noun
Meaning 1
Work done by digging with a spade.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
spadework
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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CMU ARPABET: S P EY1 D W ER2 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Work done in preparation for something else.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, uncountable
Examples
- There's a lot of spadework to be done before the scheme can be implemented.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
dull or routine preliminary work preparing for an undertaking
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: work
History
Etymology
From spade + work.
Across languages
Translations
6 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: работа с лопата (rabota s lopata) — work done by digging with a spade
- Polish: praca z łopatą — work done by digging with a spade
- Bulgarian: рутинна подготвителна работа (rutinna podgotvitelna rabota) — work done in preparation
- Irish: bunobair — work done in preparation
- Polish: przygotowania — work done in preparation
- Russian: подгото́вка по́чвы (podgotóvka póčvy) — work done in preparation