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Synonyms

crack of dawn

American  

noun

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

crack of dawn Idioms  

  1. 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]

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.

They don’t leave until the crack of dawn.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026

Around the crack of dawn, a line begins forming at a strip mall in Hyattsville, Maryland, as residents ranging from students to delivery workers and federal contractors wait to sign up for food assistance.

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

We’re introduced to him not as a thief, but as a doting father who wakes at the crack of dawn, tenderly lays his son in bed next to his sister, and heads off to work.

From Salon • Sep. 7, 2025

You’ve probably seen them in your neighborhood, on power-walking pros out and about at the crack of dawn.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2025

The next day, at the crack of dawn, the old man was opening his toy booth when Hugo approached.

From "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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