graveyard

American  

[greyv-yahrd] / ˈgreɪvˌyɑrd /

noun

1. a burial ground, often associated with smaller rural churches, as distinct from a larger urban or public cemetery.

2. Informal. graveyard shift.

3. a place in which obsolete or derelict objects are kept.

   an automobile graveyard.

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graveyard British  

/ ˈɡreɪvˌjɑːd /

noun

1. a place for graves; a burial ground, esp a small one or one in a churchyard

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Etymology

Origin of graveyard

First recorded in 1765–75; grave ¹ + yard ²

Compare meaning

How does graveyard compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• cemetery vs. graveyard

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.

Example Sentences

Neither idea seems to make sense to me.I have worked for 54 years and I have increased my benefits through years of working six-day weeks, nights, graveyard shifts, Sundays and holidays in my early years.

From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026

So the Joshua Grove is now actually Florida’s largest citrus graveyard.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

But short-sellers don’t have to scour the graveyard for ideas.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

The Strait of Hormuz, sailors said, risks becoming a graveyard for a trading system so integral to the modern economy that most consumers, accustomed to cheap imports and three-day shipping, take it for granted.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

After breakfast, while Dicey gathered together their litter and packed it into the paper bag to be discarded at the first trash can they saw, the little ones explored the graveyard.

From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt

Related Words

• burial ground
• cemetery