Meaning & use
grave shift
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Meaning
nouncountableAmericaninformal
the work period that happens very late at night, usually from midnight until early morning
Grammar: Countable: use an or the before it, and it can be plural: the grave shift, grave shifts.
Patterns
- work the grave shift
- on the grave shift
- the grave shift starts/ends
She works the grave shift at the hospital, so she sleeps during the day.
The grave shift starts at midnight and ends at eight in the morning.
He took a job on the grave shift because it pays a little more.
Word forms
| plural | grave shifts |
|---|
Common combinations
- work the grave shift
- Many nurses work the grave shift when they are new.
- on the grave shift
- He is on the grave shift this week.
- grave shift worker
- Grave shift workers often have trouble sleeping.
- cover the grave shift
- Can you cover the grave shift on Friday?
Synonyms and how they differ
- night shift
- The standard term in both American and British English; use it in formal writing instead of grave shift.
- graveyard shift
- A very common variant of grave shift, slightly more informal and often used for the same late-night period.
Opposites
Commonly confused: grave shift or graveyard?
grave shift vs graveyard
A graveyard is a place where dead people are buried; grave shift has nothing to do with burial, but both use the word grave.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'grave shift' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Grave shift means the late-night work period, so it fits the midnight-to-8 a.m. schedule. Option A describes a daytime schedule, which is not a grave shift; option C confuses it with a place (graveyard); option D is wrong because Sunday morning is not a night shift.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grave shift”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.