dailies
C1Professional, Technical, Informal
Definition
Meaning
The first, unedited prints of film or video footage shot during a single day, viewed for quality and continuity.
A routine task or report that is produced or reviewed every day; in journalism, daily newspapers; in finance, daily financial summaries.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Primarily a countable plural noun. The singular 'daily' is rarely used in this specific sense. The term originates from film production but has extended metaphorically to other domains involving routine daily output.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Usage is identical in both varieties within film/TV contexts. The metaphorical extension to routine tasks is slightly more common in American business/informal English.
Connotations
In film/TV: technical, collaborative, critical review. In business: routine, sometimes mundane, essential oversight.
Frequency
High frequency in film/TV production industries globally. Low frequency in general everyday language.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
review the dailieswatch the dailies from yesterdaythe dailies look goodsend the dailies to the editorVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “[No specific idioms. The word itself is industry jargon.]”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to daily reports or metrics summaries, e.g., 'The manager reviews the sales dailies every morning.'
Academic
Rare. Might appear in film/media studies papers discussing production processes.
Everyday
Very rare. Understood only by those in relevant industries.
Technical
Standard term in film, television, and video production for unedited daily footage.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- [Not applicable as a verb]
American English
- [Not applicable as a verb]
adverb
British English
- [Not applicable as an adverb]
American English
- [Not applicable as an adverb]
adjective
British English
- [Not applicable in this sense. The base 'daily' is an adjective.]
American English
- [Not applicable in this sense. The base 'daily' is an adjective.]
Examples
By CEFR Level
- [Too technical for A2 level]
- The team looked at the dailies to see the scenes they filmed.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: 'DAILY' + 'S' = the things (footage, reports) produced DAILY. Just like 'dailies' are the daily output of a film shoot.
Conceptual Metaphor
PROGRESS IS A JOURNEY CAPTURED IN SEGMENTS (the dailies are the daily 'travel log' of the film's production).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct translation as 'ежедневные' for the film term; it is a specific technical term 'черновой материал' or 'сырые дубли'.
- Do not confuse with the adjective 'daily' meaning 'ежедневный' in general contexts.
Common Mistakes
- Using it as a singular noun ('a daily' in the film sense).
- Confusing it with the plural of the newspaper 'daily' (e.g., 'The dailies reported the news').
- Misspelling as 'dailys'.
Practice
Quiz
In which industry is the term 'dailies' most precisely defined and commonly used?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, while its primary and most precise meaning is in film/TV, it can be used metaphorically in other fields (e.g., business, software) for daily reports or outputs, though this is less common.
They are essentially synonyms in film production. 'Rushes' is the traditional term (from when film was physically 'rushed' to the lab), while 'dailies' is more common in modern usage, especially in digital workflows.
Rarely. The term is almost always used in the plural form 'dailies' when referring to the footage. The singular 'daily' typically refers to a newspaper or a cleaner.
You can use it informally to refer to daily reports or updates, e.g., 'Send me the marketing dailies by 5 PM.' However, it's industry slang, not a formal business term.