dawn on

Idioms  

1. Also, dawn upon. Become evident or understood, as in It finally dawned on him that he was expected to call them, or Around noon it dawned upon me that I had never eaten breakfast. This expression transfers the beginning of daylight to the beginning of a thought process. Harriet Beecher Stowe had it in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852): “The idea that they had either feelings or rights had never dawned upon her.” [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dawn on

The history makers didn't hit the Boston town on Saturday night, but instead were up at the crack of dawn on Sunday for some downtime with their families and friends.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

The frigate had issued a distress call at dawn on Wednesday but had completely sunk by the time a Sri Lankan rescue ship reached the area.

From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026

Between midnight and dawn on Tuesday, the Earth will pass directly between the sun and the moon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026

Just before dawn on Nov. 13, 2024, FBI agents smashed through the door of Shayne Coplan’s penthouse apartment in Manhattan, barged into his bedroom and grabbed his phone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

It rained until dawn on Tuesday, or so Pa told me later.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

Related Words

• affect
• carry
• get
• hit
• move
• reach
• touch