HOUR

[noun] [C] - a period of 60 minutesThe exam lasted an hour/three hours/half an hour/a quarter of an hour/an hour and a half.There are 24 hours in a day.How many hours' sleep do you need?'Hour' or 'hours' can also mean a time or period of time when a particular thing happens.What time's your lunch/dinner hour?I work normal office/business hours.I'll be back in an hour's/two hours' time (= after one/two hours).If you keep regular/late/unusual hours, you go to bed, get up or work at regular/late/unusual times.The village is an hour from Cambridge/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).The clock strikes the hour (= It makes a noise at one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.).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.).(specialized) War was declared at eighteen hundred/18.00 hours (= at six o'clock in the evening).At the agreed hour (= At the time arranged in advance), a car stopped outside the bank.The doctor said we could call her at any hour of the day or night (= at any time) if we were worried.What are you doing here at this hour (= at this time)?(disapproving) Who could be phoning us at this ungodly hour (= at this unreasonable time)?He works long hours (= starts work early and finishes late).Granny spent long hours (= a long time) talking about her childhood.Weather conditions in these mountains change (from) hour to hour (= they are different every hour).I often do some of my own work after hours (= after the usual times of work).(esp. UK) If you drink in a bar, etc. out of hours (US and ANZ after hours), you drink alcohol at a time when it is not allowed by law.The police are trying to stop out-of-hours drinking.I waited for him for hours (and hours) (= for a very long time).(esp. disapproving) They keep ringing me up at all hours (of the day and night) (= continually during the day and the night).(esp. disapproving) He stays up drinking till all hours (= very late).I sat by her bedside for hour after hour/hour upon hour (= many hours without stopping).(literary) She helped me in my hour of need (= when I urgently needed help).(literary) If you think your hour has come, you think you are going to die.I thought my hour had come when he pointed his gun at me.An hour hand on a clock or watch is the part which points to the hours. It is shorter than the minute hand.See picture: Clocks and watches