Staying awake, usually with the aid of
caffeine and cold showers, for over 24 hours. Usually a feat performed by
overworked students, but also by physicians and programmers, and other individuals who refuse to sleep until having solved some mystery.
An all-nighter is NOT simply
staying up until the sun rises, then sleeping.
Jennifer felt like a zombie after having pulled two all nighters in a row during midterms week. "Really,
it's not that bad
after the 40th hour or so," she said, "...once you get past the
hallucinations and the funny twitching thing your legs do."