Phrase guide

see the light of day

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To appear; to be published or disseminated.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To be realised.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • Many projects were planned and started, but none saw the light of day.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: işıq üzü görmək — appear; be realised
  • Chinese Mandarin: 出現 /出现 (chūxiàn) — appear; be realised
  • Chinese Mandarin: 誕生 /诞生 (dànshēng) — appear; be realised
  • Chinese Mandarin: 實現 /实现 (shíxiàn) — appear; be realised
  • Chinese Mandarin: 問世 /问世 (wènshì) — appear; be realised
  • Finnish: nähdä päivänvalo — appear; be realised
  • French: voir le jour — appear; be realised
  • German: das Licht der Welt erblicken — appear; be realised
  • Greek: βλέπω το φως (vlépo to fos) — appear; be realised
  • Hungarian: napvilágot lát — appear; be realised
  • Hungarian: megvalósul — appear; be realised
  • Hungarian: megszületik — appear; be realised
  • Hungarian: valóra válik — appear; be realised
  • Norwegian Bokmål: se dagens lys — appear; be realised
  • Polish: ujrzeć światło dzienne — appear; be realised
  • Romanian: vedea lumina zilei — appear; be realised
  • Spanish: ver la luz del día — appear; be realised