night of the long knives
night of the long knives noun: a purge, in which opponents of a regime or political party are killed or removed.
Noun (1)
night of the long knives (plural nights of the long knives)
- A purge, in which opponents of a regime or political party are killed or removed.
- (It was to precede yet another night of the long knives—this one of Republican knives honed up for Truman and the new Truman-Democratic Party. But this latter would in some ways be actually a manifestation of secondary importance.)1961, William Smith White, Majesty & mischief: a mixed tribute to F.D.R., page 77
- Although the business world has its “nights of the long knives,” the affluent are generally reluctant to be totally ruthless either in competition with one another or against individuals of lesser financial standing.1970, Investors Chronicle and Stock Exchange Gazette, volume 13, page 11
Noun (2) capitalized: Night of the Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives (plural Nights of the Long Knives)
- Alternative letter-case form of night of the long knives (“purge”)
- The violent purge against the Sturmabteilung ordered by the leadership of Nazi Party in 1934.
Forms of night of the long knives
| plural | nights of the long knives |
|---|---|
| alternative form | night of long knives |
| alternative form | Night of Long Knives |
| alternative form | Night of the Long Knives |
| plural | Nights of the Long Knives |
Origin of night of the long knives
Calque of German Nacht der langen Messer, which see for more. In English it tied in with earlier uses of the motif of long knives, as in phrases like the Treachery of the Long Knives (a pseudohistorical massacre of Celts by Anglo-Saxons), used since at least the 1800s.
See night of the long knives.
Questions about night of the long knives
- What does night of the long knives mean?
- Night of the long knives means a purge, in which opponents of a regime or political party are killed or removed.
- What part of speech is night of the long knives?
- Night of the long knives is a noun.
- What is the plural of night of the long knives?
- The plural of night of the long knives is nights of the long knives.
Words near night of the long knives in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: night of the long knives (page history and authors); Night of the Long Knives (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “night of the long knives.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/night_of_the_long_knives. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.