If police officers carry out a dawn raid, they go to someone's house very early in the morning to search it or arrest them. Thousands of pounds worth of drugs were seized in dawn raids yesterday
If a person or company carries out a dawn raid, they try to buy a large number of a company's shares at the start of a day's trading, especially because they want to buy the whole company. Southern acquired 11.2 per cent of Sweb in a dawn raid on Monday. an attack or operation by soldiers or police that happens very early in the morning