noonday

English

Etymology

From noon +‎ day.

Noun

noonday (countable and uncountable, plural noondays)

1. The time of noon; the time of day when the sun is highest in the sky, especially on a hot day.
   • 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Courtship of Miles Standish, part 9:

     She should not walk, he said, through the dust and heat of the noonday;
     Nay, she should ride like a queen, not plod along like a peasant.

2. (figurative) The time of greatest prosperity.

Synonyms

• (time of noon): midday, noon, noontime; see also Thesaurus:midday

Derived terms

• noonday devil