Hour

(Greek and Latin, hora.)

At the eleventh hour. Just in time not to be too late; only just in time to obtain some benefit. The allusion is to the parable of labourers hired for the vineyard (Matt. xx.).

My hour is not yet come. The time of my death is not yet fully come. The allusion is to the belief that the hour of our birth and death is appointed and fixed.

“When Jesus knew that His hour was come …”—John xiii. 1.

In an evil hour. Acting under an unfortunate impulse. In astrology we have our lucky and unlucky hours.

In the small hours of the morning. One, two, and three, after midnight.

To keep good hours. To return home early every night; to go to bed betimes. “Se retirer la nuit de bonne heure.” In Latin, “Tempestive se domum recipĕre.”

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.