See boondoggle in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for boondoggle meaning in English (6.4kB)
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"etymology_text": "Coined by American scout leader Robert H. Link in 1929; alternatively “boon doggle”. Compare woggle of similar sense, attested in same period.\nIn sense of “wasteful government program”, popularized in 1935 by The New York Times, in reference to New Deal programs which were claimed to feature people making such braids.",
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"A braided ring to hold a neckerchief."
],
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"(especially scouting) A braided ring to hold a neckerchief."
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{
"text": "Opponents consider this another billion-dollar government boondoggle.",
"type": "example"
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{
"ref": "2005, Nicholas Johnson, “Chapter 3 Notes”, in Big Dead Place",
"text": "By its strictest definition, a boondoggle is a recreational trip out of town, but it has been blurred by threadbare jokes to mean any trip that is desirable, whether for work or not.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2014 November 6, Rob Nixon, “Naomi Klein’s ‘This Changes Everything’”, in New York Times",
"text": "Klein dismantles the boondoggle that is cap and trade.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2019 May 2, “Iter, a reactor in France, may deliver fusion power as early as 2045”, in The Economist, →ISSN",
"text": "For cynics, it is a boondoggle plagued by delays (it began in 2007 and was supposed to begin experiments in 2016, but this will not now happen until 2025), questionable management and ballooning costs (double the original estimate).",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
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"A waste of time and/or money; a pointless activity."
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"(Canada, US, figuratively, usually politics) A waste of time and/or money; a pointless activity."
],
"tags": [
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],
"topics": [
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"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "0 100",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"word": "tijdverspilling"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 100",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"word": "ajanhukka"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 100",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"word": "rahareikä"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 100",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"tags": [
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"word": "Zeitverschwendung"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 100",
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "záludnost",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"tags": [
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],
"word": "за́лудност"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 100",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"tags": [
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"word": "pérdida de tiempo"
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]
}
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"To waste time on a pointless activity."
],
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"(intransitive) To waste time on a pointless activity."
],
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"(especially scouting) A braided ring to hold a neckerchief."
],
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"ref": "2005, Nicholas Johnson, “Chapter 3 Notes”, in Big Dead Place",
"text": "By its strictest definition, a boondoggle is a recreational trip out of town, but it has been blurred by threadbare jokes to mean any trip that is desirable, whether for work or not.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2014 November 6, Rob Nixon, “Naomi Klein’s ‘This Changes Everything’”, in New York Times",
"text": "Klein dismantles the boondoggle that is cap and trade.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2019 May 2, “Iter, a reactor in France, may deliver fusion power as early as 2045”, in The Economist, →ISSN",
"text": "For cynics, it is a boondoggle plagued by delays (it began in 2007 and was supposed to begin experiments in 2016, but this will not now happen until 2025), questionable management and ballooning costs (double the original estimate).",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
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"A waste of time and/or money; a pointless activity."
],
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"(Canada, US, figuratively, usually politics) A waste of time and/or money; a pointless activity."
],
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"topics": [
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"code": "nl",
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"sense": "pointless activity",
"word": "tijdverspilling"
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{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"word": "ajanhukka"
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{
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"sense": "pointless activity",
"word": "rahareikä"
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"lang": "German",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Zeitverschwendung"
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{
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"lang": "Macedonian",
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"sense": "pointless activity",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "за́лудност"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "pointless activity",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "pérdida de tiempo"
}
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"wikipedia": [
"Michael Quinion"
],
"word": "boondoggle"
}
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"To waste time on a pointless activity."
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"(intransitive) To waste time on a pointless activity."
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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