Definitions for: Hour


[n] distance measured by the time taken to cover it; "we live an hour from the airport"; "its just 10 minutes away"
[n] a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day; "the job will take more than an hour"
[n] clock time; "the hour is getting late"
[n] a special and memorable period; "it was their finest hour"



Webster (1913) Definition: Hour, n. [OE. hour, our, hore, ure, OF. hore, ore, ure,
F. heure, L. hora, fr. Gr. ?, orig., a definite space of
time, fixed by natural laws; hence, a season, the time of the
day, an hour. See Year, and cf. Horologe, Horoscope.]
1. The twenty-fourth part of a day; sixty minutes.

2. The time of the day, as expressed in hours and minutes,
and indicated by a timepiece; as, what is the hour? At
what hour shall we meet?

3. Fixed or appointed time; conjuncture; a particular time or
occasion; as, the hour of greatest peril; the man for the
hour.

Woman, . . . mine hour is not yet come. --John ii.
4.

This is your hour, and the power of darkness. --Luke
xxii. 53.

4. pl. (R. C. Ch.) Certain prayers to be repeated at stated
times of the day, as matins and vespers.

5. A measure of distance traveled.

Vilvoorden, three hours from Brussels. --J. P.
Peters.

After hours, after the time appointed for one's regular
labor.

Canonical hours. See under Canonical.

Hour angle (Astron.), the angle between the hour circle
passing through a given body, and the meridian of a place.


Hour circle. (Astron.)
(a) Any circle of the sphere passing through the two poles
of the equator; esp., one of the circles drawn on an
artificial globe through the poles, and dividing the
equator into spaces of 15[deg], or one hour, each.
(b) A circle upon an equatorial telescope lying parallel
to the plane of the earth's equator, and graduated in
hours and subdivisions of hours of right ascension.
(c) A small brass circle attached to the north pole of an
artificial globe, and divided into twenty-four parts
or hours. It is used to mark differences of time in
working problems on the globe.

Hour hand, the hand or index which shows the hour on a
timepiece.

Hour line.
(a) (Astron.) A line indicating the hour.
(b) (Dialing) A line on which the shadow falls at a given
hour; the intersection of an hour circle which the
face of the dial.

Hour plate, the plate of a timepiece on which the hours are
marked; the dial. --Locke.

Sidereal hour, the twenty-fourth part of a sidereal day.

Solar hour, the twenty-fourth part of a solar day.

The small hours, the early hours of the morning, as one
o'clock, two o'clock, etc.



To keep good hours, to be regular in going to bed early.

Synonyms: 60 minutes, hr, minute, time of day

See Also: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, aurora, bedtime, break of day, break of the day, canonical hour, clock time, closing time, cockcrow, dawn, dawning, day, daybreak, dayspring, distance, dusk, early-morning hour, evenfall, fall, first light, gloaming, half-hour, happy hour, high noon, late-night hour, man hour, mealtime, mean solar day, midday, midnight, min, minute, morning, nightfall, none, noon, noonday, noontide, period, period of time, person hour, quarter, quarter-hour, rush hour, sidereal hour, small hours, solar day, sundown, sunrise, sunset, sunup, time, time period, time unit, twelve noon, twenty-four hours, twilight, unit of time, zero hour

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