hour S1 W1 / aʊə $ aʊr / 名词 [可数名词]
1 60 minutes ( written abbreviation hr ) a unit for measuring time. There are 60 minutes in one hour, and 24 hours in one day :
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 [复数形式] 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 [通常复数形式] 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 [通常单数形式] 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 eleventh 1 ( 2 ) , → hourly , happy hour , rush hour , zero hour
COLLOCATIONS
短语
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.
副词
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.
动词
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.