hour

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• a period of 60 minutes: The exam lasted an hour and a half. There are 24 hours in a day. How many hours' sleep do you need? an hour's/two hour's/etc. time I'll be back in an hour's/two hours' time (= after one/two hours). My hometown is an hour from Houston/an hour away (= it takes an hour to travel there). by the hour He gets paid by the hour (= gets a particular amount of money for each hour he works). every hour on the hour Trains leave every hour on the hour (= at exactly one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.). past/to the hour Buses leave at ten minutes past/to the hour (= at ten past/to one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.). formal War was declared at eighteen hundred hours/18.00 hours (= at six o'clock in the evening).

• work long, regular, unsocial, etc. hours 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.

• for hours (and hours) B1 informal for a very long time: I waited for him for hours.

• a period of 60 minutes: Take this an hour after eating. It’s open 24 hours a day. He works long hours (= starts work early and finishes late). He gets paid by the hour (= for each hour worked). Buses pull out every hour on the hour (= at the time an hour begins).