Meanings
present singular third person burns the midnight oil · participle present burning the midnight oil · participle past burned the midnight oil · past burned the midnight oil · participle past burnt the midnight oil · past burnt the midnight oil
- idiomaticTo work studiously, especially late into the night.
Near-synonym: pull an all-nighter
3 more examples
He was burning the midnight oil to finish his paper.
She was burning the midnight oil to finish her part of the project.
You worked at whatever task you were engaged in — churning out steel nuts for the car companies or churning out essays in college — until you were done, even if you had to burn the midnight oil. No excuses, no whining, no cheating.
2013, Phil Cousineau, Burning the Midnight Oil: Illuminating Words for the Long Night's Journey Into Day, Simon and Schuster, →ISBNSynonyms: elucubrate, pull an all-nighter
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo work studiously, especially late into the night.
Origin
Originally referring to the act of burning lamp oil in oil lamps for light at night. The collocation midnight oil in its literal sense is attested from mid 17th c.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أشعل فانوس الليل
- أشعل فانوس الليلwork through the night
Catalan cremar-se les celles
- cremar-se les celleswork through the night
Chinese Mandarin 開夜車 /开夜车, 焚膏繼晷 /焚膏继晷
- 開夜車 /开夜车 (kāi yèchē)work through the night
- 焚膏繼晷 /焚膏继晷 (féngāojìguǐ)work through the night
- 挑燈夜戰 /挑灯夜战 (tiǎodēngyèzhàn)work through the night
Czech pracovat dlouho do noci, ponocovat
- pracovat dlouho do nociwork through the night
- ponocovatwork through the night
- pracovat dnem i nocíwork through the night
Dutch tot laat in de nacht werken, het nachtje doordoen
- tot laat in de nacht werkenwork through the night
- het nachtje doordoenwork through the night
Finnish valvoa yötä myöten
- valvoa yötä myötenwork through the night
French travailler tard le soir, bûcher
- travailler tard le soirwork through the night
- bûcherwork through the night
- faire nuit blanchework through the night
German bis spät in die Nacht arbeiten, die Nacht zum Tage machen
- bis spät in die Nacht arbeitenwork through the night
- die Nacht zum Tage machenwork through the night
Hebrew לילה לבן
- לילה לבןwork through the night
Hungarian késő éjszakáig tanul, éjjel-nappal tanul
- késő éjszakáig tanulwork through the night
- éjjel-nappal tanulwork through the night
- éjszakázikwork through the night
Irish déan airneán
- déan airneánwork through the night
Italian fare le ore piccole, passare la notte in bianco
- fare le ore piccolework through the night
- passare la notte in biancowork through the night
Japanese 徹夜する
- 徹夜する (tetsuya suru)work through the night
Latin lūcūbrō
- lūcūbrōwork through the night
Latvian strādāt pa naktīm
- strādāt pa naktīmwork through the night
Polish pracować do późnej nocy
- pracować do późnej nocywork through the night
Portuguese passar a noite em claro, virar a noite
- passar a noite em clarowork through the night
- virar a noitework through the night
- fazer uma diretawork through the night
Russian полуно́чничать, засиж́иваться
- полуно́чничать (polunóčničatʹ)work through the night
- засиж́иваться (zasiž́ivatʹsja)work through the night
Slovak pracovať dlho do noci, pracovať vo dne v noci
- pracovať dlho do nociwork through the night
- pracovať vo dne v nociwork through the night
Spanish hacer días y noches, quemarse las pestañas
- hacer días y nocheswork through the night
- quemarse las pestañaswork through the night
Swedish dygna, låta flitens lampa lysa
- dygnawork through the night
- låta flitens lampa lysawork through the night
Tagalog magsunog ng kilay
- magsunog ng kilaywork through the night
Cite this entry
burn the midnight oil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burn%20the%20midnight%20oil
“burn the midnight oil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burn%20the%20midnight%20oil. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “burn the midnight oil,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burn%20the%20midnight%20oil.
Source: burn the midnight oil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.