dogwatch

See also: dog watch

English

Alternative forms

• dog-watch

Etymology

dog +‎ watch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɒɡwɒtʃ/

Noun

dogwatch (plural dogwatches)

1. (nautical) Aboard a ship, either of the two short two-hour watches that take place between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 12, [1]

     […] in the last dog-watch when the drawing near of twilight induced revery […]

2. (by extension) A night shift, or other very late or early period of duty.
   • 1946, Mezz Mezzrow & Bernard Wolfe, Really the Blues, Payback Press 1999, p. 22:

     The girls we knew were all on the dogwatch, from four to twelve in the morning.

3. (nautical) A very brief period of naval service.
   • 1972, George Carroll Dyer, The Amphibians Came to Conquer (page 265)

     At that time, Captain Thomas G. Peyton, U.S. Navy, who had only served a dog watch as Captain of the Port at Noumea, New Caledonia, reported for this important billet.

Translations

nautical: short watch

• Finnish: iltapäivävahti
• German: Hudewache f

• Hebrew: מִשְׁמֶרֶת כֶּלֶב‎ (he) f (mishmerte kelev)
• Norwegian: hundevakt m

Anagrams

• watchdog