night shift

[ nahyt-shift ]
See synonyms for night shift on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the workforce, as of a factory, scheduled to work during the nighttime.

  2. the scheduled period of labor for this workforce.

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Origin of night shift

1
First recorded in 1700–10

Words Nearby night shift

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use night shift in a sentence

  • The night-shift boys can't sleep in their hot little houses—-they look as if they'd all been on a two weeks' tear.

  • Her tiny night-shift was gathered into a wisp round her neck and she moaned in her sleep.

    Soldier Stories | Rudyard Kipling
  • Thrice, on the night-shift, underneath in the saw-pit, Old Tarwater fainted.

    The Red One | Jack London
  • Lots of times we work night-shift—when it's daytime on this side of Vesta.

    Asteroid of Fear | Raymond Zinke Gallun

British Dictionary definitions for night shift

night shift

noun
  1. a group of workers who work a shift during the night in an industry or occupation where a day shift or a back shift is also worked

  2. the period worked

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012