hour

hour [ aur ] noun ***

▸ 1 60 minutes of time

▸ 2 a long time

▸ 3 time in which you do something

▸ 4 particular time of day

▸ 5 point in history/life

▸ 6 exact time

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) count a period of time that consists of 60 minutes. 30 minutes is usually called half an hour, 15 minutes can be called a quarter of an hour, and 45 minutes can be called three-quarters of an hour:

every hour: She checked on the children every hour.

an hour ago: He left about an hour ago.

an hour of something: After an hour of arguing, he agreed.

an hour's sleep/exercise/practice etc.: Why don't you get an hour's sleep?

for an hour: I've been waiting for over an hour.

take an hour to do something: This dish takes about an hour to cook.

it takes an hour to do something: It takes nearly an hour to get there by bus.

in an hour/an hour's time: I can be there in an hour.

a ) used when you are talking about how much time you need to get somewhere:

an hour along/past something: Half an hour along the beach road are some little stores.

an hour away (from something): Annapolis is only an hour away from here.

b ) an/per hour at a rate based on an hour of a particular activity:

I earn $15 an hour.

The car was traveling at an estimated 85 miles per hour.

2. ) hours plural a long time:

I'm hungry and it's hours until dinner.

for hours (on end): I lay awake for hours thinking about John.

3. ) hours plural the time during which you do something such as work or study:

My job is very flexible I can fit my hours around my children.

long hours: She's putting in long hours at the library.

school/working hours: courses that take place outside school hours

4. ) count a particular time in the day or night:

You can call me at any hour of the day or night.

What are you doing out of bed at this hour (=so early or late)?

the hours of daylight/darkness: They usually hunt during the hours of darkness.

at all hours: You get cars coming down here at all hours.

5. ) singular a particular point in history or in someone's life or career:

someone's/something's finest hour: His finest hour came in 1982 when his film Gandhi won eight Oscars.

someone's/something's darkest hour (=worst time): We have lived through our country's darkest hour.

in someone's hour of need (=at a time when they really need help): No one had helped him in his hour of need.

6. ) the hour the time that is exactly one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock etc.:

after the hour: The bus stops here at six minutes after the hour.

on the hour: Trains for Edinburgh leave every hour on the hour.

a ) strike the hour if a clock strikes the hour, it shows that it is exactly one o'clock, two o'clock, etc. by making a sound once, twice, etc.

0900/1300 etc. hours SPOKEN FORMAL

used especially by the police and military people for telling the time by the twenty-four hour clock. For example, 13 hundred hours is one o'clock in the afternoon.

after hours

after the time when a place such as an office or bar usually closes

=> AFTER-HOURS

by the hour

1. ) based on an hour of work:

Are you paid for work completed, or by the hour?

2. ) by the hour/from hour to hour continuously or all the time:

The fire grew bigger by the hour.

hour after/upon hour

a very long time:

She spends hour after hour reading magazines.

keep regular/late etc. hours

to perform the same activities every day at regular/late, etc. times, especially going to bed and getting out of bed

of the hour

most important or popular at the present time:

the hero of the hour

the issues of the hour

within the hour

before very much time has passed, usually less than an hour