burning the midnight oil
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Sitting up late, especially when engaged on literary work.
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 “burning the midnight oil” mean?
Sitting up late, especially when engaged on literary work.
Is “burning the midnight oil” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.