work
work
(wɜːʳk )Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense works , present participle working , past tense, past participle worked
1. verb
People who work have a job, usually one which they are paid to do.
Weiner works for the U.S. Department of Transport. [VERB preposition/adverb]
I started working in a recording studio. [VERB preposition/adverb]
Where do you work? [VERB preposition/adverb]
He worked as a bricklayer's mate. [VERB + as]
I want to work, I don't want to be on welfare. [VERB]
be employed, do business, have a job, earn a living, be in work, hold down a job2. uncountable noun [oft in/out of N]
People who have work or who are in work have a job, usually one which they are paid to do.
Fewer and fewer people are in work.
I was out of work at the time.
She'd have enough money to provide for her children until she could find work.
What kind of work do you do?
employment, calling, business, job, line, office, trade, duty, craft, profession, occupation, pursuit, livelihood, métier3. verb
When you work, you do the things that you are paid or required to do in your job.
I can't talk to you right now–I'm working. [VERB]
He was working at his desk. [VERB]
Some firms expect the guards to work twelve hours a day. [VERB noun]
4. uncountable noun
Your work consists of the things you are paid or required to do in your job.
We're supposed to be running a business here. I've got work to do.
I used to take work home, but I don't do it any more.
There have been days when I have finished work at 2pm.
...an image of teaching which highlighted the stressful and difficult aspects of the teacher's work.
task, jobs, projects, commissions, duties, assignments, chores, yakka [Australian, New Zealand, informal]5. verb
When you work, you spend time and effort doing a task that needs to be done or trying to achieve something.
Linda spends all her time working on the garden. [VERB preposition]
While I was working on my letter the telephone rang. [VERB preposition]
Leonard was working at his German. His mistakes made her laugh. [VERB preposition]
The most important reason for coming to university is to work for a degree. [VERB preposition]
The government expressed hope that all the sides will work towards a political solution. [VERB preposition]
Work is also a noun.
There was a lot of work to do on their house.
We hadn't appreciated how much work was involved in organizing a wedding.
He said that the peace plan would be rejected because it needed more work.
6. uncountable noun [usu to/at N]
Work is the place where you do your job.
Many people travel to work by car.
She told her friends at work that she was trying to lose weight.
7. uncountable noun
Work is something which you produce as a result of an activity or as a result of doing your job.
It can help to have an impartial third party look over your work.
Tidiness in the workshop is really essential for producing good work.
That's a beautiful piece of work. You should be proud of it.
8. countable noun
A work is something such as a painting, book, or piece of music produced by an artist, writer, or composer.
In my opinion, this is Rembrandt's greatest work.
Under his arm, there was a book which looked like the complete works of Shakespeare.
The church has several valuable works of art.
creation, performance, piece, production, opus, achievement, composition, oeuvre, handiwork, undertaking9. verb
If someone is working on a particular subject or question, they are studying or researching it.
Professor Bonnet has been working for many years on molecules of this type. [VERB + on]
Work is also a noun.
Their work shows that one-year-olds are much more likely to have allergies if either parent smokes.
10. verb
If you work with a person or a group of people, you spend time and effort trying to help them in some way.
She spent a period of time working with people dying of cancer. [V + with/among]
He knew then that he wanted to work among the poor. [V with/among n]
Work is also a noun.
...a highly respected priest who is noted for his work with the poor.
She became involved in social and relief work among the refugees. [+ among]
11. verb
If a machine or piece of equipment works, it operates and performs a particular function.
The pump doesn't work and we have no running water. [VERB]
Is the telephone working today? [VERB]
Ned turned on the lanterns, which worked with batteries. [VERB preposition/adverb]
How does the gun work? [VERB preposition/adverb]
function, go, run, operate, perform, be in working order12. verb
95 per cent of these diets do not work. [VERB]
If lust is all there is to hold you together, the relationship will never work. [VERB]
I shouldn't have come, I knew it wouldn't work. [VERB]
A methodical approach works best. [VERB adverb]
13. verb
If a drug or medicine works, it produces a particular physical effect.
