Meanings
plural lobster shifts
- a work shift that covers late evening and early morning hours.
My boss stuck me on the lobster shift: I have to work from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Synonyms: graveyard shift, midnight shift, third shift
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna work shift that covers late evening and early morning hours.
Origin
Maybe from British journalism, a lob being English slang for a yokel, and the "lobster shift" being the overnight shift usually given to young inexperienced journalists, to keep them out of the daily mainstream stories. American Heritage 1993
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian нощна смяна
- нощна смяна (noštna smjana)a work shift that covers late evening and early morning hours
Portuguese pescoção
- pescoçãoa work shift that covers late evening and early morning hours
Cite this entry
lobster shift. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lobster%20shift
“lobster shift.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lobster%20shift. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lobster shift,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lobster%20shift.
Source: lobster shift on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.