hour

noun

• 1a period of time equal to a twenty-fourth part of a day and night and divided into 60 minutes:an extra hour of daylight rates have ranged from $9 to $32 an hour [as modifier, usually with preceding numeral]:a two-hour operation
• a less definite period of time:during the early hours of the morning
• the distance traveled in one hour:Ocean City is less than an hour away

• 2a point in time:I wondered if my last hour had come
• a time of day specified as an exact number of hours from midnight or midday:the clock in the sitting room struck the hour
• (hours) [with preceding numeral] a time so specified on the 24-hour clock:the first bomb fell at 0051 hours
• the time as formerly reckoned from sunrise:it was about the ninth hour

• 3a fixed period of time for an activity, such as work, use of a building, etc.:shortened working hours the dinner hour

• 4 (usually hours) (in the Western Church) a short service of psalms and prayers to be said at a particular time of day, especially in religious communities.

• 5 Astronomy 15° of longitude or right ascension (one twenty-fourth part of a circle).