hour
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++hour /aʊə $ aʊr/ ●●● S1 W1 noun [countable] 1 60 minutes 六十分钟 (written abbreviation hr)TMC a unit for measuring time. There are 60 minutes in one hour, and 24 hours in one day 小时 The interview will last about two hours. 面试大概要持续两小时。 I study for an hour every night. 我每晚学习一小时。 I’ll be back in three hours. 我三小时以后回来。 Three hours later he was back. 三小时后他回来了。 Her bag was stolen within hours of her arrival. 她才到没几个小时，手提包就被偷了。 You weren’t interested in my story a half hour ago. 半小时之前你还对我讲的事情不感兴趣呢。 It takes about a quarter of an hour to walk into town. 步行进城大约需要一刻钟。hour of After four hours of talks, an agreement was reached. 经过四小时的商谈，一项协议达成了。 The hotel is only an hour’s drive from the airport. 那家宾馆离机场只有一小时的车程。 a top speed of 120 miles an hour 120英里的最高时速 This was freelance work, paid by the hour. 这是自由工作，按小时计酬。 a five-hour delay 五小时的延误2 BUSINESS/WORK ETC 营业/工作等hours [plural]PERIOD OF TIME a fixed period of time in the day when a particular activity, business etc happens 〔某一活动、业务等的固定〕时间 hours of business 9.00–5.00 9.00-5.00 营业时间: 9点－5点office/opening hours Please call during office hours. 请在办公时间来电。working hours/hours of work the advantages of flexible working hours 弹性工作时间的好处visiting hours (=the time when you can visit someone in hospital) 探病时间after hours (=after the time when a business, especially a bar, is supposed to close) 办公[营业]时间之后；〔尤指〕酒吧关门后3 long/regular/late etc hours WORK/DO WORKused to say how long someone works or does things every day, or when they work or do things （工作）时间长/固定/晚等 the long hours worked by hospital doctors 医院医生很长的工作时间 Many hospital staff have to work unsocial hours (=work in the evenings and weekends so that they cannot spend time with family or friends). 许多医院员工必须在非正常时间上班。 She knew that he kept late hours (=stayed up late). 她知道他晚睡。work all the hours God sends (=work all the time that you can) 利用一切可能的时间工作4 time of day 一天里的时间PERIOD OF TIME a particular period or point of time during the day or night 〔一天里的某个〕时间段，时刻in the early/small hours (of the morning) (=between around midnight and two or three o’clock in the morning) 凌晨时分 There was a knock on the door in the early hours of the morning. 凌晨时分有人敲门。 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) 谁会这么晚打电话来呢？daylight/daytime hours The park is open during daylight hours. 公园白天开放。the hours of darkness/daylight literary Few people dared to venture out during the hours of darkness. 几乎没有人敢在夜里冒险外出。unearthly/ungodly hour (=used when you are complaining about how early or late something is) 一大早；很晚〔表示抱怨〕 We had to get up at some ungodly hour to catch a plane. 我们只得一大早就起床去赶飞机。at all hours/at any hour (of the day or night) (=at any time) 在任何时间 If you have a problem, you know you can call at any hour of the day or night. 如果遇到问题，你知道你可以随时打电话来。 She’s up studying till all hours (=until unreasonably late at night). 她一直学习到深夜。 → waking hours/life/day etc at waking5 long time 长时间 [usually plural] informalLONG TIME a long time or a time that seems long 长时间6 o’clock 钟点TIME/WHAT TIME IS IT the time of the day when a new hour starts, for example one o’clock, two o’clock etc 整点7 1300/1530/1805 etc hours TIME/WHAT TIME IS ITused to give the time in official or military reports and orders 13时/15时30分/18时 05分等〔官方或军队在报告或命令中使用〕8 by the hour/from hour to hour FAST/QUICKif a situation is changing by the hour or from hour to hour, it is changing very quickly and very often 〔变化〕快速不断地9 lunch/dinner hour the period in the middle of the day when people stop work for a meal 午餐时间10 important time 重要时刻PERIOD OF TIME [usually singular] an important moment or period in history or in your life 重要时刻[时期]11 of the hour NOWimportant at a particular time, especially the present time 某一刻〔尤指目前〕 → the eleventh hour at eleventh1(2), → hourly, happy hour, rush hour, zero hourn COLLOCATIONSphraseshalf an hour (also a half hour) (=thirty minutes)I’ll meet you in half an hour.(a) quarter of an hour (=fifteen minutes)Mum was gone for about a quarter of an hour.three quarters of an hour (=forty-five minutes)The journey takes three quarters of an hour.miles/kilometres an hour (=used in speeds)The speed limit is 65 miles an hour.£10/$7 etc an hour (=used to say how much someone is paid or how much you pay to use something)The babysitter charges £5 an hour.an hour’s/six hours’ etc work (=work that it took you an hour/six hours etc to do)I did two hours’ work before breakfast.an hour’s walk/drive etcIt’s about an hour’s drive away.adverbsan hour/three hours etc laterAn hour later she arrived home.an hour/three hours etc earlier/beforeI had just seen him a few hours earlier.an hour/three hours etc agoHe left an hour ago.verbstake an hour (=something needs an hour to do)It took about three hours to paint the whole room.spend an hourI spent an hour reading.last (for) an hourThe meeting lasted almost two hours.pay/charge by the hour (=pay or charge someone according to the number of hours it takes to do something)You can pay by the hour to hire a boat.
