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office hours

American  

plural noun

  1. the hours during which a professional person or an office conducts regular business.

  2. the hours a person spends working in an office.


office hours British  

plural noun

  1. the hours during which an office is open for business

  2. the number of hours worked in an office

"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

Etymology

Origin of office hours

First recorded in 1795–1805

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 "Patriots Collaborate for Good Governance" forum on Tuesday was held during office hours and drew many elderly people.

From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025

Last year, our employer made us sign new contracts with revised office hours, moving to the new four-day-in-office policy.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 28, 2025

Then he holds office hours to go over works in progress.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 20, 2025

Just before the Christmas break, a group of Labour backbench MPs submitted plans to curb sales of alcohol in Parliament during office hours to a committee looking at modernisation of Parliament.

From BBC • Jan. 15, 2025

He obligingly repeated his office hours, throwing in his office address for good measure, as a way of reminding himself that he had a nice new half office, with a window.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

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