sweating system
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of sweating system
First recorded in 1850–55
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
All an infernal system of oppression, like the sweating system, asks, is to be let alone.
From White Slaves; or, the Oppression of the Worthy Poor by Banks, Louis Albert
The true sweating system with all its dire effects upon the health of the worker, and threatening the very existence of the home, was in full force.
From The Trade Union Woman by Henry, Alice
An English writer gives this definition of the sweating system: "One whereby the middleman tries to get the largest profit, with the least labor and outlay, out of the maximum labor of his workers."
From White Slaves; or, the Oppression of the Worthy Poor by Banks, Louis Albert
Irregularity of employment, or, more accurately speaking, insufficiency of employment--for the "irregularity" is itself regular--forms one of the most terrible phases of the sweating system.
From Problems of Poverty by Hobson, J. A. (John Atkinson)
There are in the Boston Public Library five ponderous volumes containing the evidence taken before a commission, appointed by the English House of Lords, to examine into the sweating system of Great Britain.
From White Slaves; or, the Oppression of the Worthy Poor by Banks, Louis Albert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.