little hours

American  

plural noun

Roman Catholic Church.

1. the hours of prime, tierce, sext, and nones, and sometimes also vespers and compline.

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little hours British  

plural noun

1. RC Church the canonical hours of prime, terce, sext, and nones in the divine office

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Etymology

Origin of little hours

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Had Judith Rodney been his desert comrade all these cheerful years for him to get his first belated insight into the real Judith only a few little hours back?

From Judith of the Plains by Manning, Marie

As far as we can see, St. Gregory arranged the little hours for Sunday only, and their arrangement for week days was left to the care of the bishops and metropolitans, or even of abbots.

From The Divine Office by Quigley, Edward J.

Then he had been but two hours late—two poor little hours!

From The Shadow of a Crime A Cumbrian Romance by Caine, Hall, Sir

Three little hours had scarcely fled,— Khara and Dúshaṇ both were dead, And he had freed the saints and made Asylum sure in Daṇḍak's shade.

From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Griffith, Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin)

But, idol of my heart, though I am overcome with grief at the idea of leaving you for two little hours, it is a question of four thousand francs.

From The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol by Ball, Alec