dogwatch means aboard a ship, either of the two short two-hour watches that take place between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 91 out of 100.
dogwatch is pronounced /ˈdɒɡwɒt͡ʃ/.
Why “dogwatch” is a great word
DOGWATCH — [Noun] A short, two-hour period of duty on a ship, typically from 4 to 6 p.m. or 6 to 8 p.m., or any brief and inconvenient stretch of work. From dog (suggesting something curtailed or inferior) + watch (a period of duty). Likely a calque of German Hundewache or a similar Dutch term, first recorded in English in the 1690–1700 period. Unlike a standard "watch" (which structures the nautical day in four-hour blocks) or a "graveyard shift" (which implies a full, nocturnal vigil), the dogwatch is a deliberately truncated interlude. It is the low sun glaring across the deck at five, the crew’s supper interrupted and resumed, and the brief hour when time itself feels cheated—a small, weary rebellion against the tyranny of the clock.
noun
- 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 […]”
- 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.”
- A 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.”