little hours

American  

plural noun

Roman Catholic Church.

1. the hours of prime, tierce, sext, and nones, and sometimes also vespers and compline.

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little hours British  

plural noun

1. RC Church the canonical hours of prime, terce, sext, and nones in the divine office

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Etymology

Origin of little hours

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Three little hours had scarcely fled,— Khara and Dúshaṇ both were dead, And he had freed the saints and made Asylum sure in Daṇḍak's shade.

From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Griffith, Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin)

But, idol of my heart, though I am overcome with grief at the idea of leaving you for two little hours, it is a question of four thousand francs.

From The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol by Ball, Alec

Why not give just two or three little hours to study,—study so pleasant and so arranged that you may call it reading, or recreating, or getting acquainted with "the best of all good company"?

From Hold Up Your Heads, Girls! : Helps for Girls, in School and Out by Ryder, Annie H

Through such a stupendous curve did the comet of 1843 whirl its tail in two little hours as it rounded the solar orb.

From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 450 Volume 18, New Series, August 14, 1852 by Chambers, Robert

They had been so brave in the morning, so strong; but in the evening, a few little hours, they were dead, and we had not hated them, nor they us.

From Campaign Pictures of the War in South Africa (1899-1900) Letters from the Front by Hales, A. G. (Alfred Greenwood)