at work

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AUS)

  (file)

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic)

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

at work

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see at,‎ work. At one's workplace.

   He's not home at the moment: he's at work.

   They've got a new photocopier at work.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Remember to call Marsha at work.

     Audio (US)

     (file)

2. Working, in the process of doing work.

   Don't interrupt me while I'm at work on my housing project.

   • 2021 September 8, Phil McNulty, “Poland 1-1 England”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     This was billed as the battle between Kane and his Poland opposite number Lewandowski but this was a game where it was possible to simply enjoy two masters of their craft at work.

3. (figuratively) At play, in action.

Translations

at one's workplace

• Finnish: töissä
• French: à pied d’œuvre (fr), au travail (fr)
• German: bei der Arbeit
• Italian: al lavoro, sul lavoro
• Old English: on weorce
• Persian: سر کار (sar-e kâr)
• Russian: на рабо́те (na rabóte)
• Spanish: en el trabajo

in the process of doing work

• Danish: i arbejde
• Dutch: aan het werk, aan de slag
• Finnish: use tehdä in verb phrase (usually 3rd infinitive in inessive)
• French: au travail (fr)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: i arbeid

• Old English: on weorce
• Russian: за рабо́той (za rabótoj)
• Swedish: i arbete

at play, in action

• Finnish: toiminnassa (fi)
• French: à l’œuvre
• Russian: в де́йствии (v déjstvii)

See also

• on the job
• workplace

Further reading

• “at work”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “at work”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “at work” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “at work” (US) / “at work” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.

Anagrams

• work at