work
(noun) activity directed toward making or doing something; “she checked several points needing further work”
employment, work
(noun) the occupation for which you are paid; “he is looking for employment”; “a lot of people are out of work”
oeuvre, work, body of work
(noun) the total output of a writer or artist (or a substantial part of it); “he studied the entire Wagnerian oeuvre”; “Picasso’s work can be divided into periods”
work, piece of work
(noun) a product produced or accomplished through the effort or activity or agency of a person or thing; “it is not regarded as one of his more memorable works”; “the symphony was hailed as an ingenious work”; “he was indebted to the pioneering work of John Dewey”; “the work of an active imagination”; “erosion is the work of wind or water over time”
workplace, work
(noun) a place where work is done; “he arrived at work early today”
study, work
(noun) applying the mind to learning and understanding a subject (especially by reading); “mastering a second language requires a lot of work”; “no schools offer graduate study in interior design”
work
(noun) (physics) a manifestation of energy; the transfer of energy from one physical system to another expressed as the product of a force and the distance through which it moves a body in the direction of that force; “work equals force times distance”
exercise, work, work out
(verb) give a workout to; “Some parents exercise their infants”; “My personal trainer works me hard”; “work one’s muscles”; “this puzzle will exercise your mind”
sour, turn, ferment, work
(verb) go sour or spoil; “The milk has soured”; “The wine worked”; “The cream has turned--we have to throw it out”
ferment, work
(verb) cause to undergo fermentation; “We ferment the grapes for a very long time to achieve high alcohol content”; “The vintner worked the wine in big oak vats”
solve, work out, figure out, puzzle out, lick, work
(verb) find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of; “did you solve the problem?”; “Work out your problems with the boss”; “this unpleasant situation isn’t going to work itself out”; “did you get it?”; “Did you get my meaning?”; “He could not work the math problem”
exploit, work
(verb) use or manipulate to one’s advantage; “He exploit the new taxation system”; “She knows how to work the system”; “he works his parents for sympathy”
knead, work
(verb) make uniform; “knead dough”; “work the clay until it is soft”
function, work, operate, go, run
(verb) perform as expected when applied; “The washing machine won’t go unless it’s plugged in”; “Does this old car still run well?”; “This old radio doesn’t work anymore”
bring, work, play, wreak, make for
(verb) cause to happen or to occur as a consequence; “I cannot work a miracle”; “wreak havoc”; “bring comments”; “play a joke”; “The rain brought relief to the drought-stricken area”
shape, form, work, mold, mould, forge
(verb) make something, usually for a specific function; “She molded the rice balls carefully”; “Form cylinders from the dough”; “shape a figure”; “Work the metal into a sword”
work, work on, process
(verb) shape, form, or improve a material; “work stone into tools”; “process iron”; “work the metal”
cultivate, crop, work
(verb) prepare for crops; “Work the soil”; “cultivate the land”
work
(verb) move in an agitated manner; “His fingers worked with tension”
work
(verb) proceed towards a goal or along a path or through an activity; “work your way through every problem or task”; “She was working on her second martini when the guests arrived”; “Start from the bottom and work towards the top”
work, put to work
(verb) cause to work; “he is working his servants hard”
work, do work
(verb) be employed; “Is your husband working again?”; “My wife never worked”; “Do you want to work after the age of 60?”; “She never did any work because she inherited a lot of money”; “She works as a waitress to put herself through college”
work
(verb) exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity; “I will work hard to improve my grades”; “she worked hard for better living conditions for the poor”
work, act
(verb) have an effect or outcome; often the one desired or expected; “The voting process doesn’t work as well as people thought”; “How does your idea work in practice?”; “This method doesn’t work”; “The breaks of my new car act quickly”; “The medicine works only if you take it with a lot of water”
influence, act upon, work
(verb) have and exert influence or effect; “The artist’s work influenced the young painter”; “She worked on her friends to support the political candidate”
work
(verb) operate in a certain place, area, or specialty; “She works the night clubs”; “The salesman works the Midwest”; “This artist works mostly in acrylics”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
work (countable and uncountable, plural works)
(heading, uncountable) Employment.
Labour, occupation, job.
The place where one is employed.
One's employer.
(heading, uncountable) Effort.
Effort expended on a particular task.
Sustained human effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result.
Something on which effort is expended.
(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.
(physics, more generally) A measure of energy that is usefully extracted from a process.
Sustained effort to achieve a goal or result, especially overcoming obstacles.
(heading) Product; the result of effort.
(uncountable, often, in combination) The result of a particular manner of production.
(uncountable, often, in combination) Something produced using the specified material or tool.
(countable) A literary, artistic, or intellectual production.
