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hours

1 British  
/ aʊəz /

plural noun

  1. a period regularly or customarily appointed for work, business, etc

  2. one's times of rising and going to bed (esp in the phrases keep regular, irregular, or late hours )

  3. an indefinite period of time

  4. Also called (in the Roman Catholic Church): canonical hours

    1. the seven times of the day laid down for the recitation of the prayers of the divine office

    2. the prayers recited at these times

  5. the hours just after midnight

  6. until very late

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Hours 2 British  
/ aʊəz /

plural noun

  1. another word for the Horae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In the first 24 hours of Operation Epic Fury, US forces struck over 1,000 targets, including a school housed in a building previously used as a military complex, according to various media reports.

From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026

More than seven hours of Boyd’s phone recordings were in the police file—conversations before and after the killing that went unreported until aired by the Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

After realizing how unusual this star was, the students spent three hours studying it the following night.

From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2026

"That's six or seven trucks every hour, 24 hours a day," Miller said.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

“I’ve been trying for four and a half hours to place a call to you because that’s how long it takes,” Theo continues.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse