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crack of dawn

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noun

the part of morning when light first appears in the sky.

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RELATED WORDS

dawn, dawning, daylight, daybreak, morning, prime, morn, aurora, sunup, cockcrow, sunrise, morrow, AM, forenoon, dayspring, light, outset, glow, half-light, bright

Nearby words

crack a book, crack a bottle, crack a joke, crack a smile, crack down, crack of dawn, crack of doom, crack on, crack the whip, crack up, crack willow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Idioms and Phrases with crack of dawn

crack of dawn

Very early morning, daybreak. For example, I got up at the crack of dawn. The crack in this term alludes either to the suddenness of sunrise or to the small wedge of light appearing as the sun rises over the horizon. Originally the term was usually put as crack of day. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.