From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe small hoursthe small hours (also the wee small hours British English) the early morning hours, between about one and four o’clockin/into the small hours He finally fell exhausted into bed in the small hours. The party continued into the wee small hours. → small
Examples from the Corpus
in/into the small hours• Clearly he saw nothing odd about business meetings in the small hours.• In fact my whole being was permeated by the leaden-armed pervading weakness one feels when forced to work in the small hours.• Lying awake in the small hours, after falling asleep quickly, can become another maddening habit.• She was found in the small hours, more than half-way up, scrabbling at a window as if for air.• Finally it was Trondur in the small hours of the morning who succeeded.• But he'd had that last night - or rather, in the small hours of the morning.• If you plan to stay up on election night, you could sustain yourself in the small hours with freshly baked pizza.• Nutty lay awake in the small hours, worrying herself stupid. 