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
Sian, 59, has no option but to drive to her multiple jobs across the sprawling Phoenix metro area in Arizona – there’s no carpool across the open desert to her graveyard shift at a shipping company.
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Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 30 Apr. 2026
Honorable mentions: garbage bags, graveyard shifts, and Big Macs
Not every CEO started by delivering the newspaper.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
There were two shifts, from 5:30 pm to 1:00 am, and the graveyard shift, 8:30 pm to 4:00 am.
—Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Yet a smaller share of Americans are working the graveyard shift than in decades past.
—Kate Concannon, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for graveyard shift
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Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 30 Apr. 2026
Honorable mentions: garbage bags, graveyard shifts, and Big Macs
Not every CEO started by delivering the newspaper.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
There were two shifts, from 5:30 pm to 1:00 am, and the graveyard shift, 8:30 pm to 4:00 am.
—Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Yet a smaller share of Americans are working the graveyard shift than in decades past.
—Kate Concannon, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for graveyard shift
Cite this Entry
“Graveyard shift.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/graveyard%20shift. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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