cockcrow

plural cockcrows · alternative cock-crow

1. countableuncountableThe time of day at which the first crow of a cockerel is heard; dawn or daybreak; first light.

   I put the chief of police behind the bar, instructed him in his duties, and we four convivial spirits sprawled along the counter drinking ale and telling yarns till cockcrow.

   1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 175

   1 more example

   The unfortunate shepherd that approaches them must dance their rounds with them till cock-crow; and the instances are not few of persons thus ensnared who have been found next morning dead with exhaustion and fatigue.

   1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 441

   Synonyms: break of day, sunup, sparrow-fart