work

noun works · werke · worke · wuhk · wuk · werk

1. countable, uncountable Labour, occupation, job. My work involves a lot of travel.

   Similar: work, job, occupation, employment

2. countable, uncountable The place where one is employed. He hasn’t come home yet; he’s still at work.
3. broadly, countable, uncountable One's employer. I want to go to the reunion concert, but I'm not sure if my work will give me the time off.
4. countable, dated, uncountable A factory; a works. In trials of a Martin furnace in a steel work at Remscheiden, Germany, a lining of zirconia was found in good condition after[…]
5. countable, 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.
6. countable, uncountable Sustained effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result. We know what we must do. Let's go to work.
7. countable, uncountable Something on which effort is expended. There's lots of work waiting for me at the office.
8. countable, euphemistic, uncountable Cosmetic surgery. has had a lot of work done
9. countable, slang, uncountable Prison gang violence. putting in work
10. countable, uncountable 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.
11. broadly, countable, uncountable A measure of energy that is usefully extracted from a process: applied productively. Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning "vortex", and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.
12. in compounds, often, uncountable The result of a particular manner of production. There's a lot of guesswork involved.
13. in compounds, often, uncountable 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.
14. countable A literary, artistic, or intellectual production; a creative work. It is a work of art.

    Similar: content, creative work, opus, piece

15. countable A fortification. William the Conqueror fortified many castles, throwing up new ramparts, bastions and all manner of works.
16. slang, uncountable The staging of events to appear as real.
17. countable, uncountable Ore before it is dressed.
18. countable, plural, plural only, slang, uncountable The equipment needed to inject a drug (syringes, needles, swabs etc.) Tell me you're using clean works at least.
19. countable, uncountable The confident attitude of a drag queen. All told, werk is about creativity, virtuosity, and a certain kind of mastery.

Similar: effort, exertion, pains, wark, work · Opposite: hobby

verb works · working · worked · wrought

1. intransitive To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers. He's working in a bar.
2. intransitive Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business) [with in or at]. I work in a national park.
3. intransitive Said of one's job title [with as]. This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.
4. intransitive Said of a company or individual who employs [with for]. She works for Microsoft.
5. intransitive General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients [with with]. I work closely with my Canadian counterparts.
6. intransitive, transitive To be employed or operate in a certain place, area, or speciality. She works the night clubs.
7. intransitive, transitive To be employed or operate in, through, or by means of. She's working the phones.
8. intransitive To behave in a certain way when handled This dough does not work easily.
9. intransitive To function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for. He pointed at the car and asked, "Does it work"?
10. intransitive To be appealing; to be approved of. The chef's steak frites just didn't work for me.
11. ditransitive, intransitive, poetic To cause (someone) to feel (something); to do unto somebody (something, whether good or bad). And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, “I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!”
12. intransitive, obsolete To hurt; to ache. ‘I wolde hit were so,’ seyde the Kynge, ‘but I may nat stonde, my hede worchys so—’
13. intransitive, slang, transitive To pull off; to wear, perform, etc. successfully or to advantage. I would have never thought those pieces would go together, but she is working it like nobody's business.
14. intransitive To perform with a confident attitude, particularly as a drag queen. Plus, all that gym work means you've got muscles for days. You gotta werk it, babe." She puts a swish and swing into her next few steps before she bursts out laughing, and I have to join in.
15. transitive To set into action. He worked the levers.
16. transitive To exhaust, by working. The mine was worked until the last scrap of ore had been extracted.
17. transitive To shape, form, or improve a material. He used pliers to work the wire into shape.
18. transitive To provoke or excite; to influence. The rock musician worked the crowd of young girls into a frenzy.
19. transitive To use or manipulate to one’s advantage. She knows how to work the system.
20. transitive To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence. I cannot work a miracle.
21. transitive To force or compel to work. He is working his servants hard.
22. figuratively, intransitive, transitive To influence. They worked on her to join the group.
23. transitive To use intensely and successfully. He worked that basketball like a boss!
24. transitive To be employed at (a job or role). That summer I worked a job at the beach.
25. intransitive To move or progress slowly or with difficulty; to proceed with effort. to work into the earth
26. transitive To move or progress slowly [with one's way]. He worked his way through the crowd.
27. transitive To cause to move slowly or with difficulty. Using some tweezers, she worked the bee sting out of her hand.
28. intransitive To move in an agitated manner. His fingers worked with tension.
29. intransitive To ferment.
30. transitive To cause to ferment. For Inanimate Things, you may trie the Force of Imagination, vpon Staying the Working of Beere, when the Barme is put in; Or vpon the Comming of Butter, or Cheeſe, after the Cherming, or the Rennet bee put in.
31. transitive To embroider with thread.

proper noun Works

1. A surname.