graveyard shift

noun

: a work shift beginning late at night (such as 11 o'clock)

also : the workers on such a shift

Examples of graveyard shift in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

One of her parents works long days; the other works the graveyard shift. —

Lynne Peeples, TIME, 6 Jan. 2025 Essay Elmore Leonard’s Economical Ass-Kicking Linwood Barclay Author Linwood Barclay on the late Elmore Leonard, his famous rules for writing, and how his novels kept him alert while working the graveyard shift. —

Max Ufberg, hazlitt.net, 4 Jan. 2025 The film is set over the course of a graveyard shift at a strange and haunted gas station. —

Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2024 Topo Padilla, the co-owner of Greg Padilla Bail Bonds with his father, said outside of court that Brace was working the graveyard shift when Mandell approached the office and asked to speak on the phone. —

Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 5 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for graveyard shift

Word History

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of graveyard shift was in 1908

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Graveyard shift.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/graveyard%20shift. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

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