witching hours

Noun

witching hour (plural witching hours)

1. (literary, poetic) 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 to be more likely to occur; the dead of night.
   • I wanted to get home before the witching hour.
2. (broadly) A time of day, usually in the early evening, when babies and young children are more fretful and likely to cry or fuss.
   • 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...2022 October 17, Jenn Cox, “Age-by-age Guide to Surviving Witching Hour”, in Kim Shiffman, editor, Today’s Parent, Toronto, Ont.: St. Joseph Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original...
3. (broadly) The final hour of trading each month during which certain stock options expire, leading to a higher trading volume and greater price volatility.
4. (uncommon) The hour between 3:00 and 3:59 a.m., associated with demons.
   • "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.[…]"2008 July 22, Claudia Mair Burney, chapter 4, in The Exorsistah, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 42