What does featherbedding mean?
Featherbedding means present participle and gerund of featherbed.
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Pronunciation varies by accent · verb
present participle and gerund of featherbed.
It [Pemex, Mexico's state-owned petroleum company] eventually grew bigger than Gazprom, the Russian state oil company, but it has always had a problem with internal malfeasance and featherbedding. “Corporate governance is poor,” says Duncan Wood, head of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center. “It’s disorganized. There are little fiefdoms within it. They strike deals with organized crime and turn a blind eye.”
Two factors made the Ministry untenable; private industry considered the featherbedding of the public sector to be unfair competition. Since the DC depends on private industry for much of its support, continuing the practice would have compromised this support.
Use featherbedding when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Featherbedding means present participle and gerund of featherbed.
The closest synonym depends on the sentence and intended sense.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
It [Pemex, Mexico's state-owned petroleum company] eventually grew bigger than Gazprom, the Russian state oil company, but it has always had a problem with internal malfeasance and featherbedding. “Corporate governance is poor,” says Duncan Wood, head of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center. “It’s disorganized. There are little fiefdoms within it. They strike deals with organized crime and turn a blind eye.”
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