predawn

[pree-dawn, pree-]

noun

1. the period immediately preceding dawn.

adjective

1. noting the time immediately prior to dawn.

Word History and Origins

Origin of predawn¹

First recorded in 1945–50; pre- + dawn

Example Sentences

In the predawn hours of March 13, 1944, a Halifax bomber flew across the black waters of the Adriatic Sea carrying four Jewish paratroopers equipped with submachine guns, pistols and knives.

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In the predawn hours of Sept. 16, a single thief used an angle grinder to cut through two doors at the Museum of Natural History in Paris.

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Facing our first major test, climbing 5,800 feet in one day over Washington Pass, we deployed our protocol of starting predawn, riding at a hiking pace, stopping every 15 minutes, and not thinking much about how far we had to go yet.

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It’s a bustling predawn morning in Black Rock City.

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At a truck stop along the Grapevine, they pulled off what is believed to be the biggest jewelry heist in U.S. history and vanished into the predawn dark.

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