noun
definition
A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.
adjective
definition
Near the end of a period of time.
example
It was late in the evening when we finally arrived.
definition
Specifically, near the end of the day.
example
It was getting late and I was tired.
definition
(usually not comparable) Associated with the end of a period.
example
Late Latin is less fully inflected than classical Latin.
definition
Not arriving until after an expected time.
example
Even though we drove as fast as we could, we were still late.
definition
Not having had an expected menstrual period.
example
I'm late, honey. Could you buy a test?
definition
Deceased, dead: used particularly when speaking of the dead person's actions while alive. (Often used with "the"; see usage notes.)
example
Her late husband had left her well provided for.
definition
Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; departed, or gone out of office.
example
the late administration
definition
Recent — relative to the noun it modifies.
definition
Of a star or class of stars, cooler than the sun.
adverb
definition
After a deadline has passed, past a designated time.
example
We drove as fast as we could, but we still arrived late.
definition
Formerly, especially in the context of service in a military unit.
example
Colonel Easterwood, late of the 34th Carbines, was a guest at the dinner party.
definition
Not long ago; just now.
Examples of late in a Sentence
It's late, and I'm tired.
It's not too late to change your mind.
But you'll be late for dinner.
It's late and I have to get up early tomorrow.
It was late day-three by our calculations when we broke through.
Wildlife hid behind that wall of green, but it was too late in the day for them to be hopping out on the road.
It was getting late and the air was taking on a chill.
Late in the afternoon, we tried something different.
I didn't mean to make you late for your appointment.
I dug in a tub of iced beer and Quinn and I toasted the two cans as we sat back on Adirondack chairs to enjoy the late afternoon.
If you rescue him, you'll be late for a movie, or a ballgame or dinner.
She asked "Yeah. We had some late visitors."
Daniel Brennan offered an opportunity in late February.
We were late for work but in a great mood when we finally arrived.
He left early each Friday afternoon, often returning late on Monday morning.
Martha had asked to come in late as baby Clair had a bad night.
Sorry to bop in so late.
Too late and they'd be sloppy drunk.
He is the well-known Prince Bolkonski who had to retire from the army under the late Emperor, and was nicknamed 'the King of Prussia.'
Kind of late for a walk, isn't it?
The realization came slow and late, but clear.
I was about to call them, it was so late and you hadn't come home.
Mrs. Lincoln sauntered into the room, blinking her eyes at the late hour, and Fred reached down and picked her up with one arm, taking a beer from Dean with the other.
She hesitated then exited the car and shivered in the late night breeze.
Dean bit his lip, assuming the little woman was about to complain about Gladys Turnbull's late night writing, but she had other concerns.
Dean brushed off a white cloud of flour and greeted a well-dressed, good-looking man in his late forties standing in the hall.
In the late seventies and early eighties scaling these challenging surfaces really caught on.
When the stream became visible, the flow was light, a far cry from the raging torrent Dean remembered from late spring when the melting snow increased the flow of the Uncompahgre a hundred fold.
Plus, Janet is either late or missing, Fred never even came home last night, I don't think I made enough breakfast rolls, and there's a stack of luggage in the hall.
I cook, but mostly toast and tea, and soup in the late afternoon.
Gladys Turnbull was sleeping late, as usual.
Oh my gosh, it's so late.
It's not too late for you to start a family, you know.
Was it too late?
Even so, Brady and his team had arrived too late.
He assumed Cynthia Byrne was a few minutes late, but when he descended the stairs, there she sat, opposite Fred O'Connor, who was decked out in an elegant blue pinstripe suit complete with pocket handkerchief and bow tie.
After apologizing for the late hour, she again thanked him for a great day.
I must be late.
The god was originally a stranger, taken into the kin by a rite of blood brotherhood, and this constitutes the dark point of the theory; for Robertson Smith regards the blood bond as relatively late; hence we do not see how the god became associated with the kin.
It takes time for me to establish motion and I got a late start.
Then he added with a smile in his voice, You two are working late together.
It was too late for him to know.
This wasn't planned, and her appearance was almost too late.
His reinforcements would come too late; he had one choice to save his planet.
They'd been right to use force over reason with the Council, a lesson he'd learned almost too late.
She hadn't realized what she felt for him until it was too late to tell him.
A little late to matter, Kiera said with a shrug.
The dispute on the latter point between Fermat and Descartes was continued, even after the philosopher's death, as late as 1662.
One night the king sat up very late, writing letters and sending messages; and the little page was kept busy running on errands until past midnight.
We're already late getting started on account of him and the saddle bum will probably use up another half-hour of daylight eating our food.