hour

noun

/aʊər/

/aʊr/

Definition

A1 [C] a period of 60 minutes: The exam lasted an hour and a half. There are 24 hours in a day. How many hours' sleep do you need? I'll be back in an hour's/two hours' time (= after one/two hours). The village is an hour from Doncaster/an hour away (= it takes an hour to travel there). He gets paid by the hour (= gets a particular amount of money for each hour he works). Trains leave every hour on the hour (= at exactly one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.). Buses leave at ten minutes past/to the hour (= at ten past/to one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.). War was declared at eighteen hundred/18.00 hours (= at six o'clock in the evening).Specific periods of time › [C usually plural] the period of time when a particular activity happens or when a shop or public building is open: I did it in my lunch hour. office/working hours Our opening hours are from 8.00 to 6.00.Days and times of day C2 [C] a particular time during the day or night: Who could be phoning us at this unearthly/ungodly hour (= so late at night)? He returned in the early/small hours (= at night, after midnight).Points in time work long, regular, unsocial, etc. hours › used to describe how many hours in the day you work or what part of the day you work: She's a nurse so she often works unsocial hours. He's paid well but he works long hours.Working hours and periods of workWork, working and the workplace for hours (and hours) B1 informal › for a very long time: I waited for him for hours.Continue and last at all hours (of the day and night) C1 disapproving › repeatedly during the day and the night: They keep ringing me up at all hours (of the day and night).Continually and repeatedly

(Definition of hour noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)