Meaning & use
graveyard
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Meanings
nouncountable
An area of ground where dead people are buried, often beside a church.
Grammar: Countable: a graveyard, two graveyards.
Patterns
- in a graveyard
- a graveyard for someone
We walked through the old graveyard behind the church.
The graveyard was quiet except for the sound of birds.
Many famous writers are buried in this graveyard.
nouncountablefigurative
A place where old or unwanted things are left or abandoned.
Grammar: Often used figuratively: a graveyard of something.
Patterns
- a graveyard of something
- a graveyard for something
The desert is a graveyard of broken cars.
This part of the city has become a graveyard for failed businesses.
Word forms
| plural | graveyards |
|---|
Common combinations
- graveyard shift
- He works the graveyard shift at the hospital.
- graveyard scene
- The movie opens with a spooky graveyard scene.
- ancient graveyard
- They discovered an ancient graveyard under the parking lot.
- graveyard for something
- The area is a graveyard for old ships.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cemetery
- A cemetery is a larger, more formal burial ground not necessarily next to a church; graveyard often suggests a smaller plot beside a church.
- churchyard
- A churchyard is the ground around a church, which may or may not contain graves; a graveyard is specifically for burials.
- burial ground
- Burial ground is a general term for any place where people are buried, including ancient sites; graveyard is more everyday.
Word family
- grave noun
- The hole or place where a dead person is buried.
- gravedigger noun
- A person whose job is to dig graves.
- gravestone noun
- A stone that marks a grave.
Commonly confused: graveyard or cemetery?
graveyard vs cemetery
Cemetery and graveyard are often used interchangeably, but cemetery is more common in American English and usually refers to a larger, independent burial ground.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'graveyard' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Graveyard shift' is a common idiom for a work shift during the night. The other options misuse 'graveyard' (it is not a garden, a repair shop, or a place to be 'in' in that sense).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “graveyard”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.