Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The collection or sequence of forms and procedures required to gain bureaucratic approval for something, especially when oppressively complex and time-consuming.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun idiomatic Time-consuming
regulations orbureaucratic procedures.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun needlessly time-consuming procedure
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[From its former use in tying British official documents.]
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Examples
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