out of work
Unemployed; also, having no work to do. For example, He lost his job a year ago and has been out of work ever since, or They don't give her enough assignments—she's always out of work. Shakespeare used this expression in Henry V (1:2): “All out of work and cold for action.”
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use out of work in a sentence
Out-of-work Americans received some startling news via their New York Times iPhone app last Sunday.
Investigations Reveal Long Trail of Abuses at Apple Suppliers | Matthew DeLuca | January 27, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThere are plenty of out-of-work teachers in the camp, so the school provides them a small salary to work.
Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther who was then an out-of-work journalist driving a cab, watched from across the street.
The Slain Policeman's Widow in the Mumia Abu-Jamal Case Speaks | Michael Smerconish | November 8, 2010 | THE DAILY BEASTSondra Wiener, forced to make pocket money like an out-of-work laborer, endures the pity of her neighbors.
Though neatly turned out, he looked a little like an out-of-work bookkeeper.
Pagan Passions | Gordon Randall Garrett
Once a week they receive their out-of-work pay; every alternate day they have to visit the Exchange to see what jobs are vacant.
Women's Wild Oats | C. Gasquoine HartleyTacoma offered no privileges for the destitute out-of-work man.
Broke | Edwin A. BrownIt would at least keep two hundred thousand out-of-work miners from actual starvation for a year.
The Secret of the League | Ernest BramahIn London alone, between four and five thousand out-of-work gas employs were drawing Government pay.
The Secret of the League | Ernest Bramah
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