dogwatch
noun/ˈdɒɡwɒt͡ʃ/
Etymology From dog + watch, perhaps a calque of German Hundewache.
1
Nautical, Transport Aboard a ship, either of the two short two-hour watches that take place between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- […] in the last dog-watch when the drawing near of twilight induced revery […]1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XII.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:
2
Broadly A night shift, or other very late or early period of duty.
- The girls we knew were all on the dogwatch, from four to twelve in the morning.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: