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
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
Christine Schultz
… stepping out into the quiet pre-dawn, closing the door.
—Bryan Burrough
Bryan Burrough
Examples of predawn in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Viral clips on social media show travelers lining up in predawn darkness out the door of terminals into parking lots and traffic ramps at popular spring break hotspots like Atlanta, Austin, Texas, and South Florida.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 16 Mar. 2026
The greatest potential for significant wind gusts from now through the predawn hours of Monday will be in the Ridges, as these locations will have an elevation high enough to reach into the low-level jet, which will be very strong out of the south to southeast through the overnight hours.
—Trey Fulbright, CBS News, 15 Mar. 2026
Yet there is still no permanent memorial to what happened in the predawn hours of June 12, 2016, at the Pulse nightclub.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026
The explosion happened in the predawn hours at the Dali nightclub in the province of Trujillo along Peru’s northern coast, according to a statement from the local Emergency Operations Center.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for predawn
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Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 16 Mar. 2026
The greatest potential for significant wind gusts from now through the predawn hours of Monday will be in the Ridges, as these locations will have an elevation high enough to reach into the low-level jet, which will be very strong out of the south to southeast through the overnight hours.
—Trey Fulbright, CBS News, 15 Mar. 2026
Yet there is still no permanent memorial to what happened in the predawn hours of June 12, 2016, at the Pulse nightclub.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026
The explosion happened in the predawn hours at the Dali nightclub in the province of Trujillo along Peru’s northern coast, according to a statement from the local Emergency Operations Center.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for predawn
Cite this Entry
“Predawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predawn. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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