blindman's holiday
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The hour of dusk, when it is too dark to work, and too soon to light candles. The phrase was in common use at least as early as Elizabethan times.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “blindman's holiday” mean?
The hour of dusk, when it is too dark to work, and too soon to light candles. The phrase was in common use at least as early as Elizabethan times.
Is “blindman's holiday” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.