1. a work shift usually beginning at about midnight and continuing for about eight hours through the early morning hours.
2. those who work this shift.
Examples from the web for graveyard shift
- He had entered a drug-treatment program and landed a job working the graveyard shift at a condiment factory in the suburbs.
- Jerry won't be working a graveyard shift, there's no one left to harangue, and the mood will be valedictory.
- The graveyard shift has always been a lonely one to work, but new data suggest that it may be an unhealthy one as well.
- People worked the swing shift and then partied through the graveyard shift until dawn.
British Dictionary definitions for graveyard shift
noun 1. (US) the working shift between midnight and morning
Slang definitions & phrases for graveyard shift
graveyard shift
noun phrase A working shift that begins at midnight or 2 AM (1907+)