before the hour

phrase

—used with a certain number of minutes to indicate how long before the beginning of an hour something will happen

Trains leave the station every hour at ten minutes before the hour.

Examples of before the hour in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Lunch hour has its beginning and its ending, and somehow the whole teeming chaos of midcentury Midtown must be crammed within it, before the hour slams shut. — Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2026

The summer signing made his full debut during the 2-1 Champions League victory over the Spanish side, but went down holding his left leg just before the hour mark. — Andy Jones, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026

The $166 million summer signing pulled up shortly before the hour mark when attempting a run toward goal. — ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026

The European side then notched up a third goal from Hans Vanaken just before the hour mark, before Romelu Lukaku wrapped up the victory with a late strike in injury time. — Lee Ying Shan,lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 7 July 2026

Rhymes for before the hour

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