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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.

The first batch of Mag 7 earnings will also come just hours after the Federal Reserve delivers its April interest-rate decision, which is also likely to be the last led by outgoing Chair Jerome Powell.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

By extending the productive hours of the factory floor and the laboratory, the bulb accelerated the pace of the Industrial Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

The figures showed that patients spent an average of 21-and-a-half hours in Altnagelvin's emergency department last month before being admitted to the Londonderry hospital.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

The candidate event, named AT2025ulz, appears to be tied to a supernova that happened just hours earlier.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2026

The job guarantees that I’m awake for at least eight hours at a stretch.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse