the small hours午夜剛過的一段時間；凌晨the small hours這個說法直至19世紀才出現，它指的是午夜之後到黎明之前的幾個小時，大約在凌晨一點到四點左右。因為這幾個小時在時鐘刻度的最前面，數字最小，所以用small這個詞形容。
看看老外聊天時怎麼用the small hours：
Judy: Did you stay up late last night?
Zack: Yeah. I was watching a movie on TV and went to bed in the small hours.
Judy: That must have been a good movie. You don't usually go to sleep that late.
Zack: The movie totally sucked me in right until the end.
Judy: Will there be a rerun of it today?
朱迪：你昨晚熬夜了嗎？
扎克：對啊，我在看一部電視上播的電影，到凌晨才睡。
朱迪：那部電影一定很精彩，你不常那麼晚睡。
扎克：我完全被那部影片吸引住了。
朱迪：那今天會重播嗎？
the small hours例句精選：
They were arrested in the small hours of Saturday morning.
他們在周六的凌晨時分被逮捕。
He was so engrossed in his work that he frequently stayed up until the small hours.
他全神貫注地工作，經常工作到下半夜。
The fighting went on till the small hours of the next morning.
戰鬥繼續到第二天凌晨。
We worked well into the small hours.
我們一直工作到了午夜之後。
Dick Thompson was shot last night, or rather in the small hours.
迪克湯普森昨夜，確切地說，今日凌晨被槍殺了。
你還可以學更多相關：
daybreak 破曉
sunup 日出
soundless 無聲的
gloom 陰暗
before dawn 黎明之前
the witching hour 午夜
deep in the night 深夜