faire une nuit blanche

to stay up all night

Refers to spending an entire night awake without sleep.

J'ai fait une nuit blanche pour finir mon mémoire avant la date limite.

I pulled an all-nighter to finish my thesis before the deadline.

First recorded in 1771. 'Blanc' (white) in French often means empty or absent, like 'mariage blanc' (unconsummated marriage) or 'vote blanc' (blank ballot). A white night is one where sleep is absent.