daylight

/ˌdeɪˈlaɪt/

/ˈdeɪlaɪt/

Other forms: daylights

The period of each day when the sun is shining is daylight. If you work as a lifeguard at the town pool, your job takes place during daylight.

You can use daylight and daytime interchangeably, although daylight also means "daytime light" or "the light of the sun." If you lose electricity in your house for a few days, you might have to stick to reading when there's daylight. Many public parks are only open during daylight hours. If someone scares the living daylights out of you, they terrify you — this colloquial phrase comes from an old sense of the eyes being referred to as daylights.

Definitions of daylight

1. noun

   the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside
   synonyms: day, daytime

   types:

   afternoon

   the part of the day between noon and evening

   midafternoon

   the middle part of the afternoon

   eve, even, evening, eventide

   the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)

   guest night

   an evening when members of a club or college can bring their friends as guests

   type of:

   period, period of time, time period

   an amount of time
2. noun

   light during the daytime
   type of:

   light, visible light, visible radiation

   (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation