graveyard
graveyard — noun
- graveyardsingular
- graveyardsplural
1. an outdoor piece of ground, often beside a church, holding the buried bodies and
an outdoor piece of ground, often beside a church, holding the buried bodies and headstones of people who have died.
Pim laid white roses on her grandmother's stone in the village graveyard.
in/at the graveyard with possessive (someone's stone)
An old stone wall surrounded the small graveyard behind the parish church.
graveyard behind/beside the church
Tour guides led visitors through the historic graveyard at sunset.
Kabir found his great-grandfather's name on a worn headstone in the graveyard.
The children dared each other to walk through the graveyard after dark.
- cemetery
larger, dedicated burial site; not tied to a church
- burial ground
neutral, often used for older or archaeological sites
- churchyard
specifically the ground around a church, even if no burials
文法句型
in/at + the graveyard
用法筆記
Often interchangeable with 'cemetery', but 'graveyard' is more common for small church-attached burial grounds, while 'cemetery' suggests a larger, dedicated site.
常見錯誤
2. a place that has filled up with things or people no one wants anymore — for exam
a place that has filled up with things or people no one wants anymore — for example, a desert lot full of rusting cars, or a job nobody hopes to return from.
The empty lot behind the factory became a graveyard for broken washing machines.
a graveyard for + plural noun (unwanted objects)
Critics called the late-night slot a graveyard for promising new TV shows.
figurative: a graveyard for + abstract noun
Valentina's bottom drawer was a graveyard of half-finished knitting projects.
The desert outside the airbase is a graveyard for retired military planes.
- dumping ground
more literal; suggests an actual disposal site
- scrapyard
literal; specifically for metal vehicles or machinery
- wasteland
broader; suggests emptiness rather than discarded items
文法句型
a graveyard of/for + plural noun
用法筆記
Almost always followed by 'of' or 'for' plus a plural noun naming the abandoned items. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense never names a literal place where humans are buried.