small hours

American  

plural noun

1. hours after midnight; early morning hours.

   We danced into the small hours.

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small hours British  

plural noun

1. the early hours of the morning, after midnight and before dawn

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small hours Idioms  

1. Also, wee hours. The hours following midnight, as in I stayed up working through the small hours, or The parents didn't come home until the wee hours. The adjectives small and wee both refer to the low numbers of those hours (one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.). [c. 1830]

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Etymology

Origin of small hours

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

Asylum seekers recently arrived during the small hours at the wharf-side four-star Britannia International - 610 rooms, but, according to a maintenance engineer, no longer the "luxury hotel" described in some reports.

From BBC • Aug. 8, 2025

Savage added that this joy in the face of institutional indifference to our suffering, our dancing into the small hours of the night, was indispensable for establishing political force and pushback during the AIDs crisis.

From Salon • Mar. 31, 2025

Intensive sessions with all sorts of delegates went well into the small hours of Wednesday morning after the conference presidency’s initial document angered many countries by avoiding decisive calls for action on curbing warming.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 12, 2023

Into the small hours of the year, into the dawn of another one.

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2023

She did not know how much later it was—perhaps it was in the small hours when she was sent to get fresh towels.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan