hour

Everyday

1. An hour is a length of time; it has sixty minutes. tree →
2. An hour can mean a time of day: «at this hour». tree →
3. Hours can mean the time when something is open or when someone works: «school hours». tree →
4. (casual) «Hours» can mean a long time, not counted: «I waited for hours!»; «hrs» and «hr» are short forms in texts and timetables. tree →
5. (casual) «The small hours» are the hours after midnight; «on the hour» means at 1:00, 2:00 and so on. tree →
6. (formal) Exams and notices say «per hour», «hourly», «a duration of», «hours of operation» and «elapsed time». tree →

In the lessons

sixty minutes; a unit of time: N hours = N × 60 minutes; a day has 24 hours; speed is often given per hour; phrases: «an hour», «half an hour», «hours and hours», «rush hour», «opening hours», «per hour», «on the hour», «after hours»; in casual talk «took hours», «back in an hr», «like an hour ago»; in rough talk «I've been waiting a bloody hour»; in the exam voice «the elapsed duration in hours», «at a uniform rate of 60 kilometres per hour», «hours of operation»

Examples

• How many minutes are in 3 hours? tree →
• Max sleeps 9 hours each night. tree →
• An hour has 60 minutes. tree →
• A day has 24 hours. tree →
• The car drove at 60 kilometres per hour. tree →
• The roads are busy at rush hour. tree →
• We waited for half an hour. tree →
• The bus comes every hour, on the hour. tree →
• back in an hr, chicken's in the oven tree →
• I've been waiting a bloody hour for this bus! tree →
• A vehicle proceeds at a uniform rate of 60 kilometres per hour for a duration of 3 hours. Compute the distance travelled. tree →
• The library's hours are 9 to 5. tree →
• He waited one hour, two hours. tree →

Note

An hour is 60 minutes. A day is 24 hours. N hours = N × 60 minutes. Hours are added and subtracted like counts. «for hours» in talk means a long time, not a number. «hourly» means once every hour. Grammar: «an hour» (the h is silent). Trap: «hour» and «our» sound the same.

In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: The Sefer Yetzirah takes the seven days with their hours as parts of the creation, with the seventh day, Shabbat, as the most beloved. In the primary lessons: sixty minutes; a unit of time: N hours = N × 60 minutes; a day has 24 hours; speed is often given per hour; phrases: «an hour», «half an hour», «hours and hours», «rush hour», «opening hours», «per hour», «on the hour», «after hours»; in casual talk «took hours», «back in an hr», «like an hour ago»; in rough talk «I've been waiting a bloody hour»; in the exam voice «the elapsed duration in hours», «at a uniform rate of 60 kilometres per hour», «hours of operation»

Examples

• With them He carved the Seven Firmaments and the Seven Earths and the Seven Hours; for this reason, He loved the Seventh Day more than any object under the heavens. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
• and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.' (Writings DAN.3.6, JPS 1917) tree →
• In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote. (Writings DAN.5.5, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

An hour is 60 minutes. A day is 24 hours. N hours = N × 60 minutes. Hours are added and subtracted like counts. «for hours» in talk means a long time, not a number. «hourly» means once every hour. Grammar: «an hour» (the h is silent). Trap: «hour» and «our» sound the same.