piecework

[pees-wurk]

noun

work done and paid for by the piece.

Nearby words

Compare timework.

Origin of piecework

First recorded in 1540–50; piece + work

Related formspiece·work·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for piecework

Some of the new hands are astonished when they receive their wages, with the piecework balance added, on a full week.
Life in a Railway Factory|Alfred Williams
And I know brickmakers go about working at piecework in different places.
Bleak House|Charles Dickens
Piecework rates, irrespective of class of labour employed, should remain unaltered.
Women in Modern Industry|B. L. Hutchins
In the shell-loading plants and piecework occupations, however, their wages were much higher.
The Journal of Negro History, Volume 6, 1921|Various

The ordinary collier is paid by piecework—so much per ton for all the coal he hews.
A Safety Match|Ian Hay

British Dictionary definitions for piecework

piecework

noun

work paid for according to the quantity producedCompare timework

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for piecework

piecework

also piece-work, 1540s, from piece (n.) + work (n.).