donkey-work


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Related to donkey-work: hitting the roof

donkey-work

n
1. groundwork
2. drudgery. US equivalent: draft-mule work
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Translations

donkey-work

nRoutinearbeit f, → Dreckarbeit f (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

donkey

(ˈdoŋki) noun
1. a domesticated animal with long ears related to the horse but smaller.
2. a stupid person. Don't be such a donkey!
ˈdonkey-work noun
hard, uninteresting work. We have a computer now, which saves us a lot of donkey-work.
donkey's years/ages
a very long time. It's donkey's years since I was last there.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in periodicals archive ?
The last day, with just four runners in the Irish Gold Cup, I had to do the donkey-work on him.
And against the no-nonsense Austrians the little-and-large partnership of 6'7" Crouch and 5'8" Owen had their moments as the Liverpool man did the donkey-work for his pacy partner.
After Jimmy Fortune had brought Magical Romance home two and a half lengths clear of Miss Malone, Meehan said: "She had to do all the donkey-work herself, with nothing to lead her, and Jimmy thought the other group were clear two out.