work
/wɜːk/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms works working worked wrought workest workedst worketh werke worke wuhk wuk werk werq
- noun Labour, occupation, job. “My work involves a lot of travel.”
- noun The place where one is employed. “He hasn’t come home yet; he’s still at work.”
- noun (by extension) 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.”
- noun (dated) A factory; a works.
- noun 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.”
- noun Sustained effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result. “We know what we must do. Let's go to work.”
- noun Something on which effort is expended. “There's lots of work waiting for me at the office.”
- noun (euphemistic) Cosmetic surgery. “has had a lot of work done”
- verb (intransitive) To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers. “He's working in a bar.”
- verb 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.”
- verb Said of one's job title [with as]. “I work as a cleaner.”
- verb Said of a company or individual who employs [with for]. “She works for Microsoft.”
- verb General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients [with with]. “I work closely with my Canadian counterparts.”
- verb (transitive) To be employed or operate in a certain place, area, or speciality. “She works the night clubs.”
- verb (transitive) To be employed or operate in, through, or by means of. “She's working the phones.”
- verb (intransitive) To behave in a certain way when handled “This dough does not work easily.”
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
job occupation employment content creative work opus piece effort exertion pains wark piece of work study workplace oeuvre body of work do work act function operate go run work on process exercise work out make bring play wreak
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English work, werk, from Old English weorc, from Proto-West Germanic *werk, from Proto-Germanic *werką (“work”), from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom (“work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to make”).
Cognate with Scots wark (“work”), North Frisian werk (“work”), Saterland Frisian Wierk (“work”), West Frisian wurk (“work”), Dutch werk (“work”), German Werk (“work”), German Low German Wark (“work”), Luxembourgish Wierk (“work”), Danish værk (“work”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish verk (“work”); also Breton ober (“to do, make”), Cornish gul, gwul (“to do, make”), Irish and Scottish Gaelic fearg (“anger”), Manx ferg (“anger”), Pictish ᚒᚏᚏᚐᚉᚈ (urract, “he made”), Welsh gwneud, neud (“to do, make”), Greek έργο (érgo, “work”), Albanian argëtim (“entertainment; fun, pleasure”), argëtoj (“to amuse, entertain”), Lithuanian váržas (“fish snaring net”), Macedonian врша (vrša, “fish-trap”), Polish wiersza (“fish-trap”), Russian and Ukrainian ве́рша (vérša, “fish-trap”), Serbo-Croatian вр̑ша, vȓša (“fish-trap”), Slovak and Slovene vrša (“fish-trap”), Aghwan 𐔱𐕒𐕙𐔵 (borz, “labour, work”), Armenian գործ (gorc, “work”), Northern Kurdish werz (“bed, field, patch; season”), Avestan 𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰 (vər^əz, “to do, work”), Persian ورز (varz, “art, craft, trade”), ورزه (varze, “art, profession, trade”), ورزیدن (varzidan, “to exercise; to train; to work”), Tocharian B warkṣäl (“energy, power, strength”). English cognates include bulwark, boulevard, energy, erg, georgic, liturgy, metallurgy, organ, surgeon, wright. Doublet of erg and ergon.
From Middle English werken and worchen, from Old English wyrċan and wircan (Mercian), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥ǵyéti (“to be working, to be at work”), from the root *werǵ-. Cognate with Old Frisian werka, wirka, Old Saxon wirkian, Low German warken, Dutch werken, Old High German wurken (German wirken, werken and werkeln), Old Norse yrkja and orka, (Swedish yrka and orka), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (waurkjan).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Exertion of strength or faculties; physical or intellectual effort directed to an end; industrial activity; toil; employment; sometimes, specifically, physically labor.
- noun 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.
- verb 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.
- verb Hence, in a general sense, to operate; to act; to perform; as, a machine works well.
Etymology [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.]
Etymology [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. waúrkjan. *145. See Work, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “work”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details