| work (wɜːk) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | physical or mental effort directed towards doing or making something |
| 2. | paid employment at a job or a trade, occupation, or profession |
| 3. | a duty, task, or undertaking |
| 4. | something done, made, etc, as a result of effort or exertion: a work of art |
| 5. | materials or tasks on which to expend effort or exertion |
| 6. | another word for workmanship |
| 7. | the place, office, etc, where a person is employed |
| 8. | any piece of material that is undergoing a manufacturing operation or process; workpiece |
| 9. | a. decoration or ornamentation, esp of a specified kind |
| b. (in combination): wirework; woolwork | |
| 10. | an engineering structure such as a bridge, building, etc |
| 11. | physics W, Abbreviation: w the transfer of energy expressed as the product of a force and the distance through which its point of application moves in the direction of the force |
| 12. | a structure, wall, etc, built or used as part of a fortification system |
| 13. | at work |
| a. at one's job or place of employment | |
| b. in action; operating | |
| 14. | informal make short work of to handle or dispose of very quickly |
| 15. | (modifier) of, relating to, or used for work: work clothes; a work permit |
| —vb (often foll by up) | |
| 16. | (intr) to exert effort in order to do, make, or perform something |
| 17. | (intr) to be employed |
| 18. | (tr) to carry on operations, activity, etc, in (a place or area): that salesman works the southern region |
| 19. | (tr) to cause to labour or toil: he works his men hard |
| 20. | to operate or cause to operate, esp properly or effectively: to work a lathe; that clock doesn't work |
| 21. | (tr) to till or cultivate (land) |
| 22. | to handle or manipulate or be handled or manipulated: to work dough |
| 23. | to shape, form, or process or be shaped, formed, or processed: to work copper |
| 24. | to reach or cause to reach a specific condition, esp gradually: the rope worked loose |
| 25. | chiefly (US), (Canadian) (tr) to solve (a mathematical problem) |
| 26. | (intr) to move in agitation: his face worked with anger |
| 27. | to provoke or arouse: to work someone into a frenzy |
| 28. | (tr) to effect or accomplish: to work one's revenge |
| 29. | to make (one's way) with effort: he worked his way through the crowd |
| 30. | (tr) to make or decorate by hand in embroidery, tapestry, etc: she was working a sampler |
| 31. | (intr) (of a mechanism) to move in a loose or otherwise imperfect fashion |
| 32. | (intr) (of liquids) to ferment, as in brewing |
| 33. | informal (tr) to manipulate or exploit to one's own advantage |
| 34. | slang (tr) to cheat or swindle |
| [Old English weorc (n), wircan, wyrcan (vb); related to Old High German wurchen, German wirken, Old Norse yrkja, Gothic waurkjan] | |
| 'workless | |
| —adj | |
| 'worklessness | |
| —n | |
00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |