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

There I met a chum or two, and subsequent proceedings tore a jagged hole in Bolton’s fifty dollar bill before I landed home in the little hours.

From The Land of Frozen Suns by Sinclair, Bertrand W.

Two little hours ago I could have sworn that whatever happened to me, Sassoon would suffer no harm.

From The Valiants of Virginia by Rives, Hallie Erminie

How she cheats their little hours of temptation, and tides them over the rough places that her eye sees lying like sunken rocks before her little ship! 

From Bunyan Characters (1st Series) by Whyte, Alexander

Keep back the phantoms and the visions sad,   The shades of grey, The fancies that so haunt the little hours   Before the day.

From The Miracle and Other Poems by Sheard, Virna

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