlaɪt/ ,(dā′līt′)

Inflections of 'daylight' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

daylights

v 3rd person singular

daylighting

v pres p

daylit

v past

daylighted

v past (Less common)

daylit

v past p

daylighted

v past p (Less common)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

day•light /ˈdeɪˌlaɪt/   n. 

[uncountable]
1. the period of light during a day:
   In December in Sweden there is hardly any daylight.
2. daybreak;
   dawn:
   Attack at daylight.
3. public knowledge or awareness;
   openness:
   When this information is brought to daylight, the mayor will have a lot of explaining to do.
4. daylights, wits:
   You scared the daylights out of me.

adj. [before a noun]

5. done, used, or taking place in daylight:
   a daring, daylight robbery at the bank.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

day•light  (dā′līt′), n., adj., v., -light•ed or -lit, -light•ing. 
n. 

1. the light of day:
   At the end of the tunnel they could see daylight.
2. public knowledge or awareness;
   openness:
   The newspaper article brought the scandal out into the daylight.
3. the period of day;
   daytime.
4. daybreak;
   dawn.
5. a clear space between any two parts that should be close together, as between the jambs of the opening of a doorway or the knees of a horseback rider and a saddle.
6. daylights, mental soundness;
   consciousness;
   wits:
   The noise scared the daylights out of us.
7. Idioms see daylight, to progress to a point where completion of a difficult task seems possible or probable.

adj. 

8. Photography of, pertaining to, or being film made for exposure by the natural light of day.

v.t. 

9. Building to suffuse (an interior space) with artificial light or with daylight filtered through translucent materials, as roofing panels.

• 1175–1225; Middle English; see day, light¹

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

daylight / ˈdeɪˌlaɪt/ noun

1. light from the sun
2. daybreak
3. see daylight ⇒ to understand something previously obscure
4. to realize that the end of a difficult task is approaching