From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisheveeve /iːv/ noun 1 [countable usually singular]TMT the night or day before an important dayeve of on the eve of the election We’re arriving on Christmas Eve. a New Year’s Eve party2 [countable] literaryAL evening one summer’s eve
Examples from the Corpus
eve• Neighbours were evacuated as smoke billowed from the semi-detached bungalow in Didcot, Oxon, late on Christmas eve.• Christmas Eve• He wrings his hands like a fly and clinches his eves at the awful sound of that squeaking.• New Year's Eve• Found hanging.Another student dies on the eve of term.• However, on the eve of the referendum, the majority of priests preached against abortion.• Now, on the eve of the formation of the congress, is a good time to clear up any misapprehensions.• Back in 1988 he had the nerve to raise interest rates on the eve of the Republican convention.Christmas Eve• Within this period, the most significant day is Christmas Eve.• None of the councillors on the Appeal Committee would want to attend an appeal on Christmas Eve.• It smashed down through the top of her skull on Christmas Eve while she was outside playing with friends.• On Christmas Eve he had dinner with friends in Edinburgh.• On Christmas Eve my nine-year-old grandson James was admitted in the early evening for an emergency appendix operation.• That way, Christmas Eve remained special.EveEve the first woman, according to the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions. In the Old Testament of the Bible, Eve lived in the Garden of Eden with Adam, the first man, and persuaded him to eat a fruit which God had forbidden them to eat. → Fall, theOrigin eve (1100-1200) even “evening” ((11-21 centuries)), from Old English æfen; → EVENING 