small hours
nounEtymology From the small number used to identify such hours (e.g. 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock).
1
The very early morning, just after midnight, when most people are asleep.
- Cologne Hauptbahnhof is reached in the small hours, and the traveller new to postwar Germany is spared the sight of the devastated city.1949 September and October, “The "Nord Express"”, in Railway Magazine, page 336:
- Then follows a quiet period during the small hours, marked by the departure of the other newspaper trains and some van trains, and by the arrival of the mail train from Weymouth.1962 April, J. N. Faulkner, “Summer Saturday at Waterloo”, in Modern Railways, page 265:
1 more example
- ...the writer conjured up a dystopian fantasy more berserk than anything you might find yourself listening to in the small hours at the Stone Circle.2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian:
- Synonyms
- wee hours, wee small hours, ungodly hours, postmidnight