allwork

English

Etymology

From all +‎ work.

Noun

allwork (countable and uncountable, plural allworks)

1. (uncountable) Work of all kinds; general purpose tasks.
   • 1826, Walter Scott, The Works of Walter Scott, Esq - Volume 4, page 67:

     A dark and tyrannical count; an aged crone of a house-keeper, the depositart of many a family legend; a garrulous waiting-maid; a gay and light-hearted valet; a villain or two of allwork; and a heroine , fulfilled with all perfections, and subjected to all manner of hazards, from the stock in trade of a romancer or a melo-dramatist ; and if these personages be dressed in the proper costume, and converse in language sufficiently appropriate to their stations and qualities, it is not expected that the audience shall shake their sides at the humour of the dialogue, or weep over its pathos.

   • 1839, Charles Dickens, The Adventures of Oliver Twist, page 215:

     Mr. Giles acted in the double capacity of butler and steward to the old lady of the mansion; and Brittles was a lad of allwork, who, having entered her service a mere child, was treated as a promising young boy still, though he was something past thirty.

   • 1864, "A Retired Guardian", “Sketches of the Poor”, in The Sunday at Home, volume 11, page 298:

     They had one female servant, a "girl of allwork."

   • 1902, The New York Supplement - Volume 74, page 987:

     Plaintiff's intestate was a man of allwork in defendant's power house .

   • 2016, Frances Milton Trollope, Delphi Collected Works of Frances Trollope:

     She also permitted the excellent Mrs. Heathcote to say a great deal about the advantages of taking their own two capital maids of allwork with them.

   a maid of allwork, that is, a general servant'

2. (countable) A general-purpose servant; a maid of all work.
   • 1988, Stephen Nicholas, Convict Workers: Reinterpreting Australia's Past, page 91:

     Their skills ranged over 36 different trades, from general catgories such as allwork and general servant through to more specific skills such as upholsterer and jeweller.

   • 1991, James Hugh Donohoe, The Forgotten Australians, page 96:

     Whilst employed as an "allwork" she was convicted of "man stealing" at the Middlesex Session Peace on 5 September, 1834. She reached Australia on the Numa in 1834.

   • 1996, Deborah Oxley, Convict Maids: The Forced Migration of Women to Australia, page 250:

     Domestic servants: allwork, allwork in a country inn, allwork in an inn, allwork in a ladies' house, country allwork, town allwork, chambermaid, chambermaid in a hotel, chambermaid in an inn, child's maid, cook, cook in a hotel, country housemaid, housemaid, housemaid in a hotel, […]