before the hour

phrase

—used with a certain number of minutes to indicate how long before the beginning of an hour something will happen
Trains leave the station every hour at ten minutes before the hour.

Examples of before the hour in a Sentence

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The European side then notched up a third goal from Hans Vanaken just before the hour mark, before Romelu Lukaku wrapped up the victory with a late strike in injury time. — Lee Ying Shan,lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 7 July 2026 The 23-year-old defender was shown a straight red card after a slide tackle on Jesus Gallardo before the hour mark during England’s 3-2 win at the Azteca Stadium. — Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 6 July 2026

Rhymes for before the hour

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before someone's eyes
before the hour
before the mast
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Cite this Entry

“Before the hour.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/before%20the%20hour. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

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