as in crisis
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action
we're at the zero hour, so someone has to make a decision
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of zero hour
Fighting, however, continued up to the zero hour, with Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon far into the night.
—
Scott Neuman, NPR, 27 Nov. 2024
English learners can attend a specialized class for learning to speak and write can be accomplished with a before-school (zero hour) or after-school period.
—Madeleine Parrish, The Arizona Republic, 8 Oct. 2024
As the zero hour approached, the men fiddled with their automatic rifles while their leader, Habib Rahman Inqayad, scrambled to get the exact location of their target.
—Safiullah Padshah, New York Times, 17 June 2023
The Germans called 1945 Stunde null, zero hour.
—The New Yorker, 4 July 2021
This point of the Vernal Equinox on the celestial equator defines the zero hour of R.A. in our coordinate system.
—Curtis Roelle, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 6 Mar. 2021
As Pac-12 teams prepare for Week Two, the existential clock approaches zero hour.
—oregonlive, 8 Sep. 2022
Hiking through the emerald green canopy of the bosque, or riverside cottonwood forest, near downtown Albuquerque, Tricia Snyder, an advocate for WildEarth Guardians, believes zero hour has arrived for the Rio Grande.
—Jim Robbins, Wired, 25 June 2022
Biden's August deadline marks zero hour for the next phase of a larger international quest: to trace back the virus in order to hold the responsible parties to account, and to understand its inception in order to prevent the next one.
—Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 25 Aug. 2021
Scott Neuman, NPR, 27 Nov. 2024
English learners can attend a specialized class for learning to speak and write can be accomplished with a before-school (zero hour) or after-school period.
—Madeleine Parrish, The Arizona Republic, 8 Oct. 2024
As the zero hour approached, the men fiddled with their automatic rifles while their leader, Habib Rahman Inqayad, scrambled to get the exact location of their target.
—Safiullah Padshah, New York Times, 17 June 2023
The Germans called 1945 Stunde null, zero hour.
—The New Yorker, 4 July 2021
This point of the Vernal Equinox on the celestial equator defines the zero hour of R.A. in our coordinate system.
—Curtis Roelle, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 6 Mar. 2021
As Pac-12 teams prepare for Week Two, the existential clock approaches zero hour.
—oregonlive, 8 Sep. 2022
Hiking through the emerald green canopy of the bosque, or riverside cottonwood forest, near downtown Albuquerque, Tricia Snyder, an advocate for WildEarth Guardians, believes zero hour has arrived for the Rio Grande.
—Jim Robbins, Wired, 25 June 2022
Biden's August deadline marks zero hour for the next phase of a larger international quest: to trace back the virus in order to hold the responsible parties to account, and to understand its inception in order to prevent the next one.
—Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 25 Aug. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for zero hour
Noun
-
Even amid crises, the system generates new leaders, factions, and power centers.—
Narges Bajoghli,
Time,
19 June 2025
-
Trump is also facing growing skepticism about deepening U.S. involvement in the Mideast crisis from some of his most ardent supporters.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
19 June 2025
Noun
-
There's always one shot that leaves a golfer shaking his or her head.—
Mike Hutton,
Post-Tribune,
19 July 2017
-
Delimitros said one of the truck’s side view mirrors struck her in the head, causing minor injuries.—
David Hernandez,
sandiegouniontribune.com,
19 July 2017
Cite this Entry
“Zero hour.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/zero%20hour. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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