hour

noun

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\ ˈau̇(-ə)r

Definition of hour

1 : a time or office for daily liturgical devotion especially : canonical hour

2 : the 24th part of a day : 60 minutes

3a : 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

4a : 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

7a : a class session

b : credit hour, semester hour

after hours

: after the regular quitting or closing time

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 Last year, Florida voters approved raising the minimum wage up to $15 an hour by 2026. — Gabrielle Russon, orlandosentinel.com, "SeaWorld attendance dives 53% in final quarter of 2020, but stock soars," 25 Feb. 2021 Congress is debating whether to raise the federal minimum wage limit to $15 an hour. — Kaelan Deese, Washington Examiner, "Costco raises its minimum wage to $16 an hour, surpassing competitors," 25 Feb. 2021 The relief bill includes a provision that over five years would hike the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. — Alan Fram, Star Tribune, "GOP rallies solidly against Democrats' virus relief package," 25 Feb. 2021 Staff for both Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans are set to meet Wednesday morning with Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough over the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, a plank of Mr. Biden’s relief plan. — Andrew Duehren, WSJ, "Democrats’ Minimum-Wage Push Hinges on Senate Ruling," 24 Feb. 2021 The bill would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2025, a provision that has drawn particular opposition from some Republicans. — NBC News, "Over 150 top business executives urge Congress to back Biden's recovery bill," 24 Feb. 2021 Plan is a potential compromise to the $15 an hour proposed by President Biden. — The Salt Lake Tribune, "Mitt Romney proposes raising minimum wage to $10 an hour," 23 Feb. 2021 The House voted in 2019 to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, only to see the Senate kill the proposal. — Ledyard King, USA TODAY, "Republican plan would raise minimum wage to $10 but only if businesses are required to ensure worker legality," 23 Feb. 2021 The sweeping rescue package, which would then get kicked to the Senate, is slated to include a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks, an expansion of the child tax credit and an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. — Julia Horowitz, CNN, "How bitcoin is like a teenager," 21 Feb. 2021

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