dogwatch

plural dogwatches · alternative dog watch · alternative dog-watch

1. nauticalAboard 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. broadlyA 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

3. nauticalA very brief period of naval service.

   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.

   1972, George Carroll Dyer, The Amphibians Came to Conquer, page 265