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Glite Dictionary
day shift

day shift

12 2.2
A period of work during the day, usually from morning to afternoon, or the workers who work then
  • noun
  • /deɪ ʃɪft/
translation icon : turno de día
  • She usually works the day shift from 9 AM to 5 PM.
  • work the day shift

Examples

  • The duties of the nurse's aides are most visible on the day shift in the heavy-care wing.

    Academic text (1994)

  • For example, one parent can take the day shift while the other works the night shift.

    Blog text (11)

  • I usuAlly work with the day shift.

    Underwater (2020)

  • Or sometimes she worked the day shift so she could be home at night.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • First came the day shift, from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Charlotte was working the day shift at the restaurant, and I was alone.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The manager hates me, put me on the day shift.

    Fractured (2013)

  • Now go and relieve the day shift.

    Armed and Dangerous (1986)

  • I'm number three of the seventh squad, main house, day shift.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Two pairs of nurses who worked together on the day shift independently rated the same children on one occasion.

    Academic text (1993)

Synonyms

work shift
vsday shift
2 2.3

A period of time when you are scheduled to work, for example morning or night

is a specific morning to afternoon period or group rather than any scheduled slot
day watch
vsday shift
1 3.7

A team of workers who work during the day, usually from 8 am to 4 pm

is the general morning to afternoon period or staff not limited to fixed hours

Antonyms

night shift
52 2.1

Work that happens during the night or the people who do it

How Late

night shift
52 2.1
day shift
12 2.2

Surface Forms

day shift singular
day shifts plural

Morphology

day + shift

The meaning 'the period during the day when people work' is directly and transparently composed from 'day' (the daytime) plus 'shift' (a period of duty), so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the MWE. This noun+noun construction is a common, compositional pattern across languages and follows straightforward semantic combination rather than an idiomatic shift.

Etymology

Day shift comes from a simple picture: day means the daytime hours and shift is a group of workers who take turns. So the phrase means the time or the team of people who 'work' during the day, usually from morning to afternoon.