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.
—
Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 30 Apr. 2026
Yet a smaller share of Americans are working the graveyard shift than in decades past.
—Kate Concannon, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026
The deputy soon discovered this was not the graveyard shift of a farmworker, but a would-be robber trying to make off with about 400 pounds of avocados, authorities say.
—Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 22 Dec. 2025
Gil, then between jobs as a manufacturing manager, indulged his wife, who was working the graveyard shift for a local TV station as an assignment editor on contract.
—Janelle Griffith, PEOPLE, 10 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for graveyard shift
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.
Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 30 Apr. 2026
Yet a smaller share of Americans are working the graveyard shift than in decades past.
—Kate Concannon, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026
The deputy soon discovered this was not the graveyard shift of a farmworker, but a would-be robber trying to make off with about 400 pounds of avocados, authorities say.
—Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 22 Dec. 2025
Gil, then between jobs as a manufacturing manager, indulged his wife, who was working the graveyard shift for a local TV station as an assignment editor on contract.
—Janelle Griffith, PEOPLE, 10 Dec. 2025
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 16 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
