Election Day

noun

: a day legally established for the election of public officials
especially : the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in an even year designated for national elections in the U.S. and observed as a legal holiday in many states

Examples of Election Day in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
States can still count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, a blow to Republicans who had pushed for stricter regulations. — Chris Dobstaff, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 With just four months to go until Election Day, the House is having trouble with the basics of legislating – let alone moving the typical election-year messaging bills meant to drive up voter turnout. — Francesca Chambers, USA Today, 2 July 2026 Mississippi's election law allows absentee voters, including seniors and college students, to cast their ballots by mail so long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day and received no more than five days afterward. — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 29 June 2026 The justices split 5 to 4 in finding that Mississippi's measure does not conflict with federal statutes that set Election Day as the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in certain years. — Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 30 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for Election Day

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Election Day was in the 15th century

Rhymes for Election Day

See All Rhymes for Election Day

Browse Nearby Words

election cake
Election Day
election district
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Election Day.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Election%20Day. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All