morning
Americannoun
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mornings
plural
adjective
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of or relating to morning.
the morning hours.
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occurring, appearing, used, etc., in the morning.
a morning coffee break.
noun
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the first part of the day, ending at or around noon
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sunrise; daybreak; dawn
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the beginning or early period
the morning of the world
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informal the aftereffects of excess, esp a hangover
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(modifier) of, used, or occurring in the morning
morning coffee
Usage
What is a basic definition of morning? Morning refers to the beginning of the day. Morning is used figuratively to refer to the beginning of anything. Morning is also used to describe something that involves or occurs during the morning. Depending on who you ask, the exact hours of the morning will be different. Generally speaking, morning begins either at sunrise or at midnight (12 a.m.) and ends at noon (12 p.m.).
- Real-life examples: People usually sleep at night and wake up in the morning. The sun rises in the morning. Roosters are known to crow during the morning when the sun comes up.
- Used in a sentence: I would rather sleep until noon than wake up early in the morning.
- Real-life examples: The first movies were made in the morning of the film industry. Babyhood is the morning of a human’s life.
- Used in a sentence: Archaeologists discovered artifacts left behind by people who lived during the morning of civilization.
- Real-life examples: A morning person likes being awake in the morning. A morning shower is taken in the early part of the day.
- Used in a sentence: Delivering the morning newspaper means waking up at 5 a.m.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of morning
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English; morn + -ing 1; modeled on evening
Explanation
Morning is the earliest part of the day. No matter what time you get up, morning ends at noon. Originally, in the 13th century, morning meant the time just before sunrise. Now, morning technically starts at 12:00am and lasts until 12:00pm. If you describe yourself as a "morning person," you like to get up early. Strangely enough, a "night person," who stays up very late might not go to bed until several early-morning hours have passed.
Vocabulary lists containing morning
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.
See Examples For:
The morning session had been washed out and only 24.5 overs of play were possible as the players dodged the showers, meaning spectators will receive a 50% refund on the price of their ticket.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
State news agency Xinhua reported early Saturday morning that two villagers had been rescued in the area.
From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026
His wife, Regina, posted a photo of the two on Friday morning with the caption, “The love of my life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
I didn’t set out to leverage AI, beavering away in the background while I sleep, to set my priorities every morning, and even help me regulate my physical and mental health.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Still, next morning, when the sun is fully risen, when the wagon’s rolling, its steady rhythm lulling, I ask: “How’d you meet Ma?”
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
From the first hint of cold winter mornings, supermarkets and pharmacies begin heavy marketing to coax us to stock up on vitamin C to get through the cold and flu season.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
Laura's effort involved countless early mornings and weekends away, remote routes, wild camping, and hiking in every kind of weather imaginable.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
In the basement of St. Boniface Church in Anaheim on weekday afternoons and weekend mornings in the mid-1990s, my sister, about 20 other teenagers and I learned about the tenets of our faith.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Zeif settled on slow Sunday mornings and other occasions when he knew he’d have time to savor the treat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Mama thanked him—it was then that I realized Gran wasn’t here to cook for us in the mornings like she would before school.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
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.
