whistle past the graveyard
To attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation; to proceed with a task, ignoring an upcoming hazard, hoping for a good outcome.
graveyard
/ˈɡɹeɪvˌjɑɹd/
noun 5
Collocations
5ADJ.
against, contradictory, dreary, full, little, long, next, old
VERB + GRAVEYARD
back, buried, explore, frequenting, know, like, looks, stop
GRAVEYARD + NOUN
church, decks, evening, manipulation, midnight, night, shadow
PREP.
about, from, in, on, through
ADV.
instead, such
Definitions
noun
1
A tract of land in which the dead are buried.
2
A final storage place for collections of things that are no longer useful or useable.
They're all out on this southbound odyssey / And the train pulls out of Kankakee / Rolls past the houses, farms, and fields / Passing towns that have no name / And freight yards full of old black men / And the graveyards of rusted automobiles.
3
A final storage place for collections of things that are no longer useful or useable.
Certain cards place other cards here because such cards might have abilities deemed too strong if they sent them to the graveyard instead.
If you want to be tricky, though, Rapid Decay can be a flying elbow drop out of nowhere for a surprise win against graveyard manipulation decks; they will always see a Beetles coming, remember.
4
A final storage place for collections of things that are no longer useful or useable.
5
A period very early in the morning in which there is very little activity.
graveyard shift, graveyard slot, graveyard watch
Her husband, of course, came dressed as Herman Melville.) She's a veteran of these marathons, and warned me about the forthcoming graveyard stretch—when Moby-Dick melds with the altered brain chemistry of sleep deprivation.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
noun — a tract of land used for burials
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
They're all out on this southbound odyssey / And the train pulls out of Kankakee / Rolls past the houses, farms, and fields / Passing towns that have no name / And freight yards full of old black men
Wiktionary02
Certain cards place other cards here because such cards might have abilities deemed too strong if they sent them to the graveyard instead.
Wiktionary03
If you want to be tricky, though, Rapid Decay can be a flying elbow drop out of nowhere for a surprise win against graveyard manipulation decks; they will always see a Beetles coming, remember.
Wiktionary04
Freddy's been working the graveyard shift the past month, so he hasn't been able to see any of his friends who work normal hours.
Tatoeba · #3406905
Working so long on the graveyard shift made his health suffer badly.
Tatoeba · #27810306
He was buried in this graveyard.
Tatoeba · #289962Usage Notes
i Register
In some senses, graveyard is marked as figuratively. Watch for register when choosing this word.
Your note
not saved0 chars