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yakka

American  
[yak-uh] / ˈjæk ə /

noun

Australian.
  1. work, especially hard work.


yakka British  
/ ˈjækə /

noun

  1. informal work

"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

Etymology

Origin of yakka

First recorded in 1885–90; earlier spellings yacker, wakker; of obscure origin; possibly from Yagara (an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of Queensland) yaga “to work”

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.

See Examples For:

This was hard yakka in hot sun on an unresponsive pitch with a ball less likely to misbehave than a child on Christmas Eve.

From BBC Jul. 19, 2024

The next night, after a lot of hard yakka in the field, assistant coach Jeetan Patel said, without flinching, "nothing is impossible" with this team.

From BBC Jan. 28, 2024

Never has a day of hard yakka been made to seem so much fun.

From BBC Dec. 3, 2022

This is hard yakka for the Australian fast bowlers on a slow pitch, but Cummins and Pattinson are going about it with almost masochistic relish.

From The Guardian Aug. 2, 2019

Kennā-sig tiri yakka dikena pensa sappa, te vonka tu shan hoïni tu tevel dikk pens’ o puro beng. 

From The Gypsies by Charles Godfrey Leland

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