predawn

American  

[pree-dawn, pree-] / priˈdɔn, ˈpri- /

noun

1. the period immediately preceding dawn.

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adjective

1. noting the time immediately prior to dawn.

Etymology

Origin of predawn

First recorded in 1945–50; pre- + dawn

Example Sentences

The sensitivity of the response to Maduro was evident in a predawn meeting two days after Maduro’s Jan. 3 capture.

From The Wall Street Journal

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that "in two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously co-ordinated boarding of two 'ghost fleet' tanker ships".

From BBC

Tankers headed to Venezuela changed course or became stationary following Saturday’s predawn incursion.

From The Wall Street Journal

In Hermiston, Ore., Marc Benner, 60, arrives in the predawn hours at a data-center construction site and lines up with scores of workers for a series of synchronized stretches.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.

From The Wall Street Journal