U 午夜 the middle of the night; 12 o'clock at night

　midnight　的基本意思是“午夜”，指午夜12点或12点前后的一段时间，是不可数名词。

　burn the ～ oil　（学习或工作）开夜车
　end one's ～　结束午夜（的活动）
　spend ～　度过午夜
　wear through ～　挨过午夜
　all ～ (long)　整个午夜
　all the ～　整个午夜
　any ～　随便哪个午夜
　better ～　美好的午夜
　big ～　重要的午夜
　busy ～　忙碌的午夜
　calm ～　平静的午夜
　impenetrable ～　漆黑一团的午夜
　pleasant ～　愉快的午夜
　proper ～　适当的午夜
　quiet ～　平静的午夜
　regular ～　平常的午夜
　sad ～　悲痛的午夜
　sedentary ～　万籁俱寂的午夜
　terrible ～　可怕的午夜
　about ～　约在半夜时分
　after ～　午夜过后
　at ～　夜半
　before ～　午夜之前
　by ～　到午夜
　near ～　接近午夜
　work until ～　工作到半夜

　I hardly noticed the clock strike midnight.　我几乎没注意到钟已敲午夜12点了。
　It's getting on to midnight.　快到午夜了。
　I know it's almost midnight, but we'd better press on and get the job finished.　我知道现在快半夜了，但我们最好还是坚持干下去，把工作干完。
　As midnight drew on, the party became more boisterous.　随着午夜的临近，参加宴会的人变得更加喧闹。
　The new law will be brought into force by midnight tomorrow.　法律于明日午夜生效。
　A fire broke out in the lower story during the midnight and soon the whole building was in flames.　午夜时分楼下着了火，不一会儿整个大楼都烧起来了。
　He expired at midnight.　他午夜死去。
　The guard will be relieved at midnight.　这卫兵要到午夜才换班。
　The ship pulled in to the shore at midnight.　那船半夜时靠岸。
　He astonished us by taking a stroll at midnight.　他在半夜里散步，使我们惊讶。
　The policemen burst in on the thief's house at midnight.　警察半夜突然冲进窃贼家中。
　We stayed up until midnight talking about our work.　我们谈论工作一直到深夜还没睡。
　We talked until midnight and then separated.　我们谈到午夜才分手。
　He didn't get to the hotel until midnight.　他半夜才到达旅馆。
　Our teacher of English often goes over our homework till midnight.　英语老师经常看我们的作业直到半夜。
　They would work till midnight without feeding.　他们常常工作到半夜，饭也顾不上吃。
　The streets began to empty after midnight.　午夜过后街上行人开始稀少了。
　Her mother forbids her to stay out after midnight.　她母亲不准她午夜不归。
　The time is just after midnight and we are now closing down.　时间刚过午夜，我们今日的各项广播节目到此已全部播送完毕。
　The patient caught pneumonia and passed away shortly before midnight.　那个病人感染了肺炎，在午夜前不久死了。
　If we want to reach an agreement before midnight, we must now descend to the particulars; we've dealt with all the general points.　如果想要在午夜前达成一项协议，我们现在必须开始讨论细节，几个大问题我们已经谈过了。

 ♣ burn the midnight oil
　（学习或工作）开夜车　study or work to very late
　Exam time was near, and more and more pupils were burning the midnight oil.　考试将近，越来越多的学生都在开夜车。

　这婴儿总是在半夜哭闹。
　［误］ The baby always cries at the midnight.
　［正］ The baby always cries at midnight.
　刚过午夜，就下起雨来了。
　［误］ It came on to rain soon after the midnight.
　［正］ It came on to rain soon after midnight.
　倾盆大雨使我们午夜之前到家的希望破灭了。
　［误］ The heavy downpour killed our hope of getting home before the midnight.
　［正］ The heavy downpour killed our hope of getting home before midnight.
　［析］ 表示“在半夜”，应该说at midnight, midnight前不加冠词；在before midnight, after midnight中， midnight前也都不加定冠词。类似的像at dawn （黎明）， at noon（在中午）等都不可以加定冠词。