spade·work

[speyd-wurk]
noun
preliminary or initial work, such as the gathering of data, on which further activity is to be based.

Origin:
1770–80; spade1 + work

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Collins
World English Dictionary
spadework (ˈspeɪdˌwɜːk) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
dull or routine preparatory work

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Spadework is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Example sentences
And even if you break up terror cells by other means, give public credit to your online spadework.
It is ready now, without the spadework necessary elsewhere.
Economics has long imagined that it can be a successful theoretical science without doing the necessary empirical spadework.
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