Definition of “day” - English Dictionary

American

“day” in English

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daynoun [ C ]

uk ​ /deɪ/ us ​ /deɪ/

A1 a period of 24 hours, especially from twelve o'clock one night to twelve o'clock the next night:

January has 31 days.
the days of the week
He runs five miles every day.
It took us almost a day to get here.
I saw him the day before yesterday.
We leave the day after tomorrow.
He was last seen alive five days ago.
They haven't been seen for days (= for several days).
I'll be seeing Pat in a few days/in a few days' time.
How's your day been? (= Have you enjoyed today?)
Have a nice day!
I must get some sleep - I've got a big day (= an important day) tomorrow.

A2 used to refer to the period in 24 hours when it is naturally light:

a bright sunny day
It rained all day.
These animals sleep during the day and hunt at night.

A2 the time that you usually spend at work or at school:

a normal working day
I work a seven-hour day.
We're having to work a six-day week to cope with demand.
day off

› a day when you do not have to work or do something that you normally do:

I won't be in on Thursday - it's my day off.
She's taking three days off next week.
the other day

B1 a few days ago:

Didn't I see you in the post office the other day?
these days

A2 used to talk about the present time, in comparison with the past:

Vegetarianism is very popular these days.
in those days

B2 in the past:

In those days people used to write a lot more letters.
any day now

B2 very soon, especially within the next few days:

The baby's due any day now.
by day

› when it is naturally light:

I prefer travelling by day.
day after day

B1 repeatedly, every day:

The same problems keep coming up day after day.
day and night

› all the time:

You can hear the traffic from your room day and night.
day by day

B2 every day, or more and more as each day passes:

Day by day he became weaker.
(from) day to day

› If something changes (from) day to day, it changes often:

The symptoms of the disease change from day to day.
from one day to the next

› before each day happens:

I never know what I’ll be doing from one day to the next.
the days

C1 a period in history:

How did people communicate in the days before email?
to this day

› up to and including the present moment:

To this day nobody knows what happened to him.

More examples

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Grammar

Nowadays, these days or today?We can use nowadays, these days or today as adverbs meaning ‘at the present time, in comparison with the past’: …

Idiom(s)

all in a day's work
the best/happiest days of your life
day in day out
sb's/sth's days are numbered
have had its/your day
have your day in court
in all my (born) days
in my day
in this day and age
make sb's day
not be sb's day
the old days
one of these days
one of those days
one/some day
take it one day at a time/take each day as it comes
that'll be the day
those were the days
to the day

(Definition of “day” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“day” in American English

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daynoun [ C ]

us ​ /deɪ/

› a period of 24 hours, esp. from 12 o’clock one night to 12 o’clock the next night, or the part of this period after the sun rises but before it goes down, when there is light:

My husband picks up our son every day after school.
In summer the days are longer and we have cookouts in the backyard.
We leave on vacation the day after tomorrow.

› A day is also the part of a period of 24 hours that you spend at work:

He’s been working 12-hour days this week.

› Days can mean a long period of time:

In those days (= that period in history), people had large families.

Idiom(s)

day after day
day and night
day by day
day in, day out

(Definition of “day” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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