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

The fire broke out in the predawn hours Tuesday in a large house in the 11300 block of South Forest Avenue. —Adam Harrington, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026

Kerrigan’s father, a welder, drove a Zamboni to pay for her predawn practice time as a kid. —Bob Morris, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026

But in Woodlawn on the city’s South Side, in the predawn hours, a body lay silent in an alley. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 23 Jan. 2026

The best time to hunt for the comet is in the predawn hours, when the constellation Virgo will have risen high in the sky. —Anthony Wood, Space.com, 8 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for predawn

• anton
• argon
• axon
• baronne
• baryon
• baton
• boron
• buisson
• bygone
• capon
• cardon
• chiffon