(countable) A fortification.
(uncountable, slang, professional wrestling) The staging of events to appear as real.
(mining) Ore before it is dressed.
(slang, plural only) The equipment needed to inject a drug (syringes, needles, swabs etc.)
• (employment): See also occupation
• (productive activity): See also work
work (third-person singular simple present works, present participle working, simple past and past participle (rare/archaic) wrought or worked)
(intransitive) To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers.
Followed by in (or at, etc.) Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business).
Followed by as. Said of one's job title
Followed by for. Said of a company or individual who employs.
Followed by with. General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients.
(transitive) To effect by gradual degrees.
(transitive) To embroider with thread.
(transitive) To set into action.
(transitive) To cause to ferment.
(intransitive) To ferment.
(transitive) To exhaust, by working.
(transitive) To shape, form, or improve a material.
(transitive) To operate in a certain place, area, or speciality.
(transitive) To operate in or through; as, to work the phones.
(transitive) To provoke or excite; to influence.
(transitive) To use or manipulate to one’s advantage.
(transitive) To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence.
(transitive) To cause to work.
(intransitive) To function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for.
(intransitive, figuratively) To influence.
(intransitive) To effect by gradual degrees; as, to work into the earth.
(intransitive) To move in an agitated manner.
(intransitive) To behave in a certain way when handled
(transitive, with two objects, poetic) To cause (someone) to feel (something); to do unto somebody (something, whether good or bad).
(obsolete, intransitive) To hurt; to ache.
Work (plural Works)
A surname.
• According to the 2010 United States Census, Work is the 8599th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 3828 individuals. Work is most common among White (91.01%) individuals.
Source: Wiktionary
Work, n. Etym: [OE. work, werk, weork, AS. weorc, worc; akin to OFries. werk, wirk, OS., D., & G. werk, OHG. werc, werah, Icel. & Sw. verk, Dan. værk, Goth. gawaúrki, Gr. verez to work. Bulwark, Energy, Erg, Georgic, Liturgy, Metallurgy, Organ, Surgeon, Wright.]
1. Exertion of strength or faculties; physical or intellectual effort directed to an end; industrial activity; toil; employment; sometimes, specifically, physically labor. Man hath his daily work of body or mind Appointed. Milton.
2. The matter on which one is at work; that upon which one spends labor; material for working upon; subject of exertion; the thing occupying one; business; duty; as, to take up one's work; to drop one's work. Come on, Nerissa; I have work in hand That you yet know not of. Shak. In every work that he began . . . he did it with all his heart, and prospered. 2 Chron. xxxi. 21.
3. That which is produced as the result of labor; anything accomplished by exertion or toil; product; performance; fabric; manufacture; in a more general sense, act, deed, service, effect, result, achievement, feat. To leave no rubs or blotches in the work. Shak. The work some praise, And some the architect. Milton. Fancy . . . Wild work produces oft, and most in dreams. Milton. The composition or dissolution of mixed bodies . . . is the chief work of elements. Sir K. Digby.
4. Specifically: (a) That which is produced by mental labor; a composition; a book; as, a work, or the works, of Addison. (b) Flowers, figures, or the like, wrought with the needle; embroidery. I am glad I have found this napkin; . . . I'll have the work ta'en out, And give 't Iago. Shak. (c) pl.
Definition: Structures in civil, military, or naval engineering, as docks, bridges, embankments, trenches, fortifications, and the like; also, the structures and grounds of a manufacturing establishment; as, iron works; locomotive works; gas works. (d) pl.
Definition: The moving parts of a mechanism; as, the works of a watch.
5. Manner of working; management; treatment; as, unskillful work spoiled the effect. Bp. Stillingfleet.
6. (Mech.)
Definition: The causing of motion against a resisting force. The amount of work is proportioned to, and is measured by, the product of the force into the amount of motion along the direction of the force. See Conservation of energy, under Conservation, Unit of work, under Unit, also Foot pound, Horse power, Poundal, and Erg. Energy is the capacity of doing work . . . Work is the transference of energy from one system to another. Clerk Maxwell.
7. (Mining)
Definition: Ore before it is dressed. Raymond.
8. pl. (Script.)
Definition: Performance of moral duties; righteous conduct. He shall reward every man according to his works. Matt. xvi. 27. Faith, if it hath not works, is dead. James ii. 17. Muscular work (Physiol.), the work done by a muscle through the power of contraction.
– To go to work, to begin laboring; to commence operations; to contrive; to manage. "I 'll go another way to work with him." Shak.
– To set on work, to cause to begin laboring; to set to work. [Obs.] Hooker.
