hour
Americannoun
-
a period of time equal to one twenty-fourth of a mean solar or civil day and equivalent to 60 minutes.
He slept for an hour.
-
any specific one of 24 periods of 60 minutes, usually reckoned in two series of 12, one series from midnight to noon and the second from noon to midnight, but sometimes reckoned in one series of 24, from midnight to midnight.
He slept for the hour between 2 and 3 a.m. The hour for the bombardment was between 1300 and 1400.
-
any specific time of day; the time indicated by a timepiece.
What is the hour?
-
a short or limited period of time.
He savored his hour of glory.
-
a particular or appointed time.
What was the hour of death? At what hour do you open?
-
a customary or usual time.
When is your dinner hour?
-
the present time.
The magazine had an interview with the man of the hour, star of the hottest new superhero movie.
-
hours,
-
time spent in an office, factory, or the like, or for work, study, etc..
The doctor's hours were from 10 to 4. What employees do after hours is their own business.
-
customary time of going to bed and getting up.
Actors often keep late hours.
-
(in the Christian church) the seven stated times of the day for prayer and devotion.
-
the offices or services prescribed for the seven stated times of the day for prayer and devotion.
-
a book containing the seven stated times of the day for prayer and devotion.
-
-
distance normally covered in an hour's traveling.
We live about an hour from the city.
-
Astronomy. a unit of measure of right ascension representing 15°, or the twenty-fourth part of a great circle.
-
a single period, as of class instruction or therapeutic consultation, usually lasting from 40 to 55 minutes.
-
Also called credit hour. Education. one unit of academic credit, usually representing attendance at one scheduled period of instruction per week throughout a semester, quarter, or term.
-
Classical Mythology. the Hours, the Horae.
adjective
idioms
noun
-
a period of time equal to 3600 seconds; 1/ 24 th of a calendar day
-
any of the points on the face of a timepiece that indicate intervals of 60 minutes
-
an exact number of complete hours
the bus leaves on the hour
-
the time of day as indicated by a watch, clock, etc
-
the period of time allowed for or used for something
the lunch hour
the hour of prayer
-
a special moment or period
our finest hour
-
the present time
the man of the hour
-
the distance covered in an hour
we live an hour from the city
-
astronomy an angular measurement of right ascension equal to 15° or a 24th part of the celestial equator
-
-
a time of success, fame, etc
-
Also: one's last hour. the time of one's death
his hour had come
-
-
informal to do something in a leisurely manner
-
A unit of time equal to one of the 24 equal parts of a day; 60 minutes.
-
◆ A sidereal hour is 1/24 of a sidereal day, and a mean solar hour is 1/24 of a mean solar day.
-
See more at sidereal time solar time
-
A unit of measure of longitude or right ascension, equal to 15° or 1/24 of a great circle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hour
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English (h)oure from Anglo-French; Old French (h)ore, from Latin hōra, from Greek hṓrā “time, season”
Explanation
An hour is a unit of time — it's sixty minutes, 3,600 seconds, or the length it takes the long hand on your watch to move in a full circle. If your math class lasts an hour, it might start at 9:30 and end at 10:30, one hour later. Hour also means "time of day." If your phone rings at two a.m., you could ask, "Why are you calling at such a late hour, Mom?" The word stems from the Old French hore, "one-twelfth of a day," with its roots in the Latin hora, "hour" or "season," and Greek hora, "the season."
Vocabulary lists containing hour
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:
Later, police let them return to their house for half an hour to retrieve their medicine.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
At Burnt Hill Farm, a hilltop winery in Clarksburg, Md., a suburb an hour outside of Washington, D.C., the best table is any table, 45 minutes before sunset.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
At the time, users on social media said wait times had reached an hour.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Similar to past flights, the operation was expected to last about an hour, with the vehicle’s spacecraft navigating space before a planned re-entry and landing in the Indian Ocean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
The twisted woods would slowly become a prism of color, the lights growing brighter and brighter with each passing hour.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Throughout her 20s, she juggled multiple cash-paying jobs, often working gruelling hours.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Tracy said Harris had been meant to stay for four hours in total.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Texts displayed in court Monday show Burke continued to send messages to Hernandez’s phone hours after the Uber arrived, which, according to prosecutors, were an attempt to suggest she’d never arrived at his house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Yet the women who ate during a shorter window of time of eight to nine hours were found to perform better on tests measuring spatial planning and problem solving than the 12-hour group.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
But she’s alone in the dark, with no phone, no food, and no bathroom, and her parents are hours away with no idea that she’s stuck.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