I wake at 6am as the sleeping pill doesn't work for more than nine hours. [VERB]
The drug works by increasing levels of serotonin in the brain. [VERB preposition/adverb]
14. verb
If something works in your favour, it helps you in some way. If something works to your disadvantage, it causes problems for you in some way.
One factor thought to have worked in his favour is his working class image. [VERB preposition]
This obviously works against the interests of the child. [VERB preposition]
15. verb
If something or someone works their magic or works their charms on a person, they have a powerful positive effect on them.
Nevertheless, she is always optimistic about the possibilities and can work her charm on the disenchanted. [VERB noun + on]
Our spirits rallied as the bitter-sweet alcohol worked its magic. [VERB noun]
16. verb
If your mind or brain is working, you are thinking about something or trying to solve a problem.
My mind was working frantically, running over the events of the evening. [VERB]
17. verb
If you work on an assumption or idea, you act as if it were true or base other ideas on it, until you have more information.
We are working on the assumption that it was a gas explosion. [VERB + on]
18. verb
If you work a particular area or type of place, you travel around that area or work in those places as part of your job, for example trying to sell something there.
Brand has been working the clubs and the pubs since 1986, developing her comedy act. [VERB noun]
This is the seventh year that he has worked the streets of Manhattan. [VERB noun]
19. verb
If you work someone, you make them spend time and effort doing a particular activity or job.
They're working me too hard. I'm too old for this. [VERB noun adverb/preposition]
They didn't take my father away, but kept him in the village and worked him to death. [VERB noun adverb/preposition]
[Also VERB noun]20. verb
If someone, often a politician or entertainer, works a crowd, they create a good relationship with the people in the crowd and get their support or interest.
The Prime Minister has an ability to work a crowd–some might even suggest it is a kind of charm. [VERB noun]
He worked the room like a politician, gripping hands, and slapping backs. [VERB noun]
handle, move, excite, manipulate, rouse, stir up, agitate, incite, whip up, galvanize21. verb
22. verb
When a mine is worked, minerals such as coal or gold are removed from it.
The mines had first been worked in 1849, when gold was discovered in California. [be VERB-ed]
Only an agreed number of men was allowed to work any given seam at any given time. [VERB noun]
23. verb
If you work a machine or piece of equipment, you use or control it.
Many adults still depend on their children to work the video. [VERB noun]
24. verb
If something works into a particular state or condition, it gradually moves so that it is in that state or condition.
A screw had worked loose from my glasses. [VERB adjective]
25. verb
If you work a substance such as dough or clay, you keep pressing it to make it have a particular texture.
Work the dough with the palm of your hand until it is very smooth. [VERB noun]
Remove rind from the cheese and work it to a firm paste, with a fork. [VERB noun preposition/adverb]
manipulate, make, form, process, fashion, shape, handle, mould, knead26. verb
If you work a material such as metal, leather, or stone, you cut, sew, or shape it in order to make something or to create a design.
...the machines needed to extract and work the raw stone. [VERB noun]
...a long, cool tunnel of worked stone. [VERB-ed]
27. verb
If you work with a particular substance or material, you use it in order to make something or to create a design.
He studied sculpture because he enjoyed working with clay. [V with/in n]
28. verb
If you work a part of your body, or if it works, you move it.
Each position will work the muscles in a different way. [VERB noun]
Her mouth was working in her sleep. [VERB]
29. countable noun [with singular or plural verb, usually noun NOUN, NOUN noun]
A works is a place where something is manufactured or where an industrial process is carried out. Works is used to refer to one or to more than one of these places.
The steel works could be seen for miles.
...a recycling works.
...the works canteen.
30. plural noun
Works are activities such as digging the ground or building on a large scale.
...six years of disruptive building works, road construction and urban development.
31. singular noun [the NOUN]
You can say the works after listing things such as someone's possessions or requirements, to emphasize that they possess or require everything you can think of in a particular category.
[informal, emphasis]Amazing place he's got there–squash courts, swimming pool, jacuzzi, the works.
32. See also working
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