cock-crow

Noun

cockcrow (countable and uncountable, plural cockcrows)

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