dogwatch
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See also: dog watch
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
dog + watch, perhaps a calque of German Hundewache.
Pronunciation
Noun
dogwatch (plural dogwatches)
- (nautical) Aboard a ship, either of the two short two-hour watches that take place between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XII.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:
- […] in the last dog-watch when the drawing near of twilight induced revery […]
- (by extension) A night shift, or other very late or early period of duty.
- 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Not too Far Tangent”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 22:
- The girls we knew were all on the dogwatch, from four to twelve in the morning.
- (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
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