grunt work

grunt work

Work that is menial and often tedious. Get one of those interns to do this grunt work—that's what they're here for!
See also: grunt, work
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

grunt work

Fig. work that is menial and thankless. During the summer, I earned money doing grunt work. I did all of the grunt work on the project, but my boss got all of the credit.
See also: grunt, work
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

grunt work

and shit work
n. hard, menial labor; tedious work. (Work that a lesser person ought to be doing.) Who is supposed to do the grunt work around here? Not me! Why am I always doing the shit work?
See also: grunt, work
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • donkey work
  • go about your work
  • do the donkey work
  • I've got work to do
  • in work
  • be at work
  • off
  • offed
  • hired hand
  • go shares
References in periodicals archive
With the cramped seating and impossibly long security lines, flying is the unpleasant grunt work of travel -- something you endure to make it to the better thing.
Oman family: Frustrated while flying? Here are 5 smart ways to keep your cool
"It indicates that the US Department of Defense under Mattis is performing the grunt work of keeping the US-Qatari security relationship moving forward," Heras said.
Expert: Timing of Qatar F-15 deal more procedural than political
Shelby: I know everybody has full plates, so when it comes down to grunt work, I usually suck it up and do it.
From the podcast ..
Moreover, the company designed Google's new flagship phones, the Pixel and the Pixel XL, but without significant credit, causing one Bloomberg reporter to label the company as a "loser," having been relegated in the background, doing much of the grunt work unseen.
HTC Halfbeak Android Wear Smartwatch Alleged Images Leak
Too much grunt work? Readers will learn how to handle it, as well as other problems.
McLachlan, Joan E., and Patricia F. Hess. Get an Internship and Make the Most of It
Certainly, Zuckerberg is no stranger to the grunt work
Mark Zuckerberg working on \\ Iron Man\\ -style digital assistant
Luckily Beehive did a good deal of the grunt work for us.
Beehive channels over AED 12 million ($3 million) finance to more than 25 SMEs in the UAE
It describes a manager who still does a little grunt work, such as coding, to "keep in touch with reality." In fact, many hands-on managers have a hands-off attitude, which makes for an ideal, independent working environment.
Words at work
This is called running scut; it includes running specimens to the lab, wheeling patients to x-ray, drawing blood, fetching lab results, doing chart work, and learning a lot in spite of the grunt work. The older physicians do teach on rounds, and there is always a resident physician around.
Commentary: resident debt is ruining medicine
With Stoffel, who usually does the legwork for his team, sitting on the right side and Taylor doing the grunt work, the pair from Minnesota State Mankato made a run in the second game to almost force a tiebreaker, but they came up short.
McCrystall/Clarke come through in 19-under doubles
It does the grunt work, processing and evaluating design tradeoffs at a speed impossible for humans.
Design technology prepares for future
"It's all grunt work!" he replied, and offered to take me on as associate editor for issue 49-1, fall 2007.
So long, farewell!
"Besides being a great singer, Laurie did a lot of the grunt work behind the scenes.
Silverbacks co-founder loses battle with ALS
One person even commented, "they are just a resource for any extra tasks" and "can take some of the grunt work away from me".
Benefits of young minds; Letters