hour
noun uk/aʊər/ us/aʊr/
A1 [ C ]小时
a period of 60 minutes
The exam lasted an hour and a half. 考试持续了一个半小时。
There are 24 hours in a day. 1天有24小时。
How many hours' sleep do you need? 你需要睡多少个小时？
I'll be back in an hour's/two hours' time (= after one/two hours). 我会在一小时／两小时之后回来。
My hometown is an hour from Houston/an hour away (= it takes an hour to travel there). 我家乡离休斯顿有一小时的路程。
He gets paid by the hour (= gets a particular amount of money for each hour he works). 他拿的是按小时计酬的工资。
Trains leave every hour on the hour (= at exactly one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.). 火车每小时整点发车。
Buses leave at ten minutes past/to the hour (= at ten past/to one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.). 公共汽车每整点过10分／差10分发一班车。
formal War was declared at eighteen hundred hours/18.00 hours (= at six o'clock in the evening). 宣战时间是晚上6点。
[ C usually plural ]（用于做某事的）时间;（商店或公共场所）开放时间
the period of time when a particular activity happens or when a shop or public building is open
I try to spend my lunch hour walking. 我试着把午餐时间用在步行上。
office/working hours 办公／工作时间
Our opening hours are from 8.00 to 6.00. 我们的开放时间是8点到6点。
C2 [ C ]（白天或夜里的）某个时间，某个时刻
a particular time during the day or night
Who could be calling us at this unearthly/ungodly hour (= so late at night)? 谁会在夜里这么晚给我们打电话？
He returned in the early/small hours (= at night, after midnight). 他凌晨才回来。
work long, regular, unsocial, etc. hours 长时间工作／工作时间规律／在其他人不上班的时间工作（等等）
used to describe how many hours in the day you work or what part of the day you work
She's a nurse so she often works unsocial hours. 她是名护士，所以经常要上早班、值夜班。
He's paid well but he works long hours. 他薪水很高，可是工作时间也很长。
I was working erratic hours as an on-call doctor.
Investigators worked long hours sifting through files and other intelligence.
I can't host the meeting every week because I work irregular hours.
Do you work regular hours, or does your schedule change?
for hours (and hours) B1 informal 很长时间
for a very long time
I waited for him for hours. 我等了他很长时间。
I stayed behind for hours cleaning up their mess.
We met in a restaurant and talked for hours and hours.
These magnetic blocks will entertain your kids for hours.
I'd been sweating over a hot stove for hours to produce that meal.
at all hours (of the day and night) C1 disapproving 整天不断地;昼夜不停地
repeatedly during the day and the night
They keep calling me at all hours (of the day and night). 他们整天不停地给我打电话。
Their poor dog barked at all hours.
They played loud music at all hours of the day and night.
We noticed cars coming at going at all hours.
The house was occupied by students, who came and went at all hours.
- More examples
- She walks the dog for an hour every afternoon.
- The trip from York to Newcastle takes about an hour by train.
- We had to queue for three hours to get in.
- All the new toys kept the kids occupied for hours.
- As a teacher you could expect to be paid anywhere between £7 and £15 per hour.
Idioms
after hoursidiom 工作时间之后，下班后
after the usual hours of work
I often do some of my own work after hours. 我经常在下班后做一些自己的活儿。
在违禁时间，在正常营业时间之外
If you drink in a bar after hours, you drink alcohol at a time when it is not allowed by law.
The police are trying to stop after-hours drinking. 警方正设法禁止在违禁时间内饮酒。
hour after houridiom 连续几个小时
for many hours without stopping
I sat by her bedside for hour after hour. 我连续几个小时一直坐在她的床边。
your hour has comeidiom literary （某人）死期将近
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. 当他用枪指着我时，我想我的死期到了。
(from) hour to houridiom 时刻，时时（在变化）
If something changes from hour to hour, it is different every hour.
in someone's hour of needidiom literary 在（某人）急需帮助的时候
at a time when someone really needs help
She helped me in my hour of need. 在我急需帮助的时候，她帮了我。
out of hoursidiom UK 在违禁时间，在正常营业时间之外
If you drink in a bar out of hours, you drink alcohol at a time when it is not allowed by law.
The police are trying to stop out-of-hours drinking. 警方正设法禁止在违禁时间内饮酒。
until all hoursidiom disapproving 很晚
very late
He stays up drinking until all hours. 他喝酒喝到很晚。