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Hour vs Span - What's the difference?

hour | span | Synonyms |

Hour is a synonym of span.


As a noun hour

is a time period of sixty minutes; one twenty-fourth of a day.

As an adjective span is

hairless, glabrous.

hour

English

Alternative forms

* hower (archaic)

Noun

(wikipedia hour) (en noun)
  • A time period of sixty minutes; one twenty-fourth of a day.
  • :
  • *1661 , , [http://archive.org/stream/a615775104worduoft/a615775104worduoft_djvu.txt The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond]
  • *:During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant
  • *
  • *:It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-21, volume=411, issue=8892, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title=[http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21604535-real-sir-isaac-newton-was-not-first-king-reason-last Magician’s brain] , passage=[Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes. The truth is that Newton was very much a product of his time.}}
  • A season, moment, time or stound.
  • *(Edgar Allen Poe) (1809-1849), Alone :
  • *:From childhood's hour I have not been / As others were; I have not seen / As others saw; I could not bring / My passions from a common spring.
  • *
  • *:Now will be a good hour to show you Milly Erne's grave.
  • (lb) The time.
  • :
  • Used after a two-digit hour and a two-digit minute to indicate time.
  • *T. C. G. James and Sebastian Cox, The Battle of Britain :
  • *:By 1300 hours the position was fairly clear.

    • Synonyms

    * stound (obsolete)

    Derived terms

    * ampere-hour * canonical hour * credit hour * eleventh hour * F-Hour * finest hour * flower-of-an-hour * H-hour * half-hour * happy hour * hour angle * hour circle * hourglass/hour glass/hour-glass * hourless * hour hand * hourly * kilowatt-hour * man-hour * off-hour * on the hour * person-hour * quarter-hour * rush hour * witching hour * zero hour (hour)

    Abbreviations

    * Singular: h, hr * Plural: h, hrs

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words

    span

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) spann

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; eighth of a fathom.
  • Hence, a small space or a brief portion of time.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Yet not to earth's contracted span / Thy goodness let me bound.
  • * Farquhar
    • Life's but a span ; I'll every inch enjoy.
  • * 2007 . Zerzan, John. Silence .
    • The unsilent present is a time of evaporating attention spans ,
  • The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
  • The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
  • (nautical) A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.
  • (obsolete) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.
  • (mathematics) the space of all linear combinations of something
    • Related terms
    * attention span * memory span

    Etymology 2

    Old English spannan

    Verb

    (spann)
  • To traverse the distance between.
    • The suspension bridge spanned the canyon as tenuously as one could imagine.
  • To cover or extend over an area or time period.
    • The parking lot spans three acres.
    The novel spans three centuries.
    World record! 5 GHz WiFi connection spans 189 miles. [http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/27/world-record-5ghz-wifi-connection-spans-189-miles/]
  • * Prescott
    • The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry.
  • To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.
    • to span''' a space or distance; to '''span a cylinder
  • * Bible, Isa. xiviii. 13
    • My right hand hath spanned the heavens.
  • (mathematics) to generate an entire space by means of linear combinations
  • (intransitive, US, dated) To be matched, as horses.
  • To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.

    • Etymology 3

    Verb

    (head)
  • (archaic, nonstandard) (spin)
  • *
  • * '>citation
  • *:a giant pick-up truck span out of control during a stunt show in a Dutch town, killing three people

    • Anagrams

    * English irregular simple past forms ----