Chinese word

开夜车

Pronunciation

Pinyinkāi yè chē

Meaning

verbwork all night

Example

为了完成报告，他只好开夜车到凌晨。wèi le wán chéng bào gào tā zhí hǎo kāi yè chē dào líng chén

To finish the report, he had to work all night until early morning.

More examples

考试临近，她又开始开夜车复习。kǎo shì lín jìn tā yòu kāi shǐ kāi yè chē fù xí

With the exam drawing near, she started staying up all night to study again.

Core concept

A person pushes a task past bedtime and onward until dawn.

Common phrases

开夜车学习kāi yè chē xué xí
stay up all night studying
开夜车工作kāi yè chē gōng zuò
stay up all night working
开夜车写报告kāi yè chē xiě bào gào
stay up all night writing reports

Similar words

熬夜áo yè: Spend the night without sleeping or go to bed very late.
加班jiā bān: Stay at work and perform duties beyond the regular workday.
赶工gǎn gōng: Hurry through work to finish it after progress has been too slow.

Definition in Chinese

夜里不睡觉，为完成某件事而连续工作或复习，通常从深夜持续到凌晨。yè lǐ bú shuì jiào wèi wán chéng mǒu jiàn shì ér lián xù gōng zuò huò fù xí tōng cháng cóng shēn yè chí xù dào líng chén

Word origin

开夜车 (kāiyèchē, "work through the night") uses the image of operating a 夜车 (yèchē, "night vehicle") to portray work or study continuing while others sleep.

Usage tips

The expression often suggests an exceptional late-night effort, so it is less neutral than saying that a task takes place during the night.

Other meanings

stay up all nightverb

Opposites

早睡zǎo shuìgo to bed earlyverb
按时休息àn shí xiū xīrest on scheduleverb