work

[[t]wɜrk[/t]]

n. adj. v. worked (Archaic except in some senses, esp.35,37,40)wrought; working.

1) exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil

2) something on which exertion or labor is expended; a task or undertaking

3) productive or operative activity, esp. employment to earn one's living:

to look for work[/ex]

4) one's place of employment:

Don't phone me at work[/ex]

5) materials, things, etc., on which one is working or is to work

6) the result of exertion, labor, or activity; a deed, performance, or product

7) civ an engineering structure, as a building or bridge

8) civ a building, wall, trench, or the like, constructed or made as a means of fortification

9) mac works

a) mac (used with a sing. or pl. v.) a place or establishment for manufacturing (often used in combination):

ironworks[/ex]

b) mac the working parts of a machine:

the works of a watch[/ex]

c) Theol. righteous deeds

10) phs the transfer of energy, as measured by the scalar product of a force and the distance through which it acts

11) inf the works

a) everything; all related items or matters:

a hamburger with the works[/ex]

b) harsh or cruel treatment

12) of, for, or concerning work:

work clothes[/ex]

13) to do work; labor

14) to be employed, esp. as a means of earning one's livelihood

15) to be in operation; be functional, as a machine or system:

The elevators are working again[/ex]

16) to act or operate effectively:

This plan works[/ex]

17) to attain a specified condition, as by repeated movement:

The nails worked loose[/ex]

18) to have an effect or influence, as on a person or on a person's mind or feelings

19) to move in agitation, as the features under strong emotion

20) to make way with effort or under stress:

The ship works to windward[/ex]

21) chem. to ferment, as a liquid

22) naut. Naut. to give slightly at the joints, as a vessel under strain at sea

23) to use, manage, or operate (an apparatus, contrivance, etc.)

24) to bring about (any result) by or as if by work or effort:

to work a change[/ex]

25) to manipulate or treat by labor:

to work butter[/ex]

26) to put into effective operation

27) to make (a mine, farm, etc.) productive

28) to carry on operations or activity in (a district or region):

That salesman works the Northeast[/ex]

29) to make, fashion, or execute by work

30) to achieve or win by work or effort

31) to keep at work:

to work one's employees hard[/ex]

32) to solve (a puzzle or arithmetic problem)

33) to cause a strong emotion in:

to work a crowd into a frenzy[/ex]

34) to influence or persuade, esp. insidiously:

to work other people to one's will[/ex]

35) inf to use to one's advantage:

He worked his charm in landing a new job[/ex]

36) clo to make or decorate by needlework or embroidery

37) to cause fermentation in

38) phv work in or into

a) to blend in

b) to include after some effort:

Try to work me into your schedule[/ex]

39) phv work off

a) to lose or dispose of, as by exercise or labor:

to work off a heavy meal with a long walk[/ex]

b) to pay or fulfill by working:

to work off a debt[/ex]

40) phv work on or upon, to exercise influence on; persuade

41) phv work out

a) to bring about by work, effort, or action

b) to solve, as a problem

c) to arrive at by or as if by calculation

d) to pay or fulfill by working; work off

e) to exhaust, as a mine

f) to issue in a result

g) to evolve; elaborate

h) (of a total, specified figure, etc.) to amount; add up:

The total works out to 176[/ex]

i) to prove effective or successful:

Their marriage just didn't work out[/ex]

j) to practice, exercise, or train, esp. in an athletic sport:

boxers working out at a gym[/ex]

42) work over

a) phv to study or examine thoroughly

b) inf to beat unsparingly

43) cvb phv work through, to deal with successfully; come to terms with

44) phv work up

a) to move or stir the feelings of; excite

b) to prepare; elaborate:

Work up a proposal[/ex]

c) to cause to develop by exertion:

to work up an appetite[/ex]

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- at work in the works out of work

Etymology: bef. 900; (n.) ME worke, OE worc, r. ME werk(e), OE weorc, c. OFris, OS werk, OHG werah, werc, ON verk, Gk érgon syn: work, drudgery, labor, toil refer to exertion of body or mind in performing or accomplishing something. work is a general word that refers to exertion that is either easy or hard: pleasurable work; backbreaking work. drudgery suggests continuous, dreary, and dispiriting work, esp. of a menial or servile kind: Cleaning these blinds is sheer drudgery. labor denotes hard manual work, esp. for wages: Repairing the bridge will require months of labor. toil suggests wearying or exhausting labor: The farmer's health was failing from constant toil.