dawn on
phrasal verb
dawned on; dawning on; dawns on
: to begin to be understood or realized by (someone) for the first time
The solution finally dawned on him.
It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't eaten all day.
It began to dawn on her that she was lost.
Examples of dawn on in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When David gets a glimpse of a map of the brain that Ben’s been looking at, one that shows the 60-ish regions connected to the thalamus — regions including those that control sight, sound, sleep regulation, visual reasoning, judgment, like, all the biggies — something dawns on him.
—
Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2024
Taking selfies in the cradle of the atom bomb
By Ross Andersen
At a gate topped by barbed wire just north of White Sands Missile Range, a miles-long line of vehicles formed before dawn on Saturday.
—Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2024
The meteor shower is estimated to peak on the evening of October 7 to just before dawn on October 8, when viewers could spot up to ten meteors per hour under ideal conditions.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Oct. 2024
Le was fatally shot a few hours before dawn on Dec. 29 after responding to a burglary call at a marijuana grow house on the 400 block of Embarcadero, along the city’s waterfront.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dawn on 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2024
Taking selfies in the cradle of the atom bomb
By Ross Andersen
At a gate topped by barbed wire just north of White Sands Missile Range, a miles-long line of vehicles formed before dawn on Saturday.
—Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2024
The meteor shower is estimated to peak on the evening of October 7 to just before dawn on October 8, when viewers could spot up to ten meteors per hour under ideal conditions.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Oct. 2024
Le was fatally shot a few hours before dawn on Dec. 29 after responding to a burglary call at a marijuana grow house on the 400 block of Embarcadero, along the city’s waterfront.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dawn on
Dictionary Entries Near dawn on
Cite this Entry
“Dawn on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dawn%20on. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share