squirrel cage

squirrel cage
    n 1: cage with a cylindrical framework that rotates as a small
         animal runs inside it
    

36 Moby Thesaurus words for "squirrel cage":
      beat, beaten path, broken record, bureaucracy, bureaucratism,
      chinoiserie, daily grind, grind, groove, humdrum, invariability,
      irk, irksomeness, jog trot, monotony, red tape, red-tapeism, round,
      routine, run, rut, sameliness, sameness, tedium, the beaten track,
      the daily round, the round, the squirrel cage, the treadmill,
      the weary round, track, treadmill, undeviation, unvariation,
      wearisome sameness, well-worn groove