daybreak
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of daybreak
Explanation
Daybreak is the moment in the morning when the sun begins to rise. If you want to see the sunrise over the ocean, you have to wake up well before daybreak. Daybreak can also be called "sunrise," "dawn," or "the break of day." It's the very first glimpse of sunlight you see in the morning, which happens very early in the summertime and later in winter. Bus drivers, morning radio hosts, and bakers often have to rise before daybreak in order to get to work on time. The break part of the word comes from the Old English root brecan, which means "shatter," but also "burst forth."
Vocabulary lists containing daybreak
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.
At daybreak on a recent morning, travelers heading to Havana had suitcases full of survival goods at Miami International Airport, where the squeak of plastic-wrapping machines for baggage echoed throughout the terminal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
"You are like the wind at daybreak, you are like a cherished vision," he sings in a direct address to the horse, named Rovach.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
On a normal cruise out of Florida, finding a free chair with a view of the ocean can be a fool’s errand, unless you’re willing to get up at daybreak.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 23, 2025
Although no deaths have yet been confirmed, Montego Bay's mayor Richard Vernon told the BBC his first task at daybreak would be "to check if everybody is alive."
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2025
He quit when the roosters started crowing at daybreak.
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
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.
