sweatshop

[swet-shop]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sweatshop ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a shop employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and under poor conditions.

Origin of sweatshop

First recorded in 1865–70; sweat + shop

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

Related Words for sweatshop

shop, plant, foundry, firm, cooperative, industry, workshop, branch, laboratory, mill, theater, amphitheater, stadium, gym, rink, works, manufactory, warehouse, forge, mint

Examples from the Web for sweatshop

Contemporary Examples of sweatshop

Following the tragedy, American Apparel CEO Dov Charney spoke out against overseas, sweatshop production.
American Apparel Stirs Up Controversy…Again
Erin Cunningham
March 6, 2014

Historical Examples of sweatshop

Looks like someone was openin' a sweatshop in the buildin', don't it!
Shorty McCabe on the Job
Sewell Ford
The sudden change to a big city, a sweatshop, was too much for him, too much for all of them.
Crimes of Charity
Konrad Bercovici
And then hed put them to work in his sweatshop and sweat them into their grave.
Hungry Hearts
Anzia Yezierska
How can you enjoy your vacation in the country while Im in the sweatshop?
Hungry Hearts
Anzia Yezierska
To the stifling submission of the sweatshop or the desperation of the streets!
Hungry Hearts
Anzia Yezierska

British Dictionary definitions for sweatshop

sweatshop

noun

a workshop where employees work long hours under bad conditions for low wages

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 sweatshop

1892, from sweat + shop (n.).

sweatshop in Culture

sweatshop

A small factory or shop in which employees are poorly paid and work under adverse conditions. Sweatshops were especially common in the garment industry during the early twentieth century.