Definition of 'hour'

Word Frequency

hour

(aʊər )

Word forms: hours

1. countable noun

An hour is a period of sixty minutes.

They waited for about two hours.

I only slept about half an hour that night.

2. plural noun

People say that something takes or lasts hours to emphasize that it takes or lasts a very long time, or what seems like a very long time.

[emphasis]

Getting there would take hours.

3. singular noun

A clock that strikes the hour strikes when it is exactly one o'clock, two o'clock, and so on.

She'd heard a clock somewhere strike the hour as she'd slipped from her room.

4. singular noun

You can refer to a particular time or moment as a particular hour.

[literary]

His father lay ill, feverish and troubled as the hour of the birth approached.

5. countable noun

If you refer, for example, to someone's hour of need or hour of happiness, you are referring to the time in their life when they are or were experiencing that condition or feeling.

[literary]

He recalled her devotion to her husband during his hour of need.

6. plural noun

You can refer to the period of time during which something happens or operates each day as the hours during which it happens or operates.

...the hours of darkness.

Phone us on this number during office hours.

7. plural noun

If you refer to the hours involved in a job, you are talking about how long you spend each week doing it and when you do it.

I worked quite irregular hours.

8. See also rush hour

See after hours

10.

See at all hours

11.

See the early hours

12.

See on the hour

Video: pronunciation of
hour

hour in American English

(aʊr )

noun

a division of time, one of the twenty-four parts of a day; sixty minutes

one of the twelve points on a clock, watch, etc. marking the beginning or end of such a division

the ninth hour

a point or period of time

; specif.,

a fixed point or period of time for a particular activity, occasion, etc.

the dinner hour

an indefinite period of time of a specified kind

his finest hour

c. [pl.]

a period fixed for work, receiving patients, etc.

office hours from 2 to 5

d. [pl.]

the usual times for getting up or going to bed

to keep late hours

the time of day as indicated by a timepiece or as reckoned from midnight to midnight, expressed in hours and minutes

arrival at 14:30 hours

a measure of the distance usually covered in an hour

two hours from New York to Philadelphia by rail

5. Astronomy

a sidereal hour; angular unit equaling 15° measured along the celestial equator

6. Ecclesiastical

a canonical hour or the prayers then said

hour in British English

(aʊə )

noun

a period of time equal to 3600 seconds; 1⁄24th of a calendar day

▶ Related adjectives: horal, horary

any of the points on the face of a timepiece that indicate intervals of 60 minutes

3. See the hour

the time of day as indicated by a watch, clock, etc

the period of time allowed for or used for something

the lunch hour

the hour of prayer

a special moment or period

our finest hour

7. See the hour

the distance covered in an hour

we live an hour from the city

9. astronomy

an angular measurement of right ascension equal to 15° or a 24th part of the celestial equator

10. See one's hour

11. See take one's hour

Word origin

C13: from Old French hore, from Latin hōra, from Greek: season

Examples of 'hour' in a sentence
hour

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…

The printing plants were raided in the early hours without explanation.He lives an hour away and his business means he must stay in his area. Symptoms can be delayed for up to an hour after a sting.The rescue helicopter was with us in about two hours.There were times when an hour seemed a long time in politics.Leave to set for about one hour.The journey takes five and a half hours. Hunters knew my life secrets within hours... could you give them the slip?I was fasting in the morning for hours before a job.She wrote on Twitter that the past 24 hours had been gruelling.