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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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works

  1. plural of work in its countable senses

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Noun

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works (plural works)

  1. A factory or factories, or a similar collection(s) of industrial facilities.
    The steel works almost fills the valley.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Noun

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works pl (plural only)

  1. A mechanism or machinery; the means by which something happens.
    Hyponym: millworks
    Aged and degraded oil and grease can really gum up the works.
  2. (with "the") Everything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:everything
    I'll have a Behemoth Burger with the works.
    • 1974, Brian Eno (lyrics and music), “Dead Finks Don't Talk”, in Here Come the Warm Jets:
      My my they wanted the works, can you this and that / I never got a letter back
    • 1985, Ralph Farquhar, Krush Groove, spoken by Terri Beiker (Charles Stettler):
      You like this? Limousine, champagne, the works. I'd get you on MTV, a national tour. Sponsorship. You name it.
  3. (with "the") Drastic treatment; abuse; the axe (dismissal).
  4. (slang) A heroin or other drug addict's equipment: syringes, needles, etc.
    • 2009, Gillian G. Gaar, The Rough Guide to Nirvana[1], Rough Guides UK, →ISBN:
      While in San Francisco, where the AIDS crisis was particularly devastating, they saw numerous public awareness signs reading “Bleach Your Works” posted around the city, urging IV drug users to clean their needles with bleach to help staunch the spread of the disease.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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works

  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of work

See also

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