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

Bannon is set to leave the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, in the predawn hours and hold a news conference later in the day in Manhattan, his representatives said. —Samuel Burke, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024

During the predawn magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake of 1994, 16 people died when their apartments collapsed. —Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2024

Dole made four stops in Arizona that cycle, including a predawn visit to a Phoenix diner the day before the election as part of a cross-county blitz. —Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 26 Sep. 2024

Martin’s bloodied body was discovered lying in a nearby street in the predawn hours. —Faith Karimi, CNN, 15 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined above