variants
or less commonly pre-dawn
: existing or occurring before dawn
a predawn attack
the predawn hours
… the gigantic telescope started scanning the predawn sky.—
Howard Blum
Howard Blum
predawn
noun
or less commonly pre-dawn
plural predawns also pre-dawns
The most bone-chilling predawns create the sharpest sunrises.
—Christine Schultz
Christine Schultz
… stepping out into the quiet pre-dawn, closing the door.
—Bryan Burrough
Bryan Burrough
Examples of predawn in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In the dark, predawn hours of December 3, 1984, a dense cloud of poisonous gas leaked from a pesticide plant and, borne on a soft, northern wind, enveloped Bhopal, a city in central India.
—Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 23 May 2026
On May 5, a predawn crash on a rain-slick stretch of Interstate 8 near Fletcher Hills fatally injured a motorist.
—City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 May 2026
The Turkish Airlines flight was scheduled to depart Islamabad in the predawn hours of Friday, April 10.
—George Packer, The Atlantic, 13 May 2026
In the coming nights, Earth's satellite will disappear from the predawn sky ahead of its new moon phase on May 16, while Mars and Saturn subtly drift away from one another among the stars of the constellation Pisces.
—Anthony Wood, Space.com, 12 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for predawn
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Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 23 May 2026
On May 5, a predawn crash on a rain-slick stretch of Interstate 8 near Fletcher Hills fatally injured a motorist.
—City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 May 2026
The Turkish Airlines flight was scheduled to depart Islamabad in the predawn hours of Friday, April 10.
—George Packer, The Atlantic, 13 May 2026
In the coming nights, Earth's satellite will disappear from the predawn sky ahead of its new moon phase on May 16, while Mars and Saturn subtly drift away from one another among the stars of the constellation Pisces.
—Anthony Wood, Space.com, 12 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for predawn
Cite this Entry
“Predawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predawn. Accessed 2 Jun. 2026.
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