Meaning of witching hour | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Often preceded by the: midnight, when witches and other supernatural beings were thought to be active, and to which bad luck was ascribed; also (generally), the middle of the night, when unfortunate things are thought more likely to occur; the dead of night.
   literary, poetic
2. A time of day, usually in the early evening, when babies and young children are more fretful and likely to cry or fuss.
   broadly
3. The final hour of trading each month during which certain stock options expire, leading to a higher trading volume and greater price volatility.
   broadly
4. The hour between 3:00 and 3:59 a.m., associated with demons.
   uncommon

Equivalents

Examples

“I wanted to get home before the witching hour.”

“Tis novv the very vvitching time of night, / VVhen Churchyards yavvne, and hell it ſelfe breakes out / Contagion to this vvorld: […]”

“A party of his friends had met in the evening to talk over his merits, and to drink, in Scottish phrase, his Bonallie. While, about the witching hour, they were crowning a solemn bumper to his health, a figure burst into the room, muffled in a seaman's cloak and travelling cap covered with snow, and distinguishable only by the sharpness and ardour of the tone with which he exclaimed, "Dash it, boys, here I am again!"”

“[T]he Penzance train is shown as non-stop to Plymouth in the down direction, but in the up as being prepared to pick up sleeping car passengers at Newton Abbot, Exeter and Taunton (the two last-mentioned at the witching hours of 2.42 and 3.25 a.m.) and also to set down at Reading.”

“Perhaps, she told herself, this was what they called the witching hour. The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep deep sleep, and all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world to themselves.”

“Genie let out of the bottle / It is now the witching hour / Murderers, you're murderers / We are not the same as you”

“Witching hour: It just might be the most challenging time of the day. That window between dinner and bedtime where kids are wound up, parents want to wind down, and it feels like the longest hour or two ever. And although the term witching hour is most commonly applied to newborns and babies, kids of all ages seem to be extra sensitive at this time. Here are some ideas for getting through witching hour for kids of all ages.”

“"Do you know what three a.m. is?" […] "It's called the witching hour. It's the reverse of the holy hour—three p.m.—when Jesus died on the cross.[…]"”

“The witching hour is three a.m., in mockery of the Trinity and a perversion of the hour of his death.”

“By the way, the hour between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. is also known as the witching hour because it's thought that paranormal forces are at their strongest during that time.”

CEFR level