graveyard shift
15
3.9
- noun
- /ˈɡreɪvˌjɑrd ʃɪft/
:
turno de noche
- Stephen works the graveyard shift: 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
- working graveyard shift
- graveyard shift at the hospital
I, I all look, I spent years making lousy pay working graveyard shift.
- I, I all look, I spent years making lousy pay working graveyard shift.
- That mean I I went in what you call it when people work overnight graveyard shift.
Examples
-
In the middle of the night, the graveyard shift of nurses came on duty.
-
I don't think anyone really misses the graveyard shift in the ER.
-
I work a graveyard shift at a copy and print shop.
-
I hate the graveyard shift.
-
I was on a graveyard shift, so it was really hard for me.
Blog text (22) -
When I got home, a message was waiting on my answering machine asking me to report for work on the graveyard shift the following Monday.
Fiction book (1993) -
Now she's working the graveyard shift at the hospital.
Fiction book (1994) -
I worked graveyard shifts at the grocery warehouse, filling orders for the trucks to take to the various stores in the morning.
-
I work a graveyard shift at a copy and print shop.
-
His first real job was working the graveyard shift at a copper mine.
Synonyms
52
2.1
Work that happens during the night or the people who do it
A late-night work shift from midnight to early morning on ships or in factories
Work done at night as part of a job
Antonyms
12
2.2
A period of work during the day, usually from morning to afternoon, or the workers who work then
How Late
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'shift' clearly denotes a work period and 'graveyard' evokes night-time, emptiness, and cemeteries, so a learner who knows both words can plausibly infer a night-time work period. However the link is metaphorical (not a literal shift in a graveyard) and relies on cultural imagery, so the exact meaning is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The noun graveyard shift may come from the image of the very late, quiet hours when places are empty and feel like a graveyard. One popular story says night watchmen and other workers who worked then were called the graveyard shift, so the phrase now means 'a work shift at night'.