dawn

verb \ ˈdȯn , ˈdän \

|Updated on: 6 Aug 2018

Examples: dawn in a Sentence

Definition of dawn

intransitive verb

1 : to begin to grow light as the sun rises

waited for the day to dawn

2 : to begin to appear or develop

a new era is dawning

3 : to begin to be perceived or understood

the truth finally dawned on us

See dawn defined for English-language learners

See dawn defined for kids

Examples of dawn in a Sentence

They waited for the day to dawn.
A new age is dawning.

Recent Examples of dawn from the Web

Gono said the possibility of a professional career began to dawn on him during his junior year, when scouts would visit Wesley.

— phil anastasia, Philly.com, "Cinnaminson graduate Matt Gono is unlikely NFL draft prospect," 21 Apr. 2018
With figures and objects materializing in space from darkness and gloom, chiaroscuro could be a pictorial metaphor for enlightenment — the proverbial light bulb moment, or the visual equivalent of something dawning on you.

— christopher knight, latimes.com, "Out of the shadows and into the light: 'Chiaroscuro Woodcut' is a sleeper hit at LACMA," 5 July 2018
Primary Election Day in Harford County dawned sunny and pleasant Tuesday, as more than 130,000 eligible Republicans and Democrats will have a final opportunity to pick their parties’ nominees for state and county offices and congressional seats.

— david anderson, The Aegis, "Harford voters go to the polls in primary election," 26 June 2018
The third full week of June dawns with a striking imbalance between American and National League.

— michael beller, SI.com, "The Table Setter: Marcell Ozuna Is On Fire," 18 June 2018
In October 1967, during his junior year at Wesleyan, John Perry Barlow tried to single-handedly halt the dawning Age of Aquarius.

— chris jennings, WSJ, "‘Mother American Night’ Review: The Opening of a Western Mind," 14 June 2018
British and American business interests responded by throwing their investments into this dawning era’s key commodity: cotton.

— howard w. french, Washington Post, "Trump's profane description disregards Africa's crucial role in making America a world power," 14 Jan. 2018
For the first time in this Triple Crown series, race day dawned sunny and dry.

— childs walker, baltimoresun.com, "Justify becomes 13th Triple Crown winner with thrilling Belmont victory," 9 June 2018
Hark, the age of the non-car form of transportation has dawned.

— aarian marshall, WIRED, "Lyft Wants to Dominate Transportation, and That Means Bike Share," 1 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dawn.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of dawn

Middle English, probably back-formation from dawning daybreak, alteration of dawing, from Old English dagung, from dagian — see ¹daw

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

dawn Synonyms

dawn

noun

Definition of dawn

1 : the first appearance of light in the morning followed by sunrise

danced till dawn

at the crack of dawn

Almost before the first faint sign of dawn appeared she arose again …
—Thomas Hardy

2 : beginning

the dawn of the space age

See dawn defined for English-language learners

Examples of dawn in a Sentence

as dawn breaks over the city
Winter brings late dawns and early sunsets.

Recent Examples of dawn from the Web

Many of the guests, who included his Los Angeles Lakers teammates and a friend from the football world named O.J. Simpson, were still there as dawn broke high in the Santa Monica Mountains.

— jack mccallum, SI.com, "Go West, Big Man: The Logo on LeBron James and the Allure of Los Angeles," 11 July 2018
Fingers crossed that the pregnant Cardi B will actually show (and, in a dream world, dawn a matching get-up with Offset).

— allie briggs, refinery29.com, "All The BET Awards Red Carpet Looks We Can't Get Over," 25 June 2018
But the explosion of cultural influence came with the dawn of digital media, shared through flash drives and other portable devices.

— shanna baker, Smithsonian, "The Quest to Preserve the Last of Castro’s Crocodiles," 21 June 2018
The dawn chorus on Camp Stewart Road is mostly Northern cardinals, American robins, Carolina wrens and Eastern towhees.

— taylor piephoff, charlotteobserver, "Breeding Bird Survey yields 56 species over 25-mile route," 20 June 2018
In 2016, 13 people returning from a casino near the Salton Sea were killed when their bus, operated by USA Holiday, crashed just before dawn near Palm Springs.

— maya lau and irfan khan, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Tour bus driving from Pala Casino crashes in L.A., injuring 25," 14 July 2018
Low temperatures by just before dawn may bottom out in the mid-60s outside of the Beltway, to around 70 degrees downtown.

— a. camden walker, Washington Post, "D.C.-area forecast: Un-muggy heat through tomorrow, but then we turn steamy and wetter into next week," 13 July 2018
Near dawn and dusk, refracted sunlight filtered through the stratus can create a kaleidoscope of color for a few minutes and add to the phenomenon.

— tom stienstra, SFChronicle.com, "’Tis the season for ‘Dancing with Fog’," 12 July 2018
Mosquito season runs from May through September and the obnoxious insects are most active at dusk and dawn.

— sarah brookbank, Cincinnati.com, "West Nile detected in North Avondale, but don't panic, it's normal," 11 July 2018

Origin and Etymology of dawn

see ¹dawn

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

dawn Synonyms

Synonyms

alpha, baseline, beginning, birth, commencement, day one, genesis, get-go (also git-go), inception, incipience, incipiency, kickoff, launch, morning, nascence, nascency, onset, outset, start, threshold;

Antonyms

close, conclusion, end, ending, omega;

Near Antonyms

cessation, closing, closure, completion, finale, finish, period, stop, termination, windup;

creation, founding, inauguration, initiation, institution, origination;

cradle, fountain, fountainhead, germ, origin, root, seedbed, source, spring, well, wellspring;

dawning, opening;

advent, appearance, arrival, debut (also début), emergence;

childhood, infancy, youth;

DAWN Defined for English Language Learners

dawn

verb

Definition of dawn for English Language Learners

: to begin to become light as the sun rises
: to start or begin
: to begin to be understood

dawn

noun

Definition of dawn for English Language Learners

: the time of day when sunlight first begins to appear
: the beginning of something

DAWN Defined for Kids

dawn

verb \ ˈdȯn \

Definition of dawn for Students

dawned; dawning

1 : to begin to grow light as the sun rises

Morning dawned bright and clear.

2 : to start becoming plain or clear

It dawned on us that we were lost.

dawn

noun

Definition of dawn for Students

1 : the time when the sun comes up in the morning

2 : a first appearance : beginning

Early rockets marked the dawn of the space age.

Learn More about dawn

See words that rhyme with dawn Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for dawn Spanish Central: Translation of dawn Nglish: Translation of dawn for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of dawn for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about dawn

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dawn

Definition of dawn

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Origin and Etymology of dawn

dawn Synonyms

Synonyms

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dawn

Definition of dawn

Examples of dawn in a Sentence

Recent Examples of dawn from the Web

Origin and Etymology of dawn

dawn Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

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DAWN Defined for English Language Learners

dawn

Definition of dawn for English Language Learners

dawn

Definition of dawn for English Language Learners

DAWN Defined for Kids

dawn

Definition of dawn for Students

dawn

Definition of dawn for Students

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