Examples from the Corpus
hour• We serve meals 24 hours a day, seven days a week.• There's something happening on our street at all hours of the day and night.• After we had sat talking for half an hour he asked permission to be excused.• It seemed to Elizabeth that it took people half an hour to greet each other each day.• I anticipate that his direct examination will require at least an hour.• A pea-sized projectile is hurtled into a target at speeds of up to sixteen thousand miles an hour.• This gives you the cost of an hour of your labor.• Normally the others would remain for another hour or so.• I hate telemarketers who call during the dinner hour• The busiest time and peak hours of the reception office will depend on the type of hotel.• For the hour before getting ready she was reminded in ways she would be able to understand in terms of time.• Sir, I'm sorry to bother you at this hour.• We had to get up at some ungodly hour to catch our train.for an hour• Typically the fisherman is a lone black smudge hunched on his bait-box for hours at a time.• We flew for an hour and in that time I completed a reel of film in my camera.• Been wanting to get them off for hours.• She played the piano for an hour every Thursday at a Northeast Austin retirement home.• He hiked along the road for an hour.• I stood for an hour and a half before working my way up to a seat at the bar.• In the morning he would get up early, lift weights for an hour, and drive to work.in the early/small hours (of the morning)• She was found in the small hours, more than half-way up, scrabbling at a window as if for air.• A policewoman discovered the blaze which occurred in the early hours of yesterday.• Return will be on Sunday, 2 May, late evening or in the early hours of Monday morning.• House fire: Firefighters were called to a house blaze in Sedgefield in the early hours of Saturday morning.• Some time in the early hours they had reached Madeira.• Finally it was Trondur in the small hours of the morning who succeeded.• If you plan to stay up on election night, you could sustain yourself in the small hours with freshly baked pizza.for hours (on end)• We lay awake for hours, each immersed in his or her own thoughts.• He then dressed in her clothes and paraded around the campus for hours until he was arrested.• It seems it is for hours, but neither of us are fighters.• It's gone now, but at the time mentally handicapped patients were locked up in it for hours at a time.• Thus a query and its settlement could easily drag on for hours.• She ranted and raved for hours.• We sat for hours, scowling with concentration, cross-stitching cute little scenes and heartfelt sayings on squares of linen.• It was unclear for hours after the crash how many people had died.strike/chime the hour• The bells in a far steeple began chiming the hour.• It has no dial or hands but strikes the hours.• Dennis arrived just before the clock chimed the hour.• We stand with them for the last gloomy minutes till the clock strikes the hour.• Then he lay trembling on his stone bed and listened to the clock striking the hours.• The great bells of the Immaculate Conception chimed the hour.• He heard the library clock faintly chiming the hour over towards the Butts Estate and sighed a deep and heartfelt sigh.somebody’s hour of need/glory etc• Besides, how could he abandon his father now, in his hour of need?• But at least there was liquid refreshment on hand in Ted's hour of need.• Is there anyone, anyone at all, to whom he might go in his hour of need?• It might also be that Chesnais needed an hour of glory quickly.• Right-wing columnists are refusing to rally to Mr Major in his hour of need.Origin hour (1100-1200) Old French heure, from Latin hora, from Greekhour noun →n COLLOCATIONS1LDOCE OnlineChinese
Corpus a unit measuring There are for time.
