From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe crack of dawnthe crack of dawnEARLYvery early in the morningat the crack of dawn We were up at the crack of dawn. → crack
Examples from the Corpus
at the crack of dawn• Farmers are often away at the crack of dawn.• She was up of course, at the crack of dawn and you know, we go eat breakfast and everything so.• We would come in at the crack of dawn, at 7 a. m. every morning.• You didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to work out yardages.• My Dad used to get up at the crack of dawn every Sunday to go fishing.• Get up at the crack of dawn.• On Thanksgiving, Mom always gets up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey into the oven.• He was up at the crack of dawn doing something unspeakable to the turkey, but the kids were up anyway.• She was up at the crack of dawn and often not home until late.• We were woken at the crack of dawn by the pitter patter of seagulls as they pecked for their breakfast. 