What does 열 일 mean?

 ANSWER: "All work," "all things," or "everything."

The 열 in 열 일 is the pure Korean word for "ten," and 일 is the pure Korean word for "work," but the 열 in 열 일 is translated as "all," not as "ten." Why? Because when you count from 1 to 10 on your fingers, 10 is "all" of your fingers. It is similar to saying 만사 (萬事) or 백사 (百事), which literally mean "ten thousand things" and "a hundred things," respectively, but are translated as "all things." By the way, be sure to put a space between the 열 and the 일 when writing "열 일."

The Korean idiom 열 일을 젖혀놓다 can translate as "to put all work aside," implying that one does so in order to focus on something else. The verb 젖히다, which is pronounced as /저치다/, is a little strange since it has four very different meanings in my dictionary, but the meaning used in the idiom here is the fourth one. If you do not like the verb 젖히다, you can substitute the verb 제치다, which seems to be more popular.

Here are some example sentences from Naver's Korean-English dictionary:

• 그는 내가 어려울 때면 열 일 제쳐 두고 도와 주러오곤 했다.
  He would drop everything else and come running to help me in my hour of need.
  
  
• 나는 열 일을 제쳐 두고 그를 찾아갔다.
  I put aside all my work to go see him.
  
  
• 오늘은 열 일을 제쳐 놓고 잠부터 자야겠어요.
  Today, I am going to sleep before I do anything else.