– To set to work, to employ; to cause to engage in any business or labor.
Work, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Worked, or Wrought (; p. pr. & vb. n. Working.] Etym: [AS. wyrcean (imp. worthe, wrohte, p. p. geworht, gewroht); akin to OFries. werka, wirka, OS. wirkian, D. werken, G. wirken, Icel. verka, yrkja, orka, Goth. waĂşrkjan. *145. See Work, n.]
1. To exert one's self for a purpose; to put forth effort for the attainment of an object; to labor; to be engaged in the performance of a task, a duty, or the like. O thou good Kent, how shall I live and work, To match thy goodness Shak. Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you. Ex. v. 18. Whether we work or play, or sleep or wake, Our life doth pass. Sir J. Davies.
2. Hence, in a general sense, to operate; to act; to perform; as, a machine works well. We bend to that the working of the heart. Shak.
3. Hence, figuratively, to be effective; to have effect or influence; to conduce. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Rom. viii. 28. This so wrought upon the child, that afterwards he desired to be taught. Locke. She marveled how she could ever have been wrought upon to marry him. Hawthorne.
4. To carry on business; to be engaged or employed customarily; to perform the part of a laborer; to labor; to toil. They that work in fine flax . . . shall be confounded. Isa. xix. 9.
5. To be in a state of severe exertion, or as if in such a state; to be tossed or agitated; to move heavily; to strain; to labor; as, a ship works in a heavy sea. Confused with working sands and rolling waves. Addison.
6. To make one's way slowly and with difficulty; to move or penetrate laboriously; to proceed with effort; -- with a following preposition, as down, out, into, up, through, and the like; as, scheme works out by degrees; to work into the earth. Till body up to spirit work, in bounds Proportioned to each kind. Milton.
7. To ferment, as a liquid. The working of beer when the barm is put in. Bacon.
8. To act or operate on the stomach and bowels, as a cathartic. Purges . . . work best, that is, cause the blood so to do, . . . in warm weather or in a warm room. Grew.
To work at, to be engaged in or upon; to be employed in.
– To work to windward (Naut.), to sail or ply against the wind; to tack to windward. Mar. Dict.
Work, v. t.
1. To labor or operate upon; to give exertion and effort to; to prepare for use, or to utilize, by labor. He could have told them of two or three gold mines, and a silver mine, and given the reason why they forbare to work them at that time. Sir W. Raleigh.
2. To produce or form by labor; to bring forth by exertion or toil; to accomplish; to originate; to effect; as, to work wood or iron into a form desired, or into a utensil; to work cotton or wool into cloth. Each herb he knew, that works or good or ill. Harte.
3. To produce by slow degrees, or as if laboriously; to bring gradually into any state by action or motion. "Sidelong he works his way." Milton. So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains Of rushing torrents and descending rains, Works itself clear, and as it runs, refines, Till by degrees the floating mirror shines. Addison.
4. To influence by acting upon; to prevail upon; to manage; to lead. "Work your royal father to his ruin." Philips.
5. To form with a needle and thread or yarn; especially, to embroider; as, to work muslin.
6. To set in motion or action; to direct the action of; to keep at work; to govern; to manage; as, to work a machine. Knowledge in building and working ships. Arbuthnot. Now, Marcus, thy virtue's the proof; Put forth thy utmost strength, work every nerve. Addison. The mariners all 'gan work the ropes, Where they were wont to do. Coleridge.
7. To cause to ferment, as liquor. To work a passage (Naut.), to pay for a passage by doing work.
– To work double tides (Naut.), to perform the labor of three days in two; -- a phrase which alludes to a practice of working by the night tide as well as by the day.
– To work in, to insert, introduce, mingle, or interweave by labor or skill.
– To work into, to force, urge, or insinuate into; as, to work one's self into favor or confidence.
– To work off, to remove gradually, as by labor, or a gradual process; as, beer works off impurities in fermenting.
– To work out. (a) To effect by labor and exertion. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Phil. ii. 12. (b) To erase; to efface. [R.] Tears of joy for your returning spilt, Work out and expiate our former guilt. Dryden. (c) To solve, as a problem. (d) To exhaust, as a mine, by working.
– To work up. (a) To raise; to excite; to stir up; as, to work up the passions to rage. The sun, that rolls his chariot o'er their heads, Works up more fire and color in their cheeks. Addison. (b) To expend in any work, as materials; as, they have worked up all the stock. (c) (Naut.) To make over or into something else, as yarns drawn from old rigging, made into spun yarn, foxes, sennit, and the like; also, to keep constantly at work upon needless matters, as a crew in order to punish them. R. H. Dana, Jr.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
23 December 2024
(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit
Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.
