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makework

 - 3 dictionary results

make-work

  [meyk-wurk]
Use makework in a Sentence
–noun
work, usually of little importance, created to keep a person from being idle or unemployed.
Origin:
1935–40, Americanism; n. use of v. phrase make work
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cultural Dictionary

make-work

Publicly provided employment that is designed primarily to relieve unemployment and only incidentally to accomplish important tasks. If private employers are hiring few people because of a business slump, the government can “make work” for people to do.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

make-work 
"busy-work, activity of no value," 1937, Amer.Eng., from make (v.) + work.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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