释义 |
piece-work|ˈpiːswɜːk| Also piecework. 1. Work done and paid for by the piece: see piece n. 19.
1549Coventry Leet Bk. (1909) III. 792 No persone of the Craft of Cappers shall put owt eny pece-woork, but to suche of the same Craft as the maisters..shall agree & consent vnto. 1770J. Wedgwood Let. 12 May (1965) 91 You will certainly do right in bringing the painting to piece work. 1795Washington Let. Writ. 1892 XIII. 58 The new have gone more into the execution of it by contracts, and piece work. 1817H. L. Piozzi Let. 14 Apr. in A. Hayward Autobiogr. Mrs. Piozzi (1861) II. 200 A gentleman..called fifteen of his principal people..and told them he was no longer able to give them piece-work. 1830Cumb. Farm Rep. 60 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, Labourers are easily obtained here, either for piece-work or by the day. 1878Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. viii. 74 Some trades-unions endeavour to prevent their members from earning wages by piece-work. 1885G. B. Shaw Let. 29 Dec. (1965) I. 149 Paquito has not the remotest idea of what it is to be exploited on the piece⁓work system by newspapers. 1894[see feller1 4]. 1911Rep. Labour & Social Conditions in Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. 31 He also informed us that most of the joiners worked piecework. Ibid. 186 There was a lock-out in the building trade, owing to a grievance in the piecework system. 1967M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour iv. 73 Under competition hostile attitudes will develop; an example of this is the payment of salesgirls by individual piece-work, leading to their fighting over the more desirable customers. 1970T. Lupton Managem. & Social Sci. (ed. 2) iii. 63 Pitting wits against management on piecework rates. attrib.1890Daily News 1 Nov. 3/2 This is one of the last of the piece-work jobs in Victoria Dock under the agreement of last November. 2. = patchwork 4 b.
1842C. M. Kirkland Forest Life I. 90 No gorgeous piece-work bed-quilts exhibiting stars of all magnitudes and moons in all quarters. 1935M. M. Atwater Murder in Midsummer viii. 71 You'll find a piecework spread in the bottom drawer. Hence ˈpiece-ˌworker, a workman who does piece-work, or is paid according to the amount done.
1884Harper's Mag. Sept. 625/1 With a piece-worker, time is literally money. 1891Times 7 Oct. 4/6 Piece-workers are supposed to earn, on the average, from one-fourth to one-third more than their rating. |