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Glite Dictionary
middle watch

middle watch

9.5
The time on a ship from midnight to four in the morning when crew are on duty
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : guardia de media noche
  • During the middle watch, only a few sailors remained awake to ensure the ship stayed on course.

Examples

  • They make certain I exercise each night during middle watch, when there are fewer hands on deck.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • I woke my cousin Diomache before the middle watch was over, so eager was I to get to our farm's stall and put my clutch up for sale.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The sea is getting up and I've got the middle watch.

    In Which We Serve (1942)

  • As the ship sailed through the night, I stood my duty during the middle watch between midnight and 4 a.m.

  • The crew member grumbled about having to take the middle watch, knowing it would be the quietest part of the night.

Synonyms

midwatch
vsmiddle watch
  • Specialized
1 9.6

A night shift on a ship between midnight and four in the morning

is the two word variant with the same meaning

Surface Forms

middle watch singular
middle watches plural

Morphology

middle + watch

The phrase is directly compositional: 'middle' indicates a central/temporal position and 'watch' denotes a scheduled duty period, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to the duty occupying the middle part of the night. Although the exact nautical timeframe (midnight–4 a.m.) is specialized knowledge, the core meaning is transparently derived from the constituents.

Etymology

The noun middle watch comes from old sailors and names the ship watch in the middle of the night. It was the duty between midnight and about 4 a.m., when a crew member stayed awake to look after the ship, so today it means 'the late-night shift or period of duty on a ship'.