Words / S / General

spadework

noun/ˈspeɪdwɜːk/

C1CEFR level
65/100Rarity: rare
InformalRegister

Hard preparatory work that lays the groundwork for later success.

Months of unseen spadework in the archives made the exhibition possible.

Similar: groundwork, preparation, legwork

Origin: From 'spade' + 'work', literally digging groundwork.

Topic: toil in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: toil