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burn the midnight oil

burn the midnight oil {v. phr.}

To study late at night.

Exam time was near, and more and more pupils were burning the midnight oil.

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Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

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midnight oil

[midnight oil] See: [BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL]. A Dictionary of American Idioms

stay up late

[stay up late] {v. phr.} To not go to bed until very late. * /Peter has to stay up late these days as he is preparing for his comprehensive exams./ […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

burn

[burn] See: [EARS BURN], [KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING], [MONEY TO BURN]. A Dictionary of American Idioms

burn up

[burn up] {v.} 1. To burn completely; destroy or be destroyed by fire. * /Mr. Scott was burning up old letters./ * /The house burned up before the firemen got […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

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An idiom is

an expression "whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements… or from the general grammatical rules of a language"

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