See Also: man-hour(dictionary)
hour(dictionary)
zero hour(dictionary)
Man-hour(money)
Hour(medicine)
hour(dictionary)
hour hand(dictionary)
rush hour(dictionary)
lunch hour(dictionary)
24 hour clock(dictionary)

hour (oh)



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1 ?60 minutes?
2 ?business/work etc?
3 (work) long/regular etc hours
4 ?time of day?
5 ?long time?
6 ?o'clock?
7 1300/1530/1805 etc hours
8 by the hour/from hour to hour
9 lunch/dinner hour
10 ?important time?
11 of the hour
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[Date: 1100-1200; Language: Old French; Origin: heure, from Latin hora, from Greek]
?60 MINUTES?
written abbreviation hr
a unit for measuring time. There are 60 minutes in one hour, and 24 hours in one day.
　The interview will last about two hours.
　 I study for an hour every night.
　 I'll be back in three hours .
　 Three hours later he was back.
　Her bag was stolen within hours of her arrival.
　 You weren't interested in my story a half hour ago.
　It takes about a quarter of an hour to walk into town.
hour of
　After four hours of talks, an agreement was reached.
　The hotel is only an hour's drive from the airport.
　 a top speed of 120 miles an hour
　This was freelance work, paid by the hour .
　a five- hour delay
?BUSINESS/WORK ETC?
hours [plural] a fixed period of time in the day when a particular activity, business etc happens
　hours of business 9.00-5.00
office/opening hours
　Please call during office hours.
working hours/hours of work
　the advantages of flexible working hours
visiting hours
(=the time when you can visit someone in hospital)
after hours
(=after the time when a business, especially a bar, is supposed to close)
(work) long/regular etc hours
if you work long, regular etc hours, the period that you work is longer than usual, always the same etc
　the long hours worked by hospital doctors
　Many hospital staff have to work unsocial hours (=work in the evenings so that you cannot spend time with family or friends) .
work all the hours God sends
(=work all the time that you can)
?TIME OF DAY?
a particular period or point of time during the day or night
in the early/small hours (of the morning)
(=between around midnight and two or three o'clock in the morning)
　There was a knock on the door in the early hours of the morning.
　Who can be calling at this late hour ? (=used when you are surprised or annoyed by how late at night or early in the morning something is)
daylight/daytime hours
　The park is open during daylight hours.
the hours of darkness/daylight literary
　Few people dared to venture out during the hours of darkness.
unearthly/ungodly hour
(=used when you are complaining about how early or late something is)
　We had to get up at some ungodly hour to catch a plane.
at all hours/at any hour (of the day or night)
(=at any time)
　If you have a problem, you know you can call at any hour of the day or night.
　She's up studying till all hours (=until unreasonably late at night) .
-see also waking hours/life/day etc at waking
?LONG TIME?
[usually plural] informal a long time or a time that seems long
　We had to spend hours filling in forms.
for hours (on end)
　It'll keep the children amused for hours on end.
　a really boring lecture that went on for hours and hours
　She lay awake for hour after hour (=for many hours, continuously) .
?O'CLOCK?
the time of the day when a new hour starts, for example one o'clock, two o'clock etc
strike/chime the hour
(=if a clock strikes the hour, it rings, to show that it is one o'clock, seven o'clock etc)
(every hour) on the hour
(=every hour at six o'clock, seven o'clock etc)
　There are flights to Boston every hour on the hour.
10/20 etc minutes before/after the hour AmE (=used on national radio or television in order to give the time without saying which hour it is, because the broadcast may be coming from a different time zone)
　It's twelve minutes before the hour, and you're listening to the Morning Edition on NPR.
1300/1530/1805 etc hours
used to give the time in official or military reports and orders
　The helicopters lifted off at 0600 hours.
by the hour/from hour to hour
if a situation is changing by the hour or from hour to hour, it is changing very quickly and very often
　This financial crisis is growing more serious by the hour.
lunch/dinner hour
the period in the middle of the day when people stop work for a meal
　I usually do the crossword in my lunch hour.
?IMPORTANT TIME?
[usually singular] an important moment or period in history or in your life
sb's finest/greatest/darkest hour
　This was our country's finest hour.
sb's hour of need/glory etc
(=a time when someone needs help, is very successful etc)
　Don't desert me in my hour of need.
of the hour
important at a particular time, especially the present time
　one of the burning questions of the hour
the hero/man of the hour
(=someone who does something very brave, is very successful etc at a particular time)
-see also the eleventh hour at eleventh 1 (2), hourly , happy hour , rush hour , zero hour
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COLLOCATES for sense 1
for an hour/two hours/three hours etc
in an hour/in an hour's time (=when an hour has passed)
an hour/two hours etc later
an hour/two hours etc ago/earlier
within hours (of something) (=only a few hours after something)
half an hour also a half hour American English
(a) quarter of an hour
three quarters of an hour
an hour's work (=work that it took you an hour to do)
an hour's walk/drive
miles/kilometres per hour (=used in speeds)
♀10/$5.50 etc an hour (=used to say how much someone is paid or how much you pay to use something)
pay/charge by the hour (=pay or charge someone according to the number of hours it takes to do something)