small hours

plural noun

: the early morning hours

Examples of small hours in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The cars finish their practice in the wee small hours of the morning without any fans watching. David Hill, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2024 At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, revelers in Tel Aviv barely heard the last major Hamas volley – and those that did continued with the festivities until the small hours of the night. Neri Zilber, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Jan. 2024 In the small hours of the morning, CLOCK and BMAL1 are once again being made to renew the cycle. Quanta Magazine, 10 Oct. 2023 Trip home Fu last posted on Weibo in the small hours of April 11 Beijing time, on her way back to China. Yong Xiong, CNN, 27 Sep. 2023 Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images If your boss called you in the small hours of the morning with a pressing work question, you might be understandably frustrated. Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2023 Wine and champagne flowed, and jewelry was sold, into the small hours of the morning. Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 1 July 2023 Most meteor showers are best after midnight, but this one is particularly elusive, peaking in the wee small hours just before dawn. Nicole Clausing, Sunset Magazine, 4 May 2023 Following all-night talks into the small hours of March 28, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and European Council of 27 member states agreed to the new trade defence tool, whose goal is to discourage economic coercion by other nations, including China. Mary Hui, Quartz, 29 Mar. 2023

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

Word History

First Known Use

1717, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of small hours was in 1717

Dictionary Entries Near small hours

Cite this Entry

“Small hours.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/small%20hours. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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