Meaning of work In English

• 0 an activity, such as a job, that a person uses physical or mental effort to do, usually for money:

  • I've got so much work to do.

  • Carrying heavy loads around all day is hard work.

  • What time do you start/finish work?

  • Aileen does most of the work around the house.

  • What sort of work are you experienced in?

  • She tends to wear quite dressy clothes for work.

  • Roger's work involves a lot of travelling.

  • I'll have to take this work home with me and finish it there.

  • All the furniture is the work of residents here.

• 1 a place where a person goes specially to do their job:

  • Do you have far to travel to work each day?

  • Thousands of people are seriously injured at work every year.

  • When does she leave for work?

• 2 something created as a result of effort, especially a painting, book, or piece of music:

  • The museum has many works by Picasso as well as other modern painters.

  • the poetic works of Tagore

• 3 surgery (= a medical operation) that is done to improve someone's appearance:

  • She denies having had any cosmetic surgery, but I think she's definitely had some work done.

• 4 everything that you might want or expect to find in a particular situation:

  • The bridegroom was wearing a morning suit, gloves, top hat - the works.

  • mainly US And can I have two large pizzas with the works (= with all available types of food on top).

• 5 an industrial building, especially one where a lot of people are employed:

  • a steel/iron works

• 6 the parts of a machine, especially those that move:

  • If you take the back off this clock, you can see its/the works.

• 7 force multiplied by distance moved

• 8 to be effective or successful:

  • Her idea for reorganizing the department will never work in practice.

  • The tablets will start to work in a few minutes.

  • Some people think I'm weird doing meditation, but it works for me and that's all that matters.

  • Arguably, the monarchy worked well for many centuries.

• 9 to do a job, especially the job you do to earn money:

  • Where do you work?

  • He works at the hospital.

  • She worked as a cleaner at the hospital.

  • Mike works for a computer company.

  • I work in management training.

  • Have you any experience of working with children who have learning difficulties?

  • It's not unusual for a junior doctor to work a 70 or sometimes an 80-hour week.

  • The instructors worked us very hard on the survival course.

  • Many of the animals were worked to death.

• 10 If a machine or device works, it operates, especially correctly and without failure, and if you work it, you make it operate:

  • Our phone isn't working.

  • You need a team of about twelve people to work a furnace this size.

  • The pump works off/on (= uses) wind power.

  • The pump is worked by (= uses to operate) wind power.

  • I can't get the radio to work.

• 11 to succeed gradually in becoming something or cause a person or thing to become something, either by making an effort or by making many small movements:

  • He started as a technician and worked his way up through the company to become managing director.

  • Eventually she worked her way through (= read) the huge amount of technical papers.

  • Vibration tends to make nuts and screws work themselves loose.

  • The screws had worked loose over time.

• 12 to arrange for something to happen, especially by not using official methods and/or by being clever:

  • I don't know how she worked it, but she retired at 50.

  • Can we work things (out) so that there's always someone here to answer the phone during office hours?

• 13 to shape, change, or process a substance:

  • Working iron requires higher temperatures than bronze.

  • Gently work the butter into the flour until there are no lumps left.

• 14 used to refer to work of a particular type:

  • homework

  • paperwork

  • Girls and boys study woodwork and metalwork at this school.

  • stonework

  • ironwork

• 15 to do a job, esp. a job you do to earn money:

  • [ T ] She works long hours.

  • [ T ] Richie worked the night shift.

  • [ I ] Designers worked with the director.

  • [ I ] Mike works for a computer company.

  • [ I ] Medics were working on him for an hour.

  • [ I ] She worked on the project with Luce.

  • [ I ] Anna works well with others.

  • [ I ] I have to work on Saturday.

• 16 to perform as intended or desired, or to cause something to do what it was intended to do:

  • [ I ] The medicine ought to work right away.

  • [ I ] Our plan worked perfectly.

  • [ T ] I don’t know how to work this computer.

  • [ T ] He knows how to work the system (= get what he wants from it).

• 17 (of a condition or fact) to have an effect, esp. one that either helps or causes difficulties:

  • Time was working against us.

  • Jimmie has a lot working in his favor.

• 18 to shape something with your hands:

  • She carefully works the clay.

• 19 force used on an object multiplied by the distance it moves the object, measured in joules

• 20 the place where a person regularly goes to do his or her job:

  • I had to leave work early.

  • Does it take long to commute to work?

• 21 an object produced as a result of effort, esp. something intended to be art:

  • The museum is showing works by 20th-century artists.

