Definition

1. Noun:
   • (Military) A signal, typically a bugle call, indicating that lights should be extinguished and soldiers should retire for the night. It marks the official end of the day's activities in a barracks.
   • A prescribed or fixed time for going to bed. This usage extends beyond the military to any environment with a set bedtime, such as schools, camps, or institutions.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The barracks fell silent after lights-out.
  • At summer camp, lights-out is at 9:30 PM for all campers.

Advanced Usage

• "lights-out" as a modifier: Used adjectivally to describe something occurring at or associated with this time.
  • He told a scary lights-out story that kept everyone awake.
• Figurative Use: Can describe an absolute end or cessation of activity.
  • The company's financial failure meant lights-out for the entire project.

Variants and Related Words

• Taps (n): In the U.S. military, the specific bugle call played at lights-out.
• Bedtime (n): A more general term for the usual time someone goes to bed.
• Curfew (n): A regulation requiring people to be indoors by a certain time, often earlier and broader than .

Synonyms

• Bedtime
• Retreat (in a specific military context for the evening ceremony)

Related Phrases

• "It's lights-out!": An informal exclamation meaning someone was knocked unconscious or defeated decisively.
  • One punch from the champion, and it was lights-out for the challenger.

Noun

1. (military) signal to turn the lights out
2. a prescribed bedtime