dawn1 noundawn2 verb
dawndawn1 /dɔːn $ dɒːn/ ●●○ noun [countable, uncountable] 
WORD ORIGINdawn1
Origin:
1200-1300 daw ‘to dawn’ (10-19 centuries), from Old English dagian; related to dayEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- We talked almost until dawn.
- But even at 6: 30 at night, there can be a dawn.
- Eck therefore had a whole night's steaming to put himself a hundred miles from the sinking before submerging at dawn.
- It had been the hope which had kept her going through the dawn and early morning.
- One morning she rose at dawn and climbed Ballymacadoyle Hill, behind the fort.
- The cowbird lays her egg at dawn.
- There, we spent a night at a Yonchon inn and waited until dawn to make our getaway.
- Waking with a start, she lay in the grey half-light of dawn, wondering where she was.
THESAURUS
the first part of something such as a story, event, or period of time: · The beginning of the movie is very violent.· Let’s go back to the beginning.
the beginning of something, or the way something begins: · Tomorrow marks the start of the presidential election campaign.· It was not a good start to the day.· The runners lined up for the start of the race.
formal the beginning of something – used especially in official contexts: · the commencement of the academic year· the commencement of the contract
the point from which something starts to exist: · He wrote a book about the origins of the universe.· The tradition has its origins in medieval times.
the time when something bad begins, such as illness, old age, or cold weather: · the onset of winter· An active lifestyle can delay the onset of many diseases common to aging.
literary the beginning of an important period of time in history: · People have worshipped gods since the dawn of civilization.
the beginning of something important that will change many people’s lives: · the birth of democracy in South Africa· the birth of the environmental movement
Longman Language Activatorthe time when something is first used or discovered the time when an important new idea, method, or product is first used or discovered, especially one that will lead to important changes: · With the arrival of the railroads after the Civil War, more and more people began moving west to California.· The arrival of convenience foods took much of the hard work out of preparing meals.
also the advent of formal the time when an important new system, idea, product, or method begins to exist or be used, causing important changes in society: · The Middle East changed dramatically with the coming of Islam 600 years after Christ.· Before the coming of the railways in the late 1860s these old roads were the only link between towns.· The advent of TV led to major changes in our social and family life.· Women workers tended to lose their jobs with the advent of new technology.
the beginning of something, for example a new political movement, that will become more and more important, and will change the way many people behave or think: · More than anyone else, Elvis Presley was responsible for the birth of rock and roll.· The birth of modern science was to fundamentally change people's attitudes towards religion.
the beginning of an important period of time in history - used especially in literature: · People have worshipped gods since the dawn of civilization.· Ordinary life would never be the same again after the dawn of the Industrial age.· A small group of poets and writers ushered in the dawn of the Romantic era in literature.
early in the morning early in the morning: · I always wake up early when the weather's warm.· Early the next day, Jamie received a call from his mother.make an early start (=start an activity or journey early in the morning): · If we make an early start we should avoid the worst of the traffic.in the early hours (=during the first hours of the day, when most people are asleep): · The robbery took place in the early hours of Sunday morning.early bird (=someone who gets up early in the morning): · Jack was always an early bird; he did a lot of his work before dawn.
especially spoken if you do something first thing , you do it immediately after you get up or as soon as you start work: · I'll telephone her first thing, I promise.first thing tomorrow/Wednesday/in the morning etc: · Leave it on my desk and I'll deal with it first thing tomorrow.
informal use this to emphasize that something happens very early in the morning, when most people are still in bed: · My Dad used to get up at the crack of dawn every Sunday to go fishing.
if you get up bright and early , you get up very early in the morning, especially because there is something that you want to do: · Geoffrey was up bright and early on Saturday morning, and had everything packed before breakfast.· Waking bright and early, I went for a swim and took the dog for a walk.
WORD SETSAD, advance, verbafter, prepositionafternoon, nounalarm, nounalarm clock, nouna.m., Anno Domini, annual, adjectiveApril, nounAsh Wednesday, nounAug., August, nounautumn, nounautumnal, adjectivebank holiday, nounBC, BCE, biannual, adjectivebicentenary, nounbicentennial, nounbiennial, adjectivebimonthly, adjectivebirthday, nounbiweekly, adjectivebonfire night, nounBoxing Day, nounBritish Summer Time, nounBST, nouncalendar, nouncalendar month, nouncalendar year, nouncarriage clock, nouncentenary, nouncentury, nounChristmas, nounChristmas Day, nounChristmas Eve, nounChristmastime, nounchronograph, nounchronological, adjectivechronometer, nouncircadian, adjectiveclock, nouncrystal, nouncuckoo clock, nouncycle, nouncyclic, adjectivedaily, adjectivedaily, adverbdate, noundate, verbdawn, nounday, nounDec., decade, nounDecember, noundiamond anniversary, noundiamond jubilee, noundinnertime, noundiurnal, adjectived.o.b., due date, noundusk, nounface, nounFather's Day, nounfeast, nounFebruary, nounfortnightly, adjectiveFourth of July, the, Fri., Friday, nounGood Friday, nounGreenwich Mean Time, nounGregorian calendar, nounguy, nounGuy Fawkes Night, nounhalf-hourly, adjectivehalf-yearly, adjectiveHalloween, nounhand, nounHanukkah, nounharvest festival, nounHogmanay, nounhorn, nounhour, nounhourglass, nounhour hand, nounhr, Independence Day, nounJan., January, nounjubilee, nounJuly, nounJune, nounLabor Day, nounleap year, nounlunar month, nounmainspring, nounman-hour, nounMar., March, nounMardi Gras, nounmarket day, nounMaundy Thursday, nounMay, nounMay Day, nounMichaelmas, nounmidday, nounmiddle age, nounmiddle-aged, adjectivemidnight, nounMidsummer Day, nounmidweek, adjectivemillennium, nounmin., minute hand, nounMon., Monday, nounmonth, nounmorn, nounmorning, nounMothering Sunday, nounMother's Day, nounmovable feast, nounnew moon, nounNew Year, nounNew Year's Day, nounNew Year's Eve, nounnight, nounnightfall, nounnighttime, nounnocturnal, adjectiveNoel, nounnoon, nounnoonday, adjectiveNov., November, nounOct., October, nounp.a., Pancake Day, nounPDT, penultimate, adjectiveper annum, adverbper diem, adverbperiodic, adjectivep.m., PST, public holiday, nounquarter, nounquotidian, adjectiveRemembrance Day, nounSat., Saturday, nounschoolday, nounseason, nounsecond, nounsecond hand, nounself-winding, adjectiveSeptember, nounshockproof, adjectivesilver anniversary, nounsilver jubilee, nounsilver wedding anniversary, nounsolar year, nounsolstice, nounspring, nounspringtime, nounstandard time, nounstopwatch, nounsummer, nounsummer solstice, nounsummertime, nounsummery, adjectiveSun., Sunday, nounsundown, nounsunrise, nounsunset, nounsun-up, nountercentenary, nounThanksgiving, nounthirty, numberThursday, nountime, nountime, verbtimepiece, nountimer, nountime signal, nountime warp, nountime zone, nountoday, adverbtoday, nountomorrow, adverbtomorrow, nountonight, adverbtonight, nountriennial, adjectiveTuesday, nountwilight, nounWed., Wednesday, nounweek, nounweekday, nounweekend, nounweekly, adjectiveweeknight, nounWhit, nounWhitsun, nounwinter, nounwintertime, nounwk., wristwatch, nounyear, nounyesterday, adverbyr., Yule, nounYuletide, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
When dawn broke (=the first light of the day appeared), we were still 50 miles from Calcutta. I was up at the crack of dawn (=very early in the morning) to get the plane. We worked from dawn to dusk (=through the whole day while it is light).COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
When dawn broke (=the first light of the day appeared), we were still 50 miles from Calcutta. I was up at the crack of dawn (=very early in the morning) to get the plane. We worked from dawn to dusk (=through the whole day while it is light). (=the time when something important first begins)· The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the dawn of a new era in Europe.
· The flowers glowed brightly in the morning light.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· The Mallaig train pulled away from the Clyde valley, leaving the haze-softened lights of Dumbarton paling in a cold February dawn.· In the cold light of dawn, of course, it was easy to analyse the evening.· Yet enchantment it was, he knew, by the cold light of dawn.· Or perhaps the head asleep on the pillow is revealed as something less enticing in the cold light of dawn.
· She woke in the early dawn and peered around her blearily through the heavy mist that filled the wood.· From it in the early dawn two young men came and stealthily found their way to the temple.· When he woke up, stiff and uncomfortable, the early summer dawn was lighting the room.· We climbed clumsily past Lake Samiti, its dark waters reflecting peaks already shining in their early dawn.· The captain has promised to reach the coastline by early dawn and follow it down to the sea.· She must be riddled, her warm juices all spilled for looking upwards too early into the dawn, leafy with parachutes.· It is early morning and dawn has crept over the land with the suddenness characteristic of summer.
· The global fund in all probability will prove to be another false dawn for the poor.· Tracers lit up the fog like a false dawn.· It was a false dawn, replaced soon after by a now starless night that was blacker than the previous hours.· The woman is much more emotionally exposed to the disappointments and false dawns.· That proved to be a false dawn, as Moravcik's replacement, McNamara, was the one who scored.· But we must beware of overconfidence - we have had false dawns before!
· Even in these grey hours before dawn, he continued her master.· Waking with a start, she lay in the grey half-light of dawn, wondering where she was.· They left the prison building in the grey light of dawn.· Both had taken quite a beating by the time the first grey flickers of dawn filtered in.· Was it already streaked with the first faint grey fingers of dawn?
· Small wonder then that yesterday's new dawn was greeted with scepticism at the chalk face.· Everyone knew Gary Lineker was saying farewell to international football and a new dawn was beckoning.· The prospect of liberation rose like a new dawn before Polly's eyes.· So there could be reason to think his administration would bring a new dawn for local democracy.· Maybe the age of leisure will turn out to be a brief and unsustainable interlude rather than a new dawn after all.· That is how I see the Nineties as a possible new dawn.· Topaz Brown, alas, did not live to see that new dawn.· The new dawn: Cuisine 2000 in its first month of service, August 1985, on to Euston-Manchester run.
NOUN· One such dawn breaks at Ocean Beach and the swell is up.
· Few people have not woken to the sounds of the dawn chorus nor seen moths drawn to artificial lights as daylight fades.· Having heard the evening chorus, I want to hear the dawn chorus as well.· So do the birds that form the dawn chorus at Wayland.· When I wake early to the dawn chorus, I turn my face into my pillow, hoping to prolong the dream.· In woodland we stood and listened to the vociferous dawn chorus.· The first birds were waking; the dawn chorus began.· Day Six: With a salute from the dawn chorus, your cruiser leaves at 6.30am and heads back to Cologne.
· This room is kept firmly locked until Christmas Day dawns, so mischievous fingers can't hide the baubles.
· As I looked round in the pale dawn light, a piece of paper caught my eye.· And now, Mavis stood barefooted on the beach, looking at the moody grey sea in the dawn light.· Now, in the reluctant dawn light, he stood eyeing the carriage and rubbing his grizzled chin.· The dawn light filtered through the half-closed curtains.
· Almost his first action was a post-election dawn raid in July 1983 on departmental budgets.· A dawn raid by about 200 heavily armed law officers bagged more than 30 members and associates of the white-supremacist prison gang.· Read in studio Police have arrested twelve people, including a solicitor's clerk, in dawn raids.· In any other part of the country, police would have apprehended the drug dealers in a series of dawn raids.· The primary purpose of the SARs is to restrict the swift build-up of substantial stakes in a target company by dawn raids.· Seven pistols were discovered under a bed in a dawn raid on a flat.· They also recovered some stolen ammunition during a dawn raid on this flat in Notting Hill.· The dawn raids happened less than a day after a Detective Sergeant was shot with a machine gun in Kent.
VERB· She'd been counting on rescue services arriving with the dawn, but maybe they wouldn't be coming after all.
· The starlings' daily routine in the Park begins at dawn.
· Often, he came home exhausted at dawn and slept the whole of the day away.· The excitement left with the coming of dawn, and I suddenly felt wrung out.· They came again at dawn, silently through the rocks with their bodies mud-streaked and branches of mesquite in their headbands.· The darkness came dawn now, and inside this dark were people who could kill you.· It will only come closer around dawn.
· In more or less recognizable weather, more or less recognizable birds are greeting the dawn.· Again and again he played back the recording made when TMA-1 greeted the dawn for the first time in three million years.· Ari held Nathan's hand as everyone greeted the dawn of the Solstice Day.· Then the barricaded rebels of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement greet the dawn with militant anthems and defiant chants.
· It was the first time she had left him before dawn.· They left the inn before dawn, crossed a wide river by a stone bridge, and continued east.
· The prospect of liberation rose like a new dawn before Polly's eyes.· When they rise at dawn and in the twilight people should not be abroad, but at their prayers indoors.· Then rising like dawn from the mist, the pain was utterly and entirely real.· I had risen soon after dawn, as was my habit, and went walking across the rolling hilltops above the house.· Our grandmothers grew up in the days when women rose at dawn, laid the sticks and lit the fire.· One morning she rose at dawn and climbed Ballymacadoyle Hill, behind the fort.
· She woke in the early dawn and peered around her blearily through the heavy mist that filled the wood.· Billy woke up at dawn on that day in January.· On the farm the animals wake at dawn.· When I wake early to the dawn chorus, I turn my face into my pillow, hoping to prolong the dream.· His resolve ends when again he wakes at dawn with prophetic words in his ears.· Since most babies wake at dawn, parents will find it is a time when babies are most playful and alert.· All taught her how it felt to wake up at dawn and decide what to do with the day.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► the dawn chorus
1the time at the beginning of the day when light first appears SYN daybreakat dawn- Once, long ago, at the dawn of time, he had persuaded man to disobey in a garden.
- Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet Earth.
- It was a false dawn, replaced soon after by a now starless night that was blacker than the previous hours.
- That proved to be a false dawn, as Moravcik's replacement, McNamara, was the one who scored.
- Tracers lit up the fog like a false dawn.
- They both had to get up at the crack of dawn the next morning.
- Crowing begins at or just before the crack of dawn -- as my neighbours will testify.
- Farmers are often away at the crack of dawn.
- Get up at the crack of dawn.
- He was up at the crack of dawn doing something unspeakable to the turkey, but the kids were up anyway.
- She was up at the crack of dawn and often not home until late.
- She was up of course, at the crack of dawn and you know, we go eat breakfast and everything so.
- We were woken at the crack of dawn by the pitter patter of seagulls as they pecked for their breakfast.
- We would come in at the crack of dawn, at 7 a. m. every morning.
The boats set off at dawn. When dawn broke (=the first light of the day appeared), we were still 50 miles from Calcutta. I was up at the crack of dawn (=very early in the morning) to get the plane. We worked from dawn to dusk (=through the whole day while it is light). the cold light of dawn2the dawn of civilization/time etc the time when something began or first appeared: People have been falling in love since the dawn of time.► see thesaurus at beginning3a false dawn something that seems positive or hopeful but really is not: There was talk of share prices recovering, but that was just a false dawn.dawn1 noundawn2 verb
dawndawn2 ●○○ verb [intransitive] VERB TABLE
dawn
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | it | dawns |
| Past | it | dawned |
| Present perfect | it | has dawned |
| Past perfect | it | had dawned |
| Future | it | will dawn |
| Future perfect | it | will have dawned |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | it | is dawning |
| Past | it | was dawning |
| Present perfect | it | has been dawning |
| Past perfect | it | had been dawning |
| Future | it | will be dawning |
| Future perfect | it | will have been dawning |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- As the Cold War dawned in 1949, Galvin was starting his military career.
- I was afraid that if I appeared too eager, it might dawn on the woman she had made a terrible mistake.
- It dawned on me that no one seemed to be idle.
- It is dawning on the rebels that they may have wider support than first realised.
- Monday dawned, as Mondays will, and it was back to the Soho Laundry.
- Suddenly it dawned on Ramsay that this flag was considerably larger than that flown by the Regent.
- Suddenly it dawned on Rose that he stopped by so frequently because he was attracted to her.
- Until it dawned on her that by postponing the decision she was making a decision.
Longman Language Activatorwhen pictures, films etc do not make things seem real
also realise British · Tim only realized his mistake the next day.· Without realising it, we had gone the wrong way.· Oh, is that your chair? Sorry, I didn't realize.realize (that) · She woke up and realised that there was someone moving around downstairs.
if something occurs to you, you suddenly realize that it might be true, especially when you had been thinking something completely different before: it occurs to somebody (that): · It suddenly occurred to me that maybe she was lying.· Didn't it ever occur to you that they would probably like to be alone together?
to slowly realize something, especially over a fairly long period of time: become aware of: · I was slowly becoming aware of how much Melissa was suffering.become aware that: · He became aware that the man sitting opposite was staring at him intently.
if a fact or someone's words sink in , you gradually realize their full meaning: · The news of the President's assassination had only just begun to sink in.· Winning this tournament means so much to me. It hasn't really sunk in yet.
if a fact dawns on you, you slowly start to realize it, especially when you should have realized it before: · The awful truth only dawned on me later.it dawns on somebody that: · It slowly dawned on her that they were all making fun of her.it dawns on somebody how/why etc: · It didn't dawn on me how seriously injured I was until I got to the hospital.
if an idea or thought strikes you, you suddenly realize something: it strikes somebody (that): · It struck her one day, when she was walking home from school, that she hadn't thought about her weight for over a month.· It just struck me - you must have been in the same class as my brother.
if a fact hits you, you suddenly realize its importance or its full meaning and you feel shocked: · The full impact of what he'd said hit me a few hours later.it hits somebody: · Suddenly it hit me. He was trying to ask me to marry him.
