from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
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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?
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3. Fixed or appointed time; conjuncture; a particular time or
occasion; as, the hour of greatest peril; the man for the
hour.
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Woman, . . . mine hour is not yet come. --John ii.
4.
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This is your hour, and the power of darkness. --Luke
xxii. 53.
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4. pl. (R. C. Ch.) Certain prayers to be repeated at stated
times of the day, as matins and vespers.
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5. A measure of distance traveled.
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Vilvoorden, three hours from Brussels. --J. P.
Peters.
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{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.
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