Can you please tell me if there is the collocation ‘to take overnight’ as used in the following sentence?
The results take a minimum of four hours; in the past, if results took overnight, patients were moved to a hotel to wait — sometimes for two to three days, if doctors believed retesting was warranted.
Hi Torsten,
What exactly do want to know?
If the phrase if results took overnight sounds natural.
Hi Torsten, @Torsten I have altered my message, I hope you like it.
The results take a minimum of four hours; in the past, if the tests were run overnight , patients were moved to a hotel to wait — sometimes for two to three days, if doctors believed retesting was warranted.
By the way, I also like the New York Times 
and reading the sentence there it sounds natural, however, in my opinion, the author should have been a bit more creative in writing that paragraph.
Well, this question had me thinking… and, if I should also add, rewording
to
sounds unnatural to me.
I feel ‘overnight’ has the meaning of a point in time (with a certain duration nevertheless) like today, yesterday, at night, in the morning…
So it should answer to ‘when’;
It shouldn’t answer to:
I hope that was a little helpful! 
Dear Viviana,
Do you have dictionaries? If not I’ll tell you what the Cambridge online’s entry of ‘overnight’ explains:
I hope I’ve been of some help. 
Marc, can you please show as a dictionary entry fo the collocation ‘to take overnight’?
Torsten, what exactly do you mean?
What I mean that I don’t think the verb ‘to take’ can be used a intransitive verb in this way. A person can take a test (intransitive verb) but a test can’t take. A test can be taken by somebody (passive voice). Please let me know if this makes sense.
Ah, I should have realised,
Torsten, I checked Cambridge, MacMillan, Oxford and Collins. None of them have any such entry.
And yes, your reasoning makes sense! Although the entries didn’t provide that information.
Hi, Marc,
in my previous reply I actually agreed with you.
I know Vivianna, but I merely wanted to explain why I think ’the tests took overnight’ sounds natural to me. It may not be grammatically correct, but the message is clear.
Hi,
just to make clear, to you the sentence:
would be ok?
(or is there too much mix up here?)
No, Vivianna, absolutely not and to be perfectly honest, I cannot make heads or tails of what you’ve just written! Sorry.
Ofcourse, you’re right, in my opinion. In this context ‘to take’ cannot be used as intransitive verb. It may not be grammatically correct, but at least the message is clear and to millions of other people too.
Hi you two, @Torsten, @Vivianna
I’m a little irritable today, as you may have noticed. But like everyone, I’m frightened sometimes, because of that horribly tenacious virus that has the intention of killing the world’s population. I also had to say goodbye to my grandmother and last year a dear friend of mine passed away. I was 20 years his junior. He was a lawyer and we’d had an on and off going relationship. He was taken to hospital because he’d started drinking heavily, because he could never cope with the death of his former friend and so one day he was diagnosed with cirrhosis. When I visited him at the hospital the last time, I asked him: ‘How are you feeling Lucas?’ and he answered: ‘Oh, Marc, just fine, I still have a pulse.’ Asking a dying person ‘How are you feeling?’ may seem strange to you, but Lucas didn’t like sad faces, nor drama queens, if you’ve ever heard the expression. I miss him immensely. When we were together he used to say to me, I like you because I like to have the s-e-x word with you and the conversations afterwards. He also gave great telephone and was happy to be with me, although deep down inside he felt very unhappy. So, if I write a lot of typos or when you feel that I’m irritable, please don’t take notice. You now know why. But I am a survivor and I will continue posting on this forum and go out for walks, keeping a safe distance from other people ofcourse, but damn you Covid-19, I WILL SURVIVE YOU!!!
You know when Lucas passed? On 8th February 433 years after Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in Fotheringhay Castle on the same day. (1587).
I had to edit this post to tell you this, because one is only allowed three consecutive replies in one topic or so.
Torsten, ‘to take overnight’ is logical and can be used. To me, it means ‘if the time required for results involved (passed through) a night’. Doesn’t it make sense?
Thank you for confirming my statement, Anglophile. I’m thinking of you often, dear friend. 
It takes about three hours for the result of a ‘thyroid test’. A ‘thyroid test’ takes about three hours for the result. (I think both are acceptable)
Hi Lawrence, sure the phrase makes sense and is logical. But I still doubt that it sounds natural. What if I said ‘the tests took very quickly’? Does it sound logical? Does it make sense. Yes, probably. Does it sound natural? Definitely not. It just sounds wrong. Maybe you can show me at least one more example where the collocation ‘to take overnight’ is used?