What is the correct meaning of the word "غزى" in the language, the lexicons and the dictionaries, and what is the reply to someone who claims it means "travelled by night"?

Denying the ghazawat (battles/expeditions) is a sign of ignorance, for they are historically and religiously established and undeniable facts. The Quran explicitly mentions them, even if it does not use the term "ghazwa" in every instance, such as in the Almighty's saying: ﴿وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّئُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَاعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾ [And [remember] when you left your family in the morning to arrange for the believers places for the battle [of Uhud] – and Allah is Hearing and Knowing] (Al ‘Imran/121), and ﴿لَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي مَوَاطِنَ كَثِيرَةٍ وَيَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ﴾ [Allah has already given you victory in many [battle] fields and on the day of Hunayn] (At-Tawbah (definition)/25), and ﴿فَإِذَا لَقِيتُمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَضَرْبَ الرِّقَابِ﴾ [So when you meet those who disbelieve, strike [their] necks] (Muhammad/4).

The term “ghuzzā” was used in the Quran to refer to those who went out to fight, as in His saying, the Almighty: ﴿أَوْ كَانُوا غُزًّى﴾ [or had they been raiders (ghuzzā)] (Al ‘Imran/156), which is the plural of “ghāzī.” Scholars and linguists have stated that ghazw means "to intend the enemy," and that ghazawāt is the plural of ghazwa. It is established that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, undertook nineteen ghazawat, and many of these ghazawat are mentioned in the Holy Quran, such as Badr, Uhud, Al-Khandaq (the Trench), Khaybar, Al-Fath (the Conquest), Hunayn, and Tabuk.