What it means
It means staying up late to work or study, usually because something needs finishing and sleep's been shoved out the door. The old image was literal oil burning in a lamp while someone kept at it after dark. These days it's screens, caffeine and tired eyeballs, but the vibe's exactly the same.
Usage examples
"Deadline’s tomorrow, so I’m burning the midnight oil at the kitchen table, chugging coffee while the laptop fan screams like it’s dying."
"The dissertation deadline at the University of Manchester is tomorrow morning at nine, so I am burning the midnight oil at the kitchen table of the shared house, chugging the third filter coffee from the cafetiere, the laptop fan screams like the kettle on the hob, and the cat has given up trying to sit on the keyboard for the night."
"The accountant in the Birmingham office burned the midnight oil for three weeks straight in March every year of the tax season, the cleaners found the empty Costa cups on the desk every morning at six, the partner brought him a Marks and Spencer egg sandwich at seven each Thursday, and his wife forgot what his face looked like at supper."
"I've been burning the midnight oil all week for this exam, and at this point my notes are starting to look haunted."
"She was still burning the midnight oil at 2 a.m., muttering at the spreadsheet like it had personally offended her."
Where it comes from
This one's old-school English and goes back to the days when people literally worked by oil-lamp light at night. It's recorded in the 1600s, including in Francis Quarles. The picture was so clean and punchy that it survived the jump from lamps to electric light without losing its spark.
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