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Webster 1913 Edition


Hour

Hour

,
Noun.
[OE.
hour
,
our
,
hore
,
ure
, OF.
hore
,
ore
,
ure
, F.
heure
, L.
hora
, fr. Gr. [GREEK], orig., a definite space of time, fixed by natural laws; hence, a season, the time of the day, an hour. See
Year
, and cf.
Horologe
,
Horoscope
.]
1.
The twenty-fourth part of a day; sixty minutes.
2.
The time of the day, as expressed in hours and minutes, and indicated by a timepiece; as, what is the hour? At what hour shall we meet?
3.
Fixed or appointed time; conjuncture; a particular time or occasion;
as, the
hour
of greatest peril; the man for the
hour
.
Woman, . . . mine
hour
is not yet come.
John ii. 4.
This is your
hour
, and the power of darkness.
Luke xxii. 53.
4.
pl.
(R. C. Ch.)
Certain prayers to be repeated at stated times of the day, as matins and vespers.
5.
A measure of distance traveled.
Vilvoorden, three
hours
from Brussels.
J. P. Peters.
After hours
,
after the time appointed for one’s regular labor.
Canonical hours
.
See under
Canonical
.
Hour angle
(Astron.)
,
the angle between the hour circle passing through a given body, and the meridian of a place.
Hour circle
.
(Astron.)
(a)
Any circle of the sphere passing through the two poles of the equator; esp., one of the circles drawn on an artificial globe through the poles, and dividing the equator into spaces of 15°, or one hour, each.
(b)
A circle upon an equatorial telescope lying parallel to the plane of the earth's equator, and graduated in hours and subdivisions of hours of right ascension.
(c)
A small brass circle attached to the north pole of an artificial globe, and divided into twenty-four parts or hours. It is used to mark differences of time in working problems on the globe.
Hour hand
,
the hand or index which shows the hour on a timepiece.
Hour line
.
(a)
(Astron.)
A line indicating the hour.
(b)
(Dialing)
A line on which the shadow falls at a given hour; the intersection of an hour circle which the face of the dial.
Hour plate
,
the plate of a timepiece on which the hours are marked; the dial.
Locke.
Sidereal hour
,
the twenty-fourth part of a sidereal day.
Solar hour
,
the twenty-fourth part of a solar day.
The small hours
,
the early hours of the morning, as one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.
To keep good hours
,
to be regular in going to bed early.

Webster 1828 Edition


Hour

HOUR

,
Noun.
our.
[L. hora; also L. tempestivus, from tempus. See Time. But hour, hora, afterward came to signify a certain portion or division of the day. This has been different in different nations.]
1.
A space of time equal to one twenty fourth part of the natural day, or duration of the diurnal revolution of the earth. An hour answers to fifteen degrees of the equator. It consists of 60 minutes, each minute of 60 seconds, &c.
2.
Time; a particular time; as the hour of death.
Jesus saith, woman,my hour is not yet come. John.2.
3.
The time marked or indicated by a chronometer, clock or watch; the particular time of the day. What is the hour? At what hour shall we meet? I will be with you at an early hour.
Good hour, signifies early or seasonably.
You have arrived at a good hour.
To keep good hours, to be at home in good season; not to be abroad late, or at the usual hours of retiring to rest.
Hours, in the plural, certain prayers in the Romish church, to be repeated at stated times of the day, as matins and vespers.

Definition 2024


hour

hour

English

Alternative forms

Noun

hour (plural hours)

  1. A time period of sixty minutes; one twenty-fourth of a day.
    I spent an hour at lunch.
    • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond:
      During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant []
    • 1915, George A. Birmingham, chapter I”, in Gossamer (Project Gutenberg; EBook #24394), London: Methuen & Co., published 8 January 2013 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 558189256:
      It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the **** begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.
    • 2014 June 21, Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:
      [Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes. The truth is that Newton was very much a product of his time.
  2. A season, moment, time or stound.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Edgar Allen Poe, Alone:
      From childhood's hour I have not been / As others were; I have not seen / As others saw; I could not bring / My passions from a common spring.
    • 1912, Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, Chapter 3
      Now will be a good hour to show you Milly Erne's grave.
  3. (poetic) The time.
    The hour grows late and I must go home.
  4. (military, in the plural) Used after a two-digit hour and a two-digit minute to indicate time.
    • (Can we date this quote?), T. C. G. James and Sebastian Cox, The Battle of Britain:
      By 1300 hours the position was fairly clear.
  5. (chiefly US) A distance that can be traveled in one hour.
    This place is an hour away from where I live.

Synonyms

Derived terms

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Abbreviations

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Most common English words before 1923: thousand · looking · John · #366: hour · air · reason · feel