Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Work which is in itself unprofitable, but is necessary to, and leads up to, that which is profitable or productive; specifically, in mining, that work which is done in the way of opening a mine, or preparing to remove the ore in a mine, but is not accompanied by any production of ore, or is almost non-remunerative.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • All such work was called "dead-work," and it was the cause of unceasing war.

    King Coal : a Novel Upton Sinclair 1923

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