graveyard

[ greyv-yahrd ]

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.

graveyard

/ ˈɡreɪvˌjɑːd /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of graveyard¹

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

Example Sentences

She compared reading through the poems for the audiobook to walking through a graveyard of old feelings, and doing so in front of a crowd is, well, vulnerable — for her and the audience.

From Washington Post

Some towns moved to put their statues in cemeteries, only to learn that their local graveyards are supported by tax dollars, making the new locations nearly as problematic as the old, more prominent ones in front of courthouses or on town squares.

From Washington Post

Nearly six weeks since the Covid-19 situation in the country became alarming, the number of deaths because of the disease reported from various districts has been inconsistent with data from crematoriums and graveyards.

From Quartz

As if scenes from overcrowded hospitals and SOS cries from people struggling to access oxygen and medicines were not enough, now images from New Delhi’s cremation grounds and graveyards are reflecting how bad things on the ground really are.

From Quartz

Afghanistan has long been a graveyard of empires, with the British, Soviets and now America all suffering military defeats or stalemates that seemed impossible on paper.

From Ozy

Today, a forlorn air hangs over Santa Maria degli Angeli, like a graveyard where ghosts are buried.

From The Daily Beast

By Alex Orlov for Life by DailyBurn If your fridge is a graveyard of expired foods, listen up.

From The Daily Beast

On August 16, 1876, the chapel and its graveyard, Campo Santo, opened.

From The Daily Beast

From whales to ships to unlucky explorers, the Skeleton Coast has become the graveyard of many.

From The Daily Beast

A man took the bus home from the graveyard shift, bone-tired but dreaming big dreams for his son.

From The Daily Beast

In 1763 the chapel was enlarged, and at the same time a little more land was added to the graveyard.

From Project Gutenberg

I made a short cut across the graveyard of Saint Francis, or I must have met the escort.

From Project Gutenberg

The solitary footfall amid the silence reminds me of the timid haste of one crossing a graveyard at night.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the custom to place slaves thus at the feet of their masters, even in the graveyard.

From Project Gutenberg

The graveyard of our Parish Church is, we dare say, something which very few people think of.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• burial ground
• cemetery