hour

noun

ˈau̇(-ə)r 

1

: a time or office for daily liturgical devotion

especially : canonical hour

2

: the 24th part of a day : 60 minutes

3

a

: the time of day reckoned in two 12-hour periods

b

hours plural : the time reckoned in one 24-hour period from midnight to midnight using a 4-digit number of which the first two digits indicate the hour and the last two digits indicate the minute

in the military 4:30 p.m. is called 1630 hours

4

a

: a customary or particular time

lunch hour

in our hour of need

also : moment sense 1b

hero of the hour

b

hours plural : time of going to bed

keeps late hours

also : time of working

banker's hours

5

: an angular unit of right ascension equal to 15 degrees measured along the celestial equator

6

: the work done or distance traveled at normal rate in an hour

the city was two hours away

7

a

: a class session

b

: credit hour, semester hour

see also:

after hours

Examples of hour in a Sentence

She wasn't supposed to eat for six hours before the operation.

You'll be paid by the hour for this job.

The job pays ten dollars an hour.

She exercises for a full hour every day.

She was half an hour late.

They arrived a few hours later.

The project required long hours of work.

The mood changed from hour to hour.

These animals are most active in the hour just before sunrise.

You can call me at any hour of the day or night.

Recent Examples on the Web

In the early hours of February 24 2022, standing on the freezing roof of a hotel in Kyiv, the idea that Russia would launch a full-scale assault on Ukraine, despite a troop buildup on the border, still seemed almost impossible to imagine. —Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 21 Feb. 2026

The team revealed that the study is based on data from JWST General Observer programme 5073, led by Dr Henrik Melin of Northumbria University, which used the telescope’s Integral Field Unit on 19 January 2025 to observe Uranus for 15 hours. —Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 21 Feb. 2026

Miraflores, meanwhile, is also chock-a-block with great shopping and restaurants, though the rush-hour honking gets louder, and various corners have distinctly different feels, from the very commercial to the quaint and old-school. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Feb. 2026

Security camera video captured a masked intruder on June 5, 2021, enter the couple’s home during daylight and leave hours later after sunset. —Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 21 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French ure, eure, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin hora canonical hour, from Latin, hour of the day, from Greek hōra — more at year

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing hour

• after the hour
• ampere-hour
• amp-hour
• an/per hour
• at any hour
• at the top of the hour
• before the hour
• canonical hour
• cocktail hour
• coffee hour
• credit hour
• eleventh hour
• every hour on the hour
• half an hour
• half hour
• happy hour
• H hour
• hour angle
• hour circle
• hour hand
• hour-long
• hour of need
• hour of reckoning
• kilowatt-hour
• lunch hour
• man-hour
• off-hour
• on the half hour
• on the hour
• past the hour
• person-hour
• quarter hour
• rush hour
• semester hour
• sidereal hour
• the appointed hour
• the midnight hour
• the witching hour
• unearthly hour/time
• ungodly hour
• waking hour/moment
• watt-hour
• with each passing hour
• zero hour

Rhymes for hour

• airpower
• brainpower
• devour
• empower
• firepower
• horsepower
• manpower
• mayflower
• safflower
• sunflower
• wallflower
• watchtower

Kids Definition

hour

noun

ˈau̇(ə)r 

1

: a time for or rite of religious worship

2

: one of the 24 divisions of a day : 60 minutes

3

: the time of day

the hour is now 10:00 a.m.

4

: a fixed or particular time

lunch hour

an hour of need

5

: the distance traveled in an hour

lives two hours away

6

: a class session

I have math this hour