predawn

adjective

pre·dawn ˌprē-ˈdȯn

-ˈdän

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

predawn noun

or less commonly pre-dawn

plural predawns also pre-dawns

The most bone-chilling predawns create the sharpest sunrises. —

Christine Schultz

… stepping out into the quiet pre-dawn, closing the door. —

Bryan Burrough

Examples of predawn in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Dole made four stops in Arizona that cycle, including a predawn visit to a Phoenix diner the day before the election as part of a cross-county blitz. —

Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 26 Sep. 2024 Martin’s bloodied body was discovered lying in a nearby street in the predawn hours. —

Faith Karimi, CNN, 15 Sep. 2024 The pair were arrested Sept. 6 during a predawn FBI raid on a home in Arcata’s downtown area. —

Bay Area News Group, The Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2024 In the predawn hours, the SpaceX Dragon capsule perched atop a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 5:23 a.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. —

Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 11 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for predawn

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'predawn.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.