collar-workn.
1. literal. Work in which a horse has to strain hard against the collar, as in drawing a heavy load or going up hill.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > labour or toil > done by animals > specific
roadwork1755
collar-work1872
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xxii. 307 Giving a long spell of collar-work to the horses.
1887 T. A. Trollope What I Remember II. viii. 132 There were still fourteen miles, nearly all collar-work, between that [Lucca] and the baths.
2. figurative. Severe and close work.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > labour or toil
workeOE
i-swincheOE
swenchOE
swote971
swingc1000
swinkOE
swinkinga1225
travailc1275
cark1330
sweatc1380
the sweat of (one's) brow (brows), facec1380
laboura1382
swengc1400
labouragec1470
toil1495
laborationa1500
tug1504
urea1510
carp1548
turmoil1569
moil1612
praelabour1663
fatigue1669
insudation1669
till?a1800
Kaffir work1848
graft1853
workfulness1854
collar-work1871
yakka1888
swot1899
heavy lifting1934
1871 Daily News 25 Jan. Breaking down in harness, under the severe collarwork of these democratic days.
1875 C. L. Kenney Mem. M. W. Balfe 38 When the day's allowance of stiff ‘collar work’ was accomplished.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1871