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the time at which a person usually goes to bed:
it’s past my bedtime.
the time at which a person goes to bed on a particular night:
i have to get up early tomorrow so bedtime tonight will be 9 o’clock.
contemporary examples

it is a bedtime story for adults, filled with first names only—jack and polly, jane and jean, asa and madge, luke and annie.
this week’s hot reads: march 30, 2012 jimmy so april 1, 2012

along with bedtime stories and hints of literary tales, dybek turns richard into a narrator to recount his life story.
must read novels: ballard, dybek, and krasznahorkai jacob silverman, malcolm forbes, john mcintyre april 22, 2012

the crowd — already standing room only — rose to applaud her bedtime tale.
sarah palin rewrites dr. seuss olivia nuzzi march 8, 2014

i turned on my closet light and sat in there well after bedtime, flipping pages until my eyes watered.
a kid and a king: ‘chicago fire’ co-creator derek haas on his love of stephen king derek haas november 13, 2012

her parents became members, and she would only see them at bedtime.
10 juiciest bits from ex-scientologist’s tell-all ‘beyond belief’ kevin fallon february 8, 2013

historical examples

at bedtime, i laid her on my heart, still heaving with sobs; and she seemed to sigh too.
child life in prose various

george by bedtime did not know whether he was on his head or his heels.
camps, quarters and casual places archibald forbes

i usually prescribe it in doses of two grains, three times a day, the last dose being taken just at bedtime.
sleep and its derangements william a. hammond

not everybody heeded the advice, though at bedtime most had resolved to do so.
it happened in egypt c. n. williamson

olaf loved the birds, and the cheer of their vesper song and bedtime twitter comforted alan.
the alaskan james oliver curwood

noun

the time when one usually goes to bed
(as modifier): a bedtime story

n.

also bed-time, early 13c., from bed (n.) + time (n.). bed-time story attested from 1867.