dawn

Plural: dawns

Noun

• the first light of day
  • "we got up before dawn"
• the earliest period
  • "the dawn of civilization"
• an opening time period
  • "it was the dawn of the Roman Empire"
• The morning twilight period immediately before sunrise.
• The rising of the sun.
• The time when the sun rises.
• The earliest phase of something.

Verb

Verb Forms: dawned, dawning, dawns

• To begin to grow light; to become apparent or understood.
• become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions
  • "It dawned on him that she had betrayed him"
• appear or develop
  • "The age of computers had dawned"
• become light
  • "It started to dawn, and we had to get up"
• To begin to brighten with daylight.
• To start to appear or become obvious.
• To begin to give promise; to begin to appear or to expand.

Examples

• A brilliant strategy for a triple word score began to dawn on her.
• A new day dawns.
• I don’t want to be there when the truth dawns on him.
• She rose before dawn to meet the train.
• The dawn of civilization didn't imply twilight of barbarity.
• The realization dawned on him that few would pass that final exam.

Synonyms

aurora, break of day, break of the day, click, cockcrow, come home, dawning, daybreak, dayspring, fall into place, first light, get across, get through, morning, penetrate, sink in, sunrise, sunup, ass crack of dawn, beginning, break, break of dawn, butt crack of dawn, crack of dawn, dawn, day-dawn, daylight, glimpse, lauds, light, onset, solrise, sparrow-fart, start, sun, sunlight, sunrising

Antonyms

sunset, dusk

Related Words

afternoon, crepuscular, dawn chorus, dawning, dusk, early morning, evening, midday, midnight, morning, night, noon, postdawn