guest worker

noun

: a foreign laborer working temporarily in an industrialized usually European country

Examples of guest worker in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Video Waitresses live three and four to an apartment, and at the ski resorts, J-1 visa holders, designed for guest workers from abroad, share bunk beds. Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025 These workers arrive under a temporary guest worker program and become part of the infamous kafala (sponsorship) labor system, which has been widely criticized by international rights groups for exposing migrant workers to abuse. Neil Quilliam, Foreign Affairs, 29 Dec. 2023 House Bill 297 would create a year-round agricultural guest worker program — for which there is no current federal equivalent. Carolyn Komatsoulis, Idaho Statesman, 27 Feb. 2025 Congress had created the H-2 guest worker visa in 1952 on behalf of owners of large farms and other employers who wanted a path around immigration restrictions and access to a seasonal labor force. Gabrielle Clark, The Conversation, 29 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for guest worker

Word History

Etymology

translation of German Gastarbeiter

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of guest worker was in 1960

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Cite this Entry

“Guest worker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guest%20worker. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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