broad daylight
57
2.5
- noun
:
a plena luz del día
- The robbery occurred in broad daylight, surprising many people who were nearby.
And then a UFO sighting in broad daylight with multiple witnesses.
- And then a UFO sighting in broad daylight with multiple witnesses.
- The blue goes away, and then you just see stars in broad daylight.
- Because that's what ninjas are best known for, knocking on people's doors in broad daylight.
- This last Sunday, there was a huge massacre in Michoacan during a funeral in broad daylight.
- He's shooting people in broad daylight in the normal course of their life with literally hundreds, if not thousands of potential eyewitnesses.
- And it has happened in, in, in broad daylight.
- And one of them got stopped, got robbed at knife point, broad daylight.
- We are aligned that there was a cop who murdered a man in broad daylight.
- We were there for over an hour in broad daylight by this point before single policeman turned up.
- We are learning grim new details about the Georgian nursing student who went for a run in broad daylight, broad daylight last week and wound up dead.
Examples
-
In the weeks after Alvio's disappearance, the pack began attacking sheep in broad daylight.
Academic text (1996) -
But this last time, it happened in broad daylight in the Chicago Art Institute.
-
If you came in broad daylight, you could still miss the town completely.
Fiction book (1999) -
The first time I saw him was in broad daylight at the baseball field.
Fiction book (1994) -
We were there for over an hour in broad daylight by this point before single policeman turned up.
-
On November 2, 2004, in broad daylight, he was brutally murdered on an Amsterdam street.
Academic text (2008) -
Seven of us against a Union regiment and Pinkerton detectives in broad daylight in the middle of Main Street.
Fiction book (2001) -
Police Captain Andrew Bogomil has been gunned down in broad daylight.
-
" We're taking grave risks by meeting in broad daylight, Ethan," Andrew reminded him.
Fiction book (2000) -
He's here because he assassinated a dictator in broad daylight.
Synonyms
Antonyms
How Visible
38
2.7
57
2.5
294
1.0
65
2.1
- Informal
110
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'in full daylight; openly' is directly and transparently built from 'broad' (wide/extensive) modifying 'daylight' (natural daylight), conveying the idea of very clear, visible daytime conditions. This adjective+noun composition is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Broad daylight comes from the picture of wide, bright daylight, with broad meaning wide so everything is easy to see. If something happens in broad daylight, it happens where everyone can see it, so it means 'openly'.