work

English

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Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old English weorc, worc, from Proto-Germanic *werką, from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom; akin to Old Frisian werk, wirk, Old Saxon, Dutch werk, German Werk, Old High German werc, werah, Icelandic & Swedish verk, Danish værk, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌹 (gawaúrki), Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”), from ϝέργον, Avestan verez (to work), Armenian գործ (gorç, “work”), Albanian argëtoj (“entertain, reward, please”). Cognates include: bulwark, energy, erg, georgic, liturgy, metallurgy, organ, surgeon, wright.

Noun

work (countable and uncountable; plural works)

  1. (uncountable) Labour, employment, occupation, job.
    My work involves a lot of travel.
  2. (uncountable) The place where one is employed.
    He hasn’t come home yet, he’s still at work.
  3. (uncountable) Effort expended on a particular task.
    Holding a brick over your head is hard work.
    It takes a lot of work to write a dictionary.
  4. (uncountable, often in combination) The result of a particular manner of production.
    There's a lot of guesswork involved.
    Let's take the guess work out of it.
  5. (uncountable, often in combination) Something produced using the specified material or tool.
    We've got some paperwork to do before we can get started.
    The piece was decorated with intricate filigree work.
  6. (countable) A literary, artistic, or intellectual production.
    It is a work of art.
  7. (uncountable, physics) A measure of energy expended in moving an object; most commonly, force times distance. No work is done if the object does not move.
    Work is done against friction to drag a bag along the ground.
  8. (uncountable, thermodynamics) A nonthermal First Law energy in transit between one form or repository and another. Also, a means of accomplishing such transit.[1].
  9. (countable) A fortification.
    William the Conqueror fortified many castles, throwing up new ramparts, bastions and all manner of works.
  10. (uncountable, slang, professional wrestling) The staging of events to appear as real.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from work (noun)
Translations
labour, employment, occupation, job
effort expended on a particular task
measure of energy expended in moving an object
nonthermal First Law energy in transit between one form or repository and another
literary, artistic, or intellectual production
place where one is employed
fortification
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

References

  1. ^ See http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0004055

Etymology 2

From Old English wyrċan from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”). Cognate with Old Frisian werka, wirka, Old Saxon wirkian, Low German warken, Dutch werken, Old High German wurken (German wirken, werken and werkeln), Old Norse yrkja and orka, (Swedish yrka and orka), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽.

Verb

work (third-person singular simple present works, present participle working, simple past and past participle worked or rarely wrought)

  1. (intransitive) To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers.
    He’s working in a bar.
    1. Followed by in (or at, etc.) Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business).
      I work in a national park.
      She works in the human resources department.
      He mostly works in logging, but sometimes works in carpentry.
    2. Followed by as. Said of one's job title
      I work as a cleaner.
    3. Followed by for. Said of a company or individual who employs.
      She works for Microsoft.
      He works for the president.
    4. Followed by with. General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients.
      I work closely with my Canadian counterparts.
      I work with computers.
      I work with the homeless people from the suburbs.
  2. (transitive) To effect by gradual degrees.
    He worked his way through the crowd.
    The dye worked its way through.
    Using some tweezers, he worked the bee sting out of his hand.
  3. (transitive) To embroider with thread.
  4. (transitive) To set into action.
    He worked the levers.
  5. (transitive, Zymurgy) To cause to ferment.
  6. (transitive) To exhaust, by working.
    the mine was worked until the last scrap of ore had been extracted.
  7. (transitive) To shape, form, or improve a material.
    He used pliers to work the wire into shape.
  8. (transitive) To operate in a certain place, area, or speciality.
    She works the night clubs.
    The salesman works the Midwest.
    This artist works mostly in acrylics.
  9. (transitive) To operate in or through; as, to work the phones.
  10. (transitive) To provoke or excite; to influence.
    The rock musician worked the crowd of young girls into a frenzy.
  11. (transitive) To use or manipulate to one’s advantage.
    She knows how to work the system.
  12. (transitive) To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence.
    I cannot work a miracle.
  13. (transitive) To cause to work.
    He is working his servants hard.
  14. (intransitive) To function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for.
    He pointed at the car and asked, "Does it work"?
    He looked at the bottle of pain pills, wondering if they would work.
    My plan didn’t work.
  15. (intransitive, figuratively) To influence.
    They worked on her to join the group.
  16. (intransitive) To effect by gradual degrees; as, to work into the earth.
  17. (intransitive) To move in an agitated manner.
    His fingers worked with tension.
  18. (intransitive) To behave in a certain way when handled;
    This dough does not work easily.
    The soft metal works well.
  19. (transitive, with two objects, poetic) To cause (someone) to feel (something).
    • 1909, Robert W. Service, “The Ballad of One-Eyed Mike”, in Ballads of a Cheechako:
      So sad it seemed, and its cheek-bones gleamed, and its fingers flicked the shore; / And it lapped and lay in a weary way, and its hands met to implore; / That I gently said: “Poor, restless dead, I would never work you woe; / Though the wrong you rue you can ne’er undo, I forgave you long ago.”
  20. (obsolete, intransitive) To hurt; to ache.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XXI:
      ‘I wolde hit were so,’ seyde the Kynge, ‘but I may nat stonde, my hede worchys so—’
Derived terms
phrasal verbs derived from work (verb)
other terms derived from the work (verb)
Translations
to do a specific task
effect by gradual degrees (transitive)
embroider with thread
set into action
cause to ferment
exhaust
shape, form, or improve a material
operate in a certain place, area, or specialty.
to operate in or through
provoke or excite
use or manipulate
cause to happen
cause to work
function correctly
influence
effect by gradual degrees (intransitive)
move in an agitated manner
behave in a certain way when handled.
cause to feel
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 16:21