to begin to fully realize and understand something, especially after you have avoided thinking about it because it is unpleasant or it makes you feel uncomfortable: · How long will it be before people wake up to the fact that anyone can catch AIDS.· The speaker warned that we must "wake up to the fact that we are in a tough competitive market".
spoken say this when you suddenly realize something that makes a subject or situation easy to understand: · Then it clicked. The man at the station must have been her brother!it clicked what/how/where etc: · Finally it clicked what all the fuss had been about.
to make someone realize how serious, difficult, or dangerous something is: · This is the last place you would expect there to be a murder. It just brings it home to you that this kind of thing can happen anywhere.· It often takes something like a heart attack to bring home to people the danger of smoking.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It began to dawn that something was wrong.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
It began to dawn that something was wrong. (=the time when something important first begins)· The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the dawn of a new era in Europe.
· The flowers glowed brightly in the morning light.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Sometime just before dawn the next morning, he had a dream.· We got to Sabinal in the wee hours before dawn.· The second is the simple case that before dawn, the background noise caused by human activity tends to be much less.· The first attack wave took off from the carriers at thirty minutes before dawn, about 200 miles south of Ceylon.· Saskia wakes before dawn in her cold, shabby room to imagine herself navigating with Odysseus and marking the constellations.· Why not the women I saw all around me, working from before dawn to dark?· A coyote passed an hour or so before dawn at the edge of the clearing.
· It began to dawn on people only slowly, very slowly, that they were never coming back to work.· Suddenly it dawned on Rose that he stopped by so frequently because he was attracted to her.· It dawned on me that Stark was giving me a lesson.
NOUN· It took ages to dawn on me that I had to find something else to do with my time other than music.· The new age had dawned, and the signs of its presence were experienced.· Remember, the age of photography had dawned.
· It was a happy day when it dawned on me that there was no actual impediment to my cordially disliking both lots.· May Day dawned warm and sunny, and the two veterans nodded at each other over morning coffee.· Finally, the great day dawned.· He saw each working day dawn and stayed in bed.· The day dawned misty and drizzly so we went to have a look, confident heroics would not be called for.· The darkest day of my life dawned in western Arizona on November sixteenth.· Pluto's right angle to Mercury insists a bright new day is dawning.· A new day had dawned in golf.
· Then light dawned on him, and with it came a momentary rush of indignation.
· Next morning dawns bright and clear; the storm has blown itself out in the night.· During the night the wind got up, and the morning dawned grey and blustery, with bursts of heavy rain.· That first morning dawned clear and cool, a welcome change after sweltering Boston.· Chapter 5 Saturday morning dawned late for me, and I just caught the tail end of Sport on Four.· Saturday morning dawned hot and fair in Thames, Wight and Portland.· When morning dawned he knew he would never again follow the old man up to that room.
· Then the truth begins to dawn.· He could feel it now, as though a great truth had finally dawned in him.· Then she remembered Edward's march and the awful truth began to dawn.· We tried the next couple of villages also before the truth dawned.· Following that, comes a period of despair and depression when the truth finally dawns that the loved one has gone for good.
VERB· Something began to dawn on Sandie Shaw.· It began to dawn on people only slowly, very slowly, that they were never coming back to work.· The honeymoon was over and the reality of what she had taken on began to dawn.· It began to dawn on me that I had walked into a pressure cooker; there were a lot of big problems.· It began to dawn on him just what he had said, and to whom.· Then the truth begins to dawn.· Then she remembered Edward's march and the awful truth began to dawn.· Slowly it began to dawn on the pair that nobody else could possibly represent their work.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► the dawn chorus
1if day or morning dawns, it begins: - They both had to get up at the crack of dawn the next morning.
- Crowing begins at or just before the crack of dawn -- as my neighbours will testify.
- Farmers are often away at the crack of dawn.
- Get up at the crack of dawn.
- He was up at the crack of dawn doing something unspeakable to the turkey, but the kids were up anyway.
- She was up at the crack of dawn and often not home until late.
- She was up of course, at the crack of dawn and you know, we go eat breakfast and everything so.
- We were woken at the crack of dawn by the pitter patter of seagulls as they pecked for their breakfast.
- We would come in at the crack of dawn, at 7 a. m. every morning.
The morning dawned fresh and clear after the storm.2if a period of time or situation dawns, it begins: The age of Darwin had dawned.3if a feeling or idea dawns, you have it for the first time: It began to dawn that something was wrong.dawn on somebody phrasal verb if a fact dawns on you, you realize it for the first time: The ghastly truth dawned on me.it dawns on somebody (that) It dawned on me that Jo had been right all along.