Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A guest worker, especially one in Germany.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German : Gast, guest (from Middle High German, from Old High German; see ghos-ti- in Indo-European roots) + Arbeiter, worker (from arbeiten, to work, from Arbeit, work, from Middle High German arebeit, from Old High German arabeit; see orbh- in Indo-European roots).]

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Examples

  • The Chancellor's comments appear directed at Germany's 3 million Turkish immigrants, who began to arrive as "guest workers" ("Gastarbeiter") to fill labor shortages during the 1960s and

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2010

  • The Chancellor's comments appear directed at Germany's 3 million Turkish immigrants, who began to arrive as "guest workers" ("Gastarbeiter") to fill labor shortages during the 1960s and

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2010

  • The Chancellor's comments appear directed at Germany's 3 million Turkish immigrants, who began to arrive as "guest workers" ("Gastarbeiter") to fill labor shortages during the 1960s and '70s.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2010

  • That's what we saw in 1973, particularly in Germany, when the Gastarbeiter were expected to go home during that financial crisis but the opposite happened: those who weathered the storm wanted to stay and their families followed them.

    Poland: Immigration to UK is back for good life despite economic crisis 2011

  • These agreements allowed the recruitment of Gastarbeiter (guest workers) to work in the industrial sector for jobs that required few qualifications.

    Lia Petridis Maiello: A Note To Chancellor Angela Merkel And The Supposed Failure Of Multiculturalism In Germany Lia Petridis Maiello 2010

  • As always with Peter Temple, the book is full of gorgeous prose, such as: Once Gastarbeiter from Anatolia, Anselm thought, now wealthy.

    Archive 2010-01-01 Peter Rozovsky 2010

  • The Germans originated the concept in an agreement with Italy in 1955, but most Gastarbeiter after 1960 were Turkish.

    Matthew Yglesias » No To Guest Workers 2007

  • Angela Merkel can do her thing about how resilient the German economy is and how nicely it provides for modest unemployment, but exports will soon be tanking for the world's most successful exporter, and the Gastarbeiter two-cultures problem will only be exacerbated, leaving eastern Germany wondering.

    The End of the Marshall Plan 2009

  • When production falls and unemployment rises in Russia, many of the Gastarbeiter, or guest workers, that have been needed to fuel the boom are usually sent home.

    Russia’s Comeuppance 2008

  • Sure, since Sweden has a large Finnish expat population they're going to vote for their "own" country, of course Germany's Gastarbeiter will vote for Turkey, and certainly every single Australian living in Europe at the time would have voted for Germany, because for one glorious moment it was practically Australia.

    Feel the Rhythm lili 2006

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