Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

sweatshop

[swet-shop]
See more synonyms for sweatshop on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a shop employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and under poor conditions.
Show More

Origin of sweatshop

First recorded in 1865–70; sweat + shop
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sweatshop

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Looks like someone was openin' a sweatshop in the buildin', don't it!

  • 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
  1. a workshop where employees work long hours under bad conditions for low wages
Show More
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

n.

1892, from sweat + shop (n.).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.

Show More
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.