dawn

dawn1 [ dɔn ] noun count or uncount **

the beginning of the day, when it begins to get light:

I don't think he went to sleep until dawn.

at dawn: They had decided to leave at dawn.

at the crack of dawn (=very early in the morning): We had to get up at the crack of dawn.

dawn breaks (=starts): As dawn broke, lines of people began to form at all the border crossings.

from dawn till dusk (=all day): He had worked from dawn till dusk without a break.

the dawn of something MAINLY LITERARY

the time when something such as a new period in history begins

dawn

dawn 2 [ dɔn ] verb intransitive *

1. ) if a day or morning dawns, it begins to get light:

The big day dawned with a howling wind and heavy rain.

a ) if something such as a new period in history dawns, it begins:

The camera age was just dawning, and none of us had ever had our pictures taken before.

2. ) if something such as a thought or a feeling dawns, you begin to realize, understand, or feel it:

dawn that: The realization dawned that few of them would survive.

`dawn on phrasal verb transitive

dawn on someone if something dawns on you, you realize it for the first time:

It was several months before the truth finally dawned on me.

it dawns on someone that: Little by little it dawned on Archie that his wife was not coming back.