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Synonyms

first night

American  

noun

  1. opening night.

first night British  

noun

    1. the first public performance of a play or other production

    2. ( as modifier )

      first-night nerves
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of first night

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At the first night of his first headline tour in Birmingham on Wednesday, it was literally up in lights above the stage throughout the show.

From BBC

Rosati slept for 16 hours on the first night of her stay at a hotel in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., last year.

From The Wall Street Journal

“I’m hooked, this is awesome,” she said after the first night of her stay.

From The Wall Street Journal

After the first night, Camille gave up on the idea that Mom will text.

From Literature

On the first night of Hanukkah in 2025, they were at Bondi Beach.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.