small hours

最近何故かMomoのところにやって来る人が減ってきました。そこで以前よく来ていた友人を訪ねて理由を探ることにしました。最初に行ったのは煉瓦職人のSalvatoreのところです。
Salvatore lived in a little garret under the roof -- but he wasn't at home. According to the other tenants, he now worked on one of the big new housing developments on the far side of town and was earning a lot of money. He seldom came home at all these days, they said, and when he did it was usually in the small hours.
"in the small hours" はどんな意味でしょう。いずれにせよこの "small" には小/少の意味はなさそうです。文脈からすると遅い時間あるいは深夜ではないでしょうか？　辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Another way of saying the wee hours: Got home very late from LA last night, and sat in the small hours of the morning, listening to it three or four times over.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: the early hours of the morning, between twelve o'clock at night and the time when the sun rises: She was up until the small hours of the morning trying to finish her essay.
深夜といっても明け方に近い時間を示唆しているようです。