small hours

plural noun

1. hours after midnight; early morning hours:

   We danced into the small hours.

small hours

plural noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of small hours¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Idioms and Phrases

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]

Example Sentences

But as the puddles swell and the temperature drops in the small hours at Battersea Park Athletics Club, the only thing on runners’ minds is survival.

From BBC

On Monday, police said Mr Khalusha was detained at a bar in the small hours of that morning while watching the Euro final football match.

From BBC

At least 112 Palestinians were killed as crowds rushed around lorries delivering desperately needed food aid in the small hours of Thursday morning.

From BBC

In the small hours, or when you wake up if you’re not as nerdy as me, we’ll have the results and you can catch all the analysis here in the morning.

From BBC

The UN was moving aid convoys in the small hours of the morning to stop them being robbed.

From BBC