day·light

/ˈdeıˌlaıt/ noun, pl -lights

1 [noncount] : the light of the sun and sky during the day : the natural light of day

Open up the curtains and let some daylight into the room.

As daylight fades into darkness, everyone returns to their homes.

For pictures taken in daylight, use a different film.

We could see daylight through the cracks in the wall.

They stole my car in broad daylight. [=during the day; without darkness to hide them]

Some of the stuff in that closet hasn't seen daylight [=seen the light of day] since the 1970s.

2 [noncount]

2 a : the time of day when the sky is light

It's almost daylight. [=daytime]

during the hours of daylight = during daylight hours

2 b : the time of day when sunlight first begins to appear

I arrived before daylight. [=dawn, daybreak]

The accident happened just after daylight.

3 [noncount] informal : distance or difference between people or things

They said there was no daylight between the two governments' positions.

The team has won five straight games to put some daylight between themselves and their nearest rivals. [=to gain a larger lead over their nearest rivals]

4 daylights [plural] informal

◇ To scare/frighten the (living) daylights out of someone is to frighten someone very much.

You scared the daylights out of me!

◇ To beat/kick/knock the (living) daylights out of someone is to hit or kick someone very badly.

They beat the daylights out of that guy.