boondoggle

boon·dog·gle

boondoggle

v.
  1. a braided cord made by hand by young scouts, used for various purposes, such as a hat cord or a key chain.
  2. a useless, wasteful, or impractical project; -- especially one authorized by a government agency as a favor to partisans, to employ unemployed people, or in return for corrupt payments.

boondoggle

v.
  1. to do useless, wasteful, or trivial work.