- dawn
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 early morningADJECTIVE▪ grey/gray▪ earlyVERB + DAWN▪ greet▪
He always got up to greet the dawn.
▪ see, watchDAWN + VERB▪ break, come, come up▪Dawn was breaking over the valley.
DAWN + NOUN▪ light, sky▪ chorus▪The dawn chorus (= birds singing) woke Robyn at five.
▪ patrol, raid▪Ammunition was seized during a dawn raid on the house.
PREPOSITION▪ at dawn▪That morning, she rose at dawn.
▪ before dawn▪ by dawn▪ till dawn, until dawn▪ towards/toward dawnPHRASES▪ (at) the crack of dawn (= as soon as it begins to be light), from dawn to dusk▪He works from dawn to dusk, and often well into the night.
2 beginningADJECTIVE▪ false▪This sudden success may prove to be a false dawn (= not the beginning of continued success).
▪ newVERB + DAWN▪ mark, signal▪This appointment marked the dawn of a productive era in her scientific career.
▪ see▪We are seeing the dawn of a new era.
PREPOSITION▪ dawn of▪the dawn of civilization/history
▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}Let's think back to the dawn of time.
verb1 beginPHRASES▪ dawn bright, clear, cold, sunny, etc.▪The day dawned bright and sunny.
2 become clearADVERB▪ suddenly▪ gradually, slowly▪It slowly dawned on me that he might have been mistaken.
▪ eventually, finallyVERB + DAWN▪ begin to▪It was beginning to dawn on her that she had been fooled.
PREPOSITION▪ on▪The dreadful truth finally dawned on me.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
