Definition
民工 is a shortened form of 农民工 (nóngmín gōng), referring to rural migrant workers who move to cities for manual, low-skilled labor — construction, factory, sanitation, etc. The term carries class and social-status overtones distinct from a generic 'worker' (工人): it signals both the person's rural household registration (户口) and their temporary, often precarious urban employment. In media and daily conversation, 民工 is neutral-to-slightly-dismissive depending on context; in formal or respectful writing, 农民工 is preferred.
n.
migrant worker (rural-to-urban manual laborer, esp. in construction and manufacturing)peasant workercasual laborer on public projects
Examples
- 民工，。Xǔduō mín gōng cóng nóngcūn lái chéngshì dǎgōng, jiànshè gāolóu dàshà.Many migrant workers come from the countryside to the city to work and build skyscrapers.
- 民工，。Gōngdì shàng de mín gōng měitiān gōngzuò shí ge xiǎoshí, fēicháng xīnkǔ.The migrant workers on the construction site work ten hours a day — it's very hard.
- ，民工。Chūnjié qián, chéngqiān shàngwàn de mín gōng tàshàng fǎnxiāng de lièchē.Before the Spring Festival, tens of thousands of migrant workers board trains heading home.
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