swing shift

noun

the work shift during the evening (as 4 p.m. to midnight)

• Syn: ↑evening shift

• Hypernyms: ↑shift, ↑work shift, ↑duty period

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noun

1.

a. : the shift usually from 4 p.m. to midnight

b. : the workers working the swing shift between the day and night shifts in a factory operating 24 hours a day

2. : a group of workers in a factory operating seven days a week that mans the place as needed to permit the regular shift workers to have one or more free days per week

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—swing shifter.

1. a work shift in industry from midafternoon until midnight.

2. the group of workers on such a shift.

[1935-40]

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swing shift noun (US)

1. The work shift between the day and night shifts (eg from mid-afternoon until midnight)

2. The workers allocated to this shift

3. The workers employed to take irregular shifts over a seven-day week to enable other workers to work a regular five-day week

• • •

Main Entry: ↑swing

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swing shift,

the hours between the day and night shifts, usually from 4 p.m. to midnight, designated as a working day in factories and other operations that are on a 24-hour basis: »

In addition to his swing shift job at Douglas, [he] works days as an airplane mechanic (Wall Street Journal).

╂[American English, perhaps < swing¹ (because the shift is the middle one)]

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n. a work shift from mid-afternoon to around midnight

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noun, pl ⋯ shifts [count]

US : a scheduled period of work that begins in the afternoon and ends at night

He works the swing shift.

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ˈswing shift 7 f4 [swing shift] noun (NAmE, informal)

the ↑shift (= period of time worked each day) from 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon until 11 or 12 at night; the workers who work this ↑shift