graveyard shift
Americannoun
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a work shift usually beginning at about midnight and continuing for about eight hours through the early morning hours.
-
those who work this shift.
noun
Etymology
Origin of graveyard shift
An Americanism dating back to 1905–10
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.
I always did the graveyard shift: I worked for 54 years.
From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026
The graveyard shift will become the domain of retail investors and specialized firms.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025
Long-time evening anchor Wolf Blitzer was also asked to move to the mornings and, in a certain light, Acosta's potential bump to the graveyard shift can be seen as an accommodation of that.
From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2025
I also hadn’t done my hearing any favors by working the graveyard shift at a nightclub during college—eight uninterrupted hours at a stretch of noise exposure that vastly exceeded safe levels.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2024
He chose the graveyard shift so he would have time to audition during the day.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
