oíche, f. (gs. ~, pl. ~anta).Night. 1. (a) Period of darkness, night-time. San ~, at night. I lár na h~, in the middle of the night. Ar feadh na h~, throughout the night. Faoi scáth na h~, under cover of night. Thar ~, overnight. ~ dhorcha, chiúin, dark, calm, night. ~ ghealaí, gheimhridh, moonlight, winter’s, night. Obair ~, night-work. Iostas na h~, night’s lodging. Léine ~, night-shirt. Solas ~, night-light. Éan ~, bird of night. S.a. comhrac 2(b), lus, siúl 4 (a).(b) Nightfall. Go h~, go titim na h~, till nightfall. Tá an ~ ann, it is night. Rug an ~ orainn, night overtook us. (c) (Used adverbially) Bhí mé ann ~, I was there one night. ~ amháin a casadh orm é, one night that I met him. ~ dúinn ar muir, on a night that we were at sea. ~ éigin eile, some other night. 2. Portion of night taken as an occasion. ~ airneáin, dhamhsa, chártaí, chomhrá, a night of visiting, of dancing, of card-playing, of conversation. ~ cheoil, musical evening. ~ a dhéanamh de, to make a night of it. Rinneamar ~ go maidin de, we made it an all-night event. Bhí ~ mhór againn, we had a great night. 3. (a) Night following a particular day. ~ Dhomhnaigh, Sunday night. ~ an chluiche mhóir, (on) the night of the big match. ~ Lae Bealtaine, May-Day night. ~ a bpósta, (on) their wedding night. (b) Eve (of festival). ~ chinn féile, eve of festival. ~ chinn bliana, New Year’s eve. ~ chinn an dá lá dhéag, eve of Epiphany. ~ Shamhna, Hallowe’en. ~ Nollag, Christmas Eve. (Var:pl. ~anna)