drudge

drudge

English

Etymology

From Middle English druggen, which is possibly related to Old English drēogan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɹʌd͡ʒ/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌdʒ

Noun

drudge (plural drudges)

1. A person who works in a low servile job.
2. (derogatory) Someone who works for (and may be taken advantage of by) someone else.

Derived terms

• drudgery
• drudgy

Related terms

• dree
• adree

Translations

person who works in a low job

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: raataja (fi), renki (fi) French: larbin (fr) m, sous-merde (fr) f, moins-que-rien (fr) m German: Hiwi (de) m (colloquial), Sklave (de), Lakai (de) m Irish: sclábhaí m Russian: чернорабо́чий (ru) m (černorabóčij), работя́га (ru) m or f (rabotjága) Scottish Gaelic: tràill m or f Spanish: esclavo (es) m, lacayo m, currito Turkish: köle (tr) Westrobothnian: trel m

person who works for someone else

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: palkkarenki French: valet (fr) m, laquais (fr) m, larbin (fr) m Russian: раб (ru) m (rab), рабы́ня (ru) f (rabýnja) Scottish Gaelic: tràill m or f

Verb

drudge (third-person singular simple present drudges, present participle drudging, simple past and past participle drudged)

1. (intransitive) To labour in (or as in) a low servile job.
   • 1682, Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv'd

     Rise to our Toils and drudge away the day.

   • 1856 February​, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith [from the Encyclopædia Britannica]”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, OCLC 30956848:

     He gradually rose in the estimation of the booksellers for whom he drudged.

Translations

to labour as in a low servile job

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: otročit (cs) impf Finnish: raataa (fi) Hungarian: gürcöl (hu), robotol (hu) Ido: laboregar (io) Russian: тяну́ть ля́мку (ru) (tjanútʹ ljámku)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “drudge”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.