hour

hour [our]

n.

[ME < OFr hore < L hora < Gr hōra, hour, time, period, season < IE base * yē-, year, summer (< * ei-, to go) > YEAR]

1.

a) a division of time, one of the twenty-four parts of a day; sixty minutes

b) one of the twelve points on a clock, watch, etc. marking the beginning or end of such a division [the ninth hour]

2. a point or period of time; specif.,

a) a fixed point or period of time for a particular activity, occasion, etc. [the dinner hour]

b) an indefinite period of time of a specified kind [his finest hour]

c) [pl.] a period fixed for work, receiving patients, etc. [office hours from 2 to 5]

d) [pl.] the usual times for getting up or going to bed [to keep late hours]

3. the time of day as indicated by a timepiece or as reckoned from midnight to midnight, expressed in hours and minutes [arrival at 14:30 hours]

4. a measure of the distance usually covered in an hour [two hours from New York to Philadelphia by rail]

5. Astron. a sidereal hour; angular unit equaling 15° measured along the celestial equator

6. Eccles. a canonical hour or the prayers then said: see BREVIARY

☆ 7. Educ. a class session of approximately one hour: each hour of a course per week is a unit of academic credit

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after hours

after the regular hours for business, school, etc.

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hour after hour

every hour or for many successive hours

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hour by hour

each hour

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of the hour

most prominent at this time

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one's hour

the time of one's death