opening night

noun — 2 senses

opening night

noun
1

The first night, evening, or day of a spectacle or show.

  • I’m writing in pure hyperbole. I know this. I just don’t know another way to talk about this movie. Watching Fury Road in the theater on opening night, I worried that I was being obnoxious, gleefully cackling with glee and, more than once, literally throwing my hands up in disbelief.2017 December 1, Tom Breihan, “Mad Max: Fury Road might already be the best action movie ever made”, in The Onion AV Club:
  • With their lead cut to 14-7, England could have got twitchy, but any opening-night nerves were eased as United States centre Alev Kelter, who plays her club rugby with Loughborough Lightning, was shown yellow a minute after Jarrell-Searcy's score.2025 August 22, Mike Henson, “England open World Cup with 11-try win over USA”, in BBC Sport:
2

The first event in a new venue.

Related terms
opening ceremony, first night, première

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.