The Collaborative International Dictionary
Fatigue \Fa*tigue"\, n. [F., fr. fatiguer to fatigue, L. fatigare; cf. L. affatim sufficiently.]
Weariness from bodily labor or mental exertion; lassitude or exhaustion of strength.
The cause of weariness; labor; toil; as, the fatigues of war.
--Dryden.-
The weakening of a metal when subjected to repeated vibrations or strains.
Fatigue call (Mil.), a summons, by bugle or drum, to perform fatigue duties.
Fatigue dress, the working dress of soldiers.
Fatigue duty (Mil.), labor exacted from soldiers aside from the use of arms.
--Farrow.Fatigue party, a party of soldiers on fatigue duty.
WordNet
n. labor of a nonmilitary kind done by soldiers (cleaning or digging or draining or so on); "the soldiers were put on fatigue to teach them a lesson"; "they were assigned to kitchen fatigues" [syn: fatigue]
Wikipedia
Fatigue duty is the labor assigned to military men that does not require the use of arms. Parties sent on fatigue duty were known in English by the French term "detachemens" according to an 1805 military dictionary.
Usage examples of "fatigue duty".
An apprentice given some fatigue duty to perform after his normal hours might be scrubbing a floor, or an especial dish for the morrow might necessitate a few cooks working late into the evening.