drudge

American  

[druhj] / drʌdʒ /

noun

1. a person who does menial, distasteful, dull, or hard work.

2. a person who works in a routine, unimaginative way.

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verb (used without object)

drudges, present (3rd person singular) drudged, past participle, past drudging present participle

1. to perform menial, distasteful, dull, or hard work.

   Synonyms:

   slave, plod, grub, hack, toil

drudge British  

/ drʌdʒ /

noun

1. a person, such as a servant, who works hard at wearisome menial tasks

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verb

1. (intr) to toil at such tasks

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• drudger
  noun
• drudgingly
  adverb

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have drudged
  perfect
• has drudged
  perfect 3rd person singular
• is drudging
  progressive 3rd person singular
• have been drudging
  perfect progressive
• am drudging
  progressive 1st person singular
• are drudging
  progressive
• has been drudging
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• drudging
  participle
• drudges
  singular 3rd person

Past

• had drudged
  perfect
• was drudging
  progressive singular
• had been drudging
  perfect progressive
• drudged
  participle
• drudged
  simple
• were drudging
  progressive plural

Future

• will drudge
  simple
• will have drudged
  perfect
• will have been drudging
  perfect progressive
• will be drudging
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of drudge

1485–95; compare OE man's name Drycghelm helmet maker, equivalent to drycg (akin to drēogan to work) + helm helm ²

Explanation

A drudge is someone who works very hard, especially at a job that is boring. To drudge is to work hard. One thing just about everyone has in common is complaining about work. Drudges have a little more to complain about than others: a drudge is someone whose job is difficult but isn't very interesting. Factories and coal mines are full of drudges: diligent folks doing work that isn't super-interesting. Such work is often called drudgery. Also, when you're working hard at anything, you can call it drudging. We all drudge when we have something to do that we would rather avoid.