"make-work" meaning in English

See make-work in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈmeɪkwəːk/ [UK] Audio: en-us-make-work.ogg
Etymology: From make + work. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|make|work}} make + work Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} make-work (uncountable)
  1. (chiefly US) An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need. Tags: US, uncountable Synonyms: makework Derived forms: make-work job Related terms: activity trap, busy work

Alternative forms

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          "word": "make-work job"
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        {
          "ref": "2011 November 10, Lord Gilbert, House of Lords Hansard:",
          "text": "I once described this rather vulgarly as a Euro-wanking make-work project and I do not resile from that.",
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          "ref": "2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 802:",
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "makework"
    }
  ],
  "word": "make-work"
}

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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 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). 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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