0 hard, sometimes boring work done in preparation for something: --
There has been a certain amount of preliminary spadework to be done.
All the spadework has been done and the basic facts and philosophy of the matter under discussion were fully examined in this report.
There is a lot of spadework and conversion to be done there.
The voluntary committees have done the initial spadework, and something more positive is now required.
He did much of the spadework on that.
We have already started the spadework for it.
The preliminary spadework has already been largely done.
That is right, but let them remember that the spadework is done by farmers.
