Parkinson's law

American  

Or Parkinson's Law

noun

1. the statement, expressed facetiously as if a law of physics, that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.

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Parkinson's law British  

noun

1. the notion, expressed facetiously as a law of economics, that work expands to fill the time available for its completion

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Parkinson's Law Cultural  

1. A law propounded by the twentieth-century British scholar C. Northcote Parkinson. It states, “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

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Etymology

Origin of Parkinson's law

First recorded in 1950–55; after C. N. Parkinson

Example Sentences

The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality is to get the agenda right.

From Economist • Jun. 28, 2018

Parkinson’s law is at work today in our own Defense Department.

From Forbes • Feb. 11, 2015

It is a pusillanimous, jargon-ridden, self-perpetuating proof of Parkinson's law.

From The Guardian • Apr. 2, 2013

To Gresham's law, Walras' law, Parkinson's law and Mrs. Parkinson's law, students of the human condition can now add Buchwald's law: As the economy gets better, everything else gets worse.

From Time Magazine Archive