sweatshop

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun factory where workers do piecework for poor pay and are prevented from forming unions; common in the clothing industry

From sweat (“to extract money, labour, etc.”, verb) + shop.

I look back at my sweatshop childhood. — Hungry Hearts, Anzia Yezierska
Lou's place was in what had once been a garment factory sweatshop. — Life Blood, Thomas Hoover
Says his father's dead and mother earns seventeen a week in a sweatshop and sends him to school. — By Advice of Counsel, Arthur Cheney Train

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