small hours

plural noun

1. hours after midnight; early morning hours:

   We danced into the small hours.

small hours

plural noun

1. the small hours
   the early hours of the morning, after midnight and before dawn

Word History and Origins

Origin of small hours¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Idioms and Phrases

Also, wee hours . The hours following midnight, as in I stayed up working through the small hours , or The parents didn't come home until the wee hours . The adjectives small and wee both refer to the low numbers of those hours (one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.). [c. 1830]

Example Sentences

Although we arrived hours late, she was gracious enough to do the interview in the small hours of the morning.

From The Daily Beast

Just this sudden waking in the small hours, these words given as though in revelation.

From The Daily Beast

Hester—small, animated, highly rouged—opened the ball, and danced until the small hours “with astonishing elasticity.”

From The Daily Beast

I fancy it was pretty well turned, and that made the wrench during the small hours the more severe.

From Project Gutenberg

The night had been very dark, and in the small hours the Dutch had left in silence, and were now marching away from Brussels.

From Project Gutenberg

But the Officer of the Watch said that the small hours passed quietly; no firing ashore during the hours of darkness.

From Project Gutenberg

In the small hours of Sunday morning, when the camp was astir in the darkness, a rifle-shot rang out quite close to me.

From Project Gutenberg

Time passed, the small hours struck, and still the stranger made no sign of going.

From Project Gutenberg