piecework

American  

[pees-wurk] / ˈpisˌwɜrk /

noun

1. work done and paid for by the piece.

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piecework British  

/ ˈpiːsˌwɜːk /

noun

1. work paid for according to the quantity produced Compare timework

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Other Word Forms

• pieceworker noun

Etymology

Origin of piecework

First recorded in 1540–50; piece + work

Explanation

If you do piecework, it means you're paid based on each task you accomplish rather than the hours you labor. A farmworker paid in piecework might earn a dollar for each pound of blueberries they pick. You can think of piecework as a job that pays by the piece, unit, or action. While many employers compensate workers by the hour or pay a yearly salary, others dole out wages based on how much work is accomplished. A seamstress who gets paid for each pair of pants that she hems is doing piecework. And if your neighbor pays you five cents for each dandelion you pull out of their lawn, you also do piecework.

Example Sentences

The way pay works in most dealership service departments is essentially a piecework system called “flat rate.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

The collection was then tucked away into FIDM’s archives until Frank’s colleague posted one of the blazers on Instagram, highlighting the garment’s mesh of “Victorian-style piecework and embroidery with precision mitered tailoring.”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2025

Many receive a piecework rate, or are simply trying to raise enough to subsist on, he points out.

From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2023

Bennett credited his mother, Anna, with teaching him a valuable lesson as he watched her working at home, supporting her three children as a seamstress doing piecework after his father died.

From Washington Times • Jul. 21, 2023

His grandfather, who lived a few blocks away, was a sewer in the garment trade, doing piecework out of his house.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell