The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Drudgery \Drudg"er*y\ (dr[u^]j"[~e]r*[y^]), n.
   The act of drudging; disagreeable and wearisome labor;
   ignoble or slavish toil.
   [1913 Webster]

         The drudgery of penning definitions.     --Macaulay.
   [1913 Webster]

         Paradise was a place of bliss . . . without drudgery
         and with out sorrow.                     --Locke.

   Syn: See Toll.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

drudgery
    n 1: hard monotonous routine work [syn: drudgery, plodding,
         grind, donkeywork]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

31 Moby Thesaurus words for "drudgery":
   chore, dirty work, donkeywork, employment, fag, fatigue, grind,
   handiwork, handwork, industry, labor, lick, lick of work,
   manual labor, moil, plugging, rat race, scut work, slavery, slog,
   slogging, spadework, stroke, stroke of work, sweat, task,
   tiresome work, toil, travail, treadmill, work