hour
hour S1 W1 /aʊə $ aʊr/
noun [countable]
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
2. 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)
3. long/regular/late etc hours used to say how long someone works or does things every day, or when they work or do things:
the long hours worked by hospital doctors
Many hospital staff have to work unsocial hours (=work in the evenings so that they cannot spend time with family or friends).
She knew that he kept late hours (=stayed up late).
work all the hours God sends (=work all the time that you can)
4. 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). ⇨ waking hours/life/day etc at waking
5. 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).
6. 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 American English (=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 Morning Edition on NPR.
7. 1300/1530/1805 etc hours used to give the time in official or military reports and orders:
The helicopters lifted off at 0600 hours.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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)
11. 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)
⇨ the eleventh hour at eleventh1(2), ⇨ hourly, happy hour, rush hour, zero hour
■ phrases
▪half an hour (also a half hour ) (=thirty minutes) I’ll meet you in half an hour.
▪(a) quarter of an hour (=fifteen minutes) Mum was gone for about a quarter of an hour.
▪three quarters of an hour (=forty-five minutes) The journey takes three quarters of an hour.
▪miles/kilometres an hour (=used in speeds) The speed limit is 65 miles an hour.
▪£10/$7 etc an hour (=used to say how much someone is paid or how much you pay to use something) The babysitter charges £5 an hour.
▪an hour’s/six hours' etc work (=work that it took you an hour/six hours etc to do) I did two hours’ work before breakfast.
▪an hour’s walk/drive etc It’s about an hour’s drive away.
■ adverbs
▪an hour/three hours etc later An hour later she arrived home.
▪an hour/three hours etc earlier/before I had just seen him a few hours earlier.
▪an hour/three hours etc ago He left an hour ago.
■ verbs
▪take an hour (=something needs an hour to do) It took about three hours to paint the whole room.
▪spend an hour I spent an hour reading.
▪last (for) an hour The meeting lasted almost two hours.
▪pay/charge by the hour (=pay or charge someone according to the number of hours it takes to do something) You can pay by the hour to hire a boat.
hour S1 W1 /aʊə $ aʊr/
noun [countable] Date: 1100-1200
Language: Old French
Origin: heure, from Latin hora, from Greek
1. 60 MINUTES (written abbreviation hr) a unit for measuring time. There are 60 minutes in one hour, and 24 hours in one day:Language: Old French
Origin: heure, from Latin hora, from Greek
hour of
2. BUSINESS/WORK ETC hours [plural] a fixed period of time in the day when a particular activity, business etc happens:
office/opening hours
working hours/hours of work
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)
3. long/regular/late etc hours used to say how long someone works or does things every day, or when they work or do things:
work all the hours God sends (=work all the time that you can)
4. 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)
daylight/daytime hours
the hours of darkness/daylight literary:
unearthly/ungodly hour (=used when you are complaining about how early or late something is)
at all hours/at any hour (of the day or night) (=at any time)
5. LONG TIME [usually plural] informal a long time or a time that seems long:
for hours (on end)
6. 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)
10/20 etc minutes before/after the hour American English (=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)
7. 1300/1530/1805 etc hours used to give the time in official or military reports and orders:
8. 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:
9. lunch/dinner hour the period in the middle of the day when people stop work for a meal:
10. IMPORTANT TIME [usually singular] an important moment or period in history or in your life
sb’s finest/greatest/darkest hour
sb’s hour of need/glory etc (=a time when someone needs help, is very successful etc)
11. of the hour important at a particular time, especially the present time:
the hero/man of the hour (=someone who does something very brave, is very successful etc at a particular time)
⇨ the eleventh hour at eleventh1(2), ⇨ hourly, happy hour, rush hour, zero hour
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also especially
also especially
often