stroke of midnight
Day's final moment
The stroke of midnight is the moment when midnight arrives, marked by a clock's chime or bell.
It carries associations with transformation and magic—Cinderella's spell breaks at the stroke of midnight, and New Year celebrations begin then.
The phrase emphasizes the precise instant rather than the general time: At the stroke of midnight, fireworks erupted across the city.
- clockDevice displaying time
- chimeMelodic bell sound
- bellsStruck metal sound-makers
- twelveOne more than eleven
- witching hourTime of supernatural activity
Cinderella · fairy godmother · New Year · New Year's Eve · countdown · gong · tower · pendulum · toll · strike · hour · darkness · magic · spell · pumpkin · carriage · glass slipper · party dress
- Cinderellaglass slipper, fairy godmother, Prince Charming, pumpkin, stepmother
- New Year'scountdown, ball drop, resolution, toast, champagne toast
- HogmanayAuld Lang Syne, shortbread, bagpipes, ceilidh, tall dark stranger
stroke of midnighthigh noon
Solar zenith, or confrontation
midday · crack of dawn · sunrise · broad daylight · morning
stroke of midnightahead of schedule
Before the planned time
no rush · at the beginning · early days · in the nick of time · in good time
stroke, strokes, stroked, stroking, stroker, midnight, night, nights, nightly