n. 1 daybreak, sunrise, break of day, crack of dawn, first light, dawning, cock crow, Literary aurora, day-spring, US sun-up We shall attack the castle at dawn 2 dawning, beginning, commencement, start, birth, awakening, inception, genesis, outset, onset, origin, appearance, arrival, advent, emergence, inauguration, rise, first occurrence The dawn of western civilization has been placed in Anatolia
v. 3 gleam, break, brighten, lighten The day dawned on the deserted beach 4 begin, originate, commence, arise, appear, emerge, start, arrive, develop, unfold The day of the computer had not yet dawned when I was a child 5 dawn on or upon. occur to, come to mind, become apparent or evident to It slowly dawned on me that he had been lying all along