a period regularly or customarily appointed for work, business, etc
one's times of rising and going to bed (esp in the phrases keep regular, irregular, or late hours )
an indefinite period of time
Also called (in the Roman Catholic Church): canonical hours.
the seven times of the day laid down for the recitation of the prayers of the divine office
the prayers recited at these times
the hours just after midnight
until very late
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He also found the work much more physically demanding than he had expected, with long hours on his feet and the need to remain focused throughout the day.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
He said those provide enough power to keep fries frozen and fans whirring as long as they are switched out every five hours or so.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
All of these changes emerged within about two hours.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
Around three hours later, Palade testified that he contacted Stout by phone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
At the end of twenty-four hours, Joey’s notebook is full.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Hours after Garcia announced Morales’ transition job, the Board of Trustees gathered to vote on granting him the honorific title of professor emeritus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Hours after a celebratory lunch at a restaurant Jeremy began having difficulty breathing.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Hours before Xi’s speech, Beijing-based Moonshot AI offered the latest breakthrough from China, an open-weight model called Kimi K3 that has surprised many in Silicon Valley with its advanced capabilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Hours later, a tranche of headlines announced that the two parties had reached a settlement agreement.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Hours later, after dinner, after Jojo’s good-night book, Stella was still worried—it was taking everyone far too long to fall asleep!
From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
