Word + Quiz: nocturnal

In honor of the fifth annual 15-second vocabulary video challenge, which will begin Jan. 18, we’re presenting the work of last year’s winners all week.

nocturnal \näk-ˈtər-nəl\ adjective

1. belonging to or active during the night

2. of or relating to or occurring in the night

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The word nocturnal has appeared in 94 articles on nytimes.com in the past year, including on Jan. 1 in “The Hunt for ‘Fire Cats’ Amid Northern California Ashes” by Thomas Fuller:

Finding the missing cats that fled the October wildfires has been an impassioned quest for Jennifer Petruska, an animal lover whose home, pets included, was one of the few in her neighborhood to be spared.

… Ms. Petruska says she knows there are still many cats on the loose because her motion-activated cameras capture them nearly every night, along with a parade of other nocturnal animals such as skunks, opossums and raccoons.

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