The small hours

Hour 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. [1913 Webster]

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? [1913 Webster]

3. Fixed or appointed time; conjuncture; a particular time or occasion; as, the hour of greatest peril; the man for the hour. [1913 Webster]

Woman, . . . mine hour is not yet come. --John ii. 4. [1913 Webster]

This is your hour, and the power of darkness. --Luke xxii. 53. [1913 Webster]

4. pl. (R. C. Ch.) Certain prayers to be repeated at stated times of the day, as matins and vespers. [1913 Webster]

5. A measure of distance traveled. [1913 Webster]

Vilvoorden, three hours from Brussels. --J. P. Peters. [1913 Webster]

{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. [1913 Webster]