graveyard
Americannoun
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graveyards
plural
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a burial ground, often associated with smaller rural churches, as distinct from a larger urban or public cemetery.
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Informal. graveyard shift.
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a place in which obsolete or derelict objects are kept.
an automobile graveyard.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of graveyard
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How does graveyard compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A graveyard is an area where the dead are buried. When you walk through a historic graveyard, you'll see many beautiful old headstones and tombs. Other names for a graveyard are "cemetery" and "burial ground." It's slightly more common to use graveyard, a word that dates from about 1683, for the burial site near a church. If you work at a graveyard, you might care for the grave markers and plants. If, on the other hand, you work a graveyard shift, that simply means you work late at night.
Vocabulary lists containing graveyard
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But that kind of optimism can quickly start to sound more like whistling past the graveyard.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
For years, Khalwinder Singh Bhengura lived an unassuming life in Arlington, Texas, where the 69-year-old Indian immigrant works a graveyard shift preparing passenger meals for an airline catering company.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
That’s part of the reason why the risk-on sentiment is beginning to spread to cryptocurrencies — an asset class known for its volatility — which has helped bitcoin’s comeback from the graveyard, Hackett said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
She was buried on an island in the Spencers' Althorp estate, rather than a graveyard - and the book describes how a bishop was brought to consecrate the ground to make it possible.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
And like I said, they carried her to the graveyard in this very wagon here.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Until now, however, scientists have lacked a reliable way to determine how the remains of extinct megafauna and other animals accumulated, survived, and changed inside these submerged graveyards.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
The subtropical southern Japanese region boasts some of the world's most biodiverse hubs of normally multicoloured coral, but a 2024 marine heatwave created "graveyards" of ghostly pale or sickly brown organisms.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Elsewhere in the UK, the removal of artificial flowers in graveyards has caused some upset, with families arguing that they relied on the faux blooms if they were unable to visit a relative's grave regularly.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
Wall Street’s graveyards are filled with analysts who have insisted that they would.
From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026
Chicago’s newspapers reported ghoulish tales of doctors raiding graveyards.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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