dawnnoun [ C or U ]
uk/dɔːn/us/dɑːn/B2 the period in the day when light from the sun begins to appear in the sky:
We woke at dawn.
We left as dawn was breaking (= starting).
We left at the break of dawn.
the dawn of sth C1 literary
the start of a period of time or the beginning of something new:
The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the dawn of a new era in European history.
from dawn to dusk
from early morning until night:
We worked from dawn to dusk, seven days a week.
More examples
- She slept fitfully throughout the night and arose before dawn.
- Three prisoners were involved in a dawn jailbreak today.
- They mounted a surprise attack at dawn.
- She's always up before dawn.
- They partied till dawn.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Days & times of day
- afternoon
- afternoons
- am
- at the crack of dawn idiom
- bedtime
- circadian
- crepuscular
- last orders
- lighting-up time
- local time
- lunch hour
- lunchtime
- office hours
- opening time
- overnight
- playtime
- pm
- rush hour
- twilit
- watershed
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Beginnings and starts
dawnverb [ I ]
uk/dɔːn/us/dɑːn/dawn verb [ I ] (BEGIN)
If a day or period of time dawns, it begins:
He left the house just as the day was dawning.
In the late 1970s, the personal computer era was dawning.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Starting and beginning
- be in the first flush of idiom
- become
- begin
- branch out
- break into sth
- export
- go ahead
- ground
- initiator
- instate
- introduce
- kick
- kick in
- kick-start
- strike
- touch sth off
- train
- trigger
- wade in
- weave
See more results »
dawn verb [ I ] (BECOME KNOWN)
mainly UK to become known or obvious:
Gradually the truth about him dawned.
[ + that ] It eventually dawned that he wouldn't be coming back.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Thinking and contemplating
- -ly
- agonize over/about sth
- chew
- chew sth over
- chew the cud idiom
- chew your cud idiom
- depth
- lateral thinking
- let me see/let's see idiom
- let's see idiom
- meditate
- puzzle
- rack
- reflect
- the thought crosses sb's mind idiom
- think sth out
- think sth over
- think sth through
- thinking
- worry
See more results »
dawning
noun [ S ] uk/ˈdɔː.nɪŋ//ˈdɑː.nɪŋ/
the dawning of the digital age
Phrasal verb(s)
dawn on sb