• 22 the use of effort to do or make something that has value, and for which you are usually paid:

  • outdoor/office/manual work

  • Steve’s out of work again (= not employed).

• 23 to do a job, especially to earn money:

  • Do you work?

  • He works as a computer technician.

  • My brother works for a large American corporation.

  • How many people work at your company?

  • work full-time/part-time/from home

  • work an eight-hour day/hard/long hours

  • work in a bank/factory/an office

• 24 to spend time and effort doing something:

  • We were working on the presentation all night.

  • The two countries worked together on developing the technology.

  • Multinationals will have to work with governments to achieve the best balance between openness and security.

• 25 to try hard to achieve or improve something:

  • work at/on sth You need to work on your communication skills.

  • I'm not very confident on the phone, but I'm prepared to work at it.

  • be working towards sth Our firm is working towards being a paperless environment.

• 26 to be effective or successful:

  • The plan seemed to work well.

  • The current system isn't working, so we'll need to look at an alternative.

• 27 if a machine or piece of equipment works, it operates as expected:

  • My computer isn't working.

  • I can't get this printer to work.

• 28 to operate a machine or piece of equipment:

  • He doesn't even know how to work a photocopier.

• 29 to go around a particular area that you are responsible for, especially in a sales job:

  • His sales were better when he was working the London area.

• 30 to have a good or bad effect:

  • The terms they're offering don't work for us.

  • His poor command of English worked against him in the interview.

  • Her previous sales experience worked in her favour.

• 31 to change the shape of a material to make something else with it:

  • work leather/metal

• 32 to dig for coal, minerals, etc.:

  • These men have been working the mines all their lives.

• 33 to make someone use a lot of effort:

  • He works his trainees really hard.

• 34 to arrange for something to happen in a way that is useful for you:

  • I'm going to try and work it so I can spend the weekend in New York after the conference.

• 35 to prepare the soil to grow crops on it:

  • We're here to thank those who work the land to feed us.

• 36 to know how to deal with a system or organization to get the result you want:

  • People who know how to work the system can significantly reduce their tax bill.

• 37 to deal with a situation successfully, especially when there is a problem:

  • I'll try to work things out with our suppliers.

• 38 to do a series of jobs at different levels in an organization until you reach a position at the top of the organization:

  • She joined the company as a sales rep but worked her way up to managing director.

  • work your way up the ladder/hierarchy/ranks I'd like to stay here and work my way up the audit career ladder.

• 39 the job that someone does, usually to earn money:

  • full-time/part-time work Many pensioners will have to consider part-time work to supplement their retirement plans.

  • find/get/look for work The government's initiative helps the unemployed find work.

  • He's been out of work for six months now.

  • permanent/regular/temporary work

  • paid/unpaid/voluntary work

  • badly paid/well-paid work

  • give up/go back to/return to work

• 40 a place, such as an office, a factory, etc., where someone goes to do their job:

  • The Managing Director always arrived at work early and stayed late.

  • She claimed her stress was the result of the bank's hostile work environment.

  • be at/go to/leave work What time do you go to work in the morning?

• 41 the responsibilities that are part of your job:

  • start/finish/stop work I don't finish work until 6.30 pm.

  • I need to take some time off work to look after my son.

  • Analysts refer to various sources of information to help them make investment decisions in their day-to-day work.

  • The government launched an inquiry into the work of the Monetary Policy Committee.

  • do/enjoy/hate your work

  • factory/manual/office work

  • administrative/clerical/secretarial work

• 42 the tasks that need to be completed:

  • do/produce/take on work The department can't take on any more work until this project is finished.

  • I always end up taking work home at the weekend.

• 43 the mental or physical effort involved in doing or achieving something:

  • The builders started work on the new offices last week.

  • carry out/put in work The whole team put in a lot of hard work to win the contract.

  • We need to set to work on reviewing our claims system.

  • The finance department has been hard at work on its year-end report.

  • Management still has a lot of work to do to ensure the company's future.

  • The committee's report was a very good piece of work.

  • good/hard work

  • innovative/major/outstanding work

• 44 the activity of building or repairing something:

  • engineering/repair works The road was closed for essential repair works.

• 45 an industrial building where materials or goods are manufactured:

  • Residents protested about the waste produced by the nearby industrial works.

  • a chemical/gas/steel works

  • the works foreman/manager/supervisor

  • the works close down/open

• 46 to have something very difficult to do:

  • The government has its work cut out for it trying to reduce the national deficit.

• 47 in the process of being planned or discussed:

  • Protesters claim the proposed cuts had been in the works for months.