Halloween
noun
Hal·low·een
ˌha-lə-ˈwēn 
ˌhä-
ˌhä-
variants
or less commonly Hallowe'en
: October 31 observed especially with dressing up in disguise, trick-or-treating, and displaying jack-o'-lanterns during the evening
Examples of Halloween in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The winter of 2023-24 ended without a single St. Paul snow emergency, given that not a single day passed with as much as an inch of snowfall between Halloween and early February, according to AccuWeather.
—
Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 20 Apr. 2024
Think apples and pumpkins for Halloween and potatoes and squash for Thanksgiving.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
The only way to save it, Delroy believes, is to air an extraordinary Halloween episode about the occult in the middle of sweeps season.
—Kevin Nguyen, The Verge, 20 Apr. 2024
While she was stopped at the intersection, a man armed with a semiautomatic rifle and wearing a black hoodie and a Halloween mask got out of the Acura behind her, walked up to her window, pointed the gun at her and hopped into the back seat of the Durango.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 19 Apr. 2024
In the past, they were promoted on campus tours and sometimes brought out for Halloween and other events.
—Julia Jacobs, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
The project is a continuation of what the couple had done for Halloween last year — dressing up as Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce.
—Michael Roppolo, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2024
Since then, the trio have dressed up for Halloween, celebrated major career milestones together and more.
—Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
Other activities engage residents as well. Bruner, president of the Hollywood Elementary School PTA, helped plan a Trunk or Treat for Halloween last year.
—Iris Vukmanovic, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 20 Apr. 2024
Think apples and pumpkins for Halloween and potatoes and squash for Thanksgiving.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
The only way to save it, Delroy believes, is to air an extraordinary Halloween episode about the occult in the middle of sweeps season.
—Kevin Nguyen, The Verge, 20 Apr. 2024
While she was stopped at the intersection, a man armed with a semiautomatic rifle and wearing a black hoodie and a Halloween mask got out of the Acura behind her, walked up to her window, pointed the gun at her and hopped into the back seat of the Durango.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 19 Apr. 2024
In the past, they were promoted on campus tours and sometimes brought out for Halloween and other events.
—Julia Jacobs, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
The project is a continuation of what the couple had done for Halloween last year — dressing up as Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce.
—Michael Roppolo, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2024
Since then, the trio have dressed up for Halloween, celebrated major career milestones together and more.
—Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
Other activities engage residents as well. Bruner, president of the Hollywood Elementary School PTA, helped plan a Trunk or Treat for Halloween last year.
—Iris Vukmanovic, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Halloween.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near Halloween
Cite this Entry
“Halloween.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Halloween. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Halloween
noun
Hal·low·een
ˌhal-ə-ˈwēn
ˌhäl-
ˌhäl-
: October 31 celebrated especially by wearing costumes, trick-or-treating, and displaying jack-o'-lanterns
Etymology
an altered form of All Hallow Even, the eve of All Saints' Day
Word Origin
Modern-day Christians know the first of November as All Saints' Day. In the Middle Ages it was called All Hallow Day. This was a hallowed or holy day celebrated in honor of all the saints in heaven. Since November 1 was a special holy day with a special name, the day before it had a special name as well. October 31 was called All Hallow Eve or All Hallow Even. The words eve and even were used both for the evening and the day before a special day. This name was sometimes written All Hallow E'en and later shortened to Halloween.
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