predawn

adjective

pre·dawn ˌprē-ˈdȯn

-ˈdän

variants or less commonly pre-dawn

: existing or occurring before dawn

a predawn attack

the predawn hours

… the gigantic telescope started scanning the predawn sky.—

Howard Blum

predawn noun

or less commonly pre-dawn

plural predawns also pre-dawns

The most bone-chilling predawns create the sharpest sunrises. —

Christine Schultz

… stepping out into the quiet pre-dawn, closing the door. —

Bryan Burrough

Examples of predawn in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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These meteor showers are best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere during the night and predawn hours. —

Skyler Caruso, People.com, 3 Jan. 2025 The best way to view the Quadrantids is from the Northern Hemisphere during the predawn hours, as this area of the sky lies very low in the northwest in the evening. —

Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 2 Jan. 2025 For stargazers, that means the best time to catch the Quadrantid meteors will be in the predawn hours Thursday night into Friday morning, astronomers say. —

Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 2 Jan. 2025 In the predawn hours of Dec. 31 Mercury rises at 4:18 a.m., and as in the Northern Hemisphere is only about 7 degrees high by 5 a.m. —

Jesse Emspak, Space.com, 27 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for predawn