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• hours
  hours

  plural noun

  a period regularly or customarily appointed for work, business, etc
• Hours
  Hours

  plural noun

  another word for the Horae

hours

¹ British  

/ aʊəz /

plural noun

1. a period regularly or customarily appointed for work, business, etc

2. one's times of rising and going to bed (esp in the phrases keep regular, irregular, or late hours )

3. an indefinite period of time

4. Also called (in the Roman Catholic Church): canonical hours. 

   1. the seven times of the day laid down for the recitation of the prayers of the divine office

   2. the prayers recited at these times

5. the hours just after midnight

6. until very late

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Hours ² British  

/ aʊəz /

plural noun

1. another word for the Horae

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Example Sentences

Within hours of Jin’s arrest in October, scores of others involved with Zion were rounded up in a coordinated police campaign across the country.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

Only very poor weather deters them from trading, with slightly shorter opening hours in the winter.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

A mutual visa-free regime means in just a matter of hours one can take any of several daily flights from Moscow to major Chinese cities.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

Still, firefighters reached the island less than 12 hours after the fire was confirmed, which “was no easy feat,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

So Mutti would be home late each evening, spending even longer hours now at the zoo, just to be with Marlene, to comfort her.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo