work

My work involves a lot of travel.

Come on Neriſſa, I haue worke in hand / That you yet know not of; wee'll ſee our husbands / Before they thinke of vs?

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 177, column 1:

And in euery worke that he began[…]he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Chronicles 31:21:

Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew’s cap and bells.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 257:

(uncountable) Employment.
labour, occupation, job.

He hasn’t come home yet; he’s still at work.

(uncountable) Employment.
The place where one is employed.

Employment.
The place where one is employed.

I want to go to the reunion concert, but I'm not sure if my work will give me the time off.

(uncountable) Employment.
(by extension) One's employer.

In trials of a Martin furnace in a steel work at Remscheiden, Germany, a lining of zirconia was found in good condition after […]

(uncountable) Employment.
(dated) A factory; a works.

Holding a brick over your head is hard work. It takes a lot of work to write a dictionary.

(uncountable) Effort.
effort expended on a particular task.

We know what we must do. Let's go to work.

We don't have much time. Let's get to work piling up those sandbags.

The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.

1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 01:

Sustained effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result.

There's lots of work waiting for me at the office.

(uncountable) Effort.
Something on which effort is expended.

Work is done against friction to drag a bag along the ground.

(physics) A measure of energy expended in moving an object; most commonly, force times distance. No work is done if the object does not move.

Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning "vortex", and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.

2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:

(physics, more generally) A measure of energy that is usefully extracted from a process.

There's a lot of guesswork involved.

(uncountable, often in combination) The result of a particular manner of production.

We've got some paperwork to do before we can get started. The piece was decorated with intricate filigree work.

(uncountable, often in combination) Something produced using the specified material or tool.

It is a work of art.

the poetic works of Alexander Pope

To leaue no Rubs nor Botches in the Worke:

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 140, column 2:

The haſty multitude / Admiring enter'd, and the work ſome praiſe / And ſome the Architect:

1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 730–732:

“[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?[…]”

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(countable) A literary, artistic, or intellectual production.

William the Conqueror fortified many castles, throwing up new ramparts, bastions and all manner of works.

Product; the result of effort.
(countable) A fortification.

Product; the result of effort.
A fortification.

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

(uncountable, slang, professional wrestling) The staging of events to appear as real.

The staging of events to appear as real.

Rossiter W[orthington] Raymond
w:Rossiter W. Raymond

Tell me you're using clean works at least.

He gave me a sour look. “All right is it? Well, you shoot some then.” I cooked up a grain and got out my works ready to take the shot.

1977 [1953], William S. Burroughs, edited by Allen Ginsberg, Junky, Penguin Books, →ISBN, pages 25–26:

If you buy new works, clean them before using them. If you share works, clean them before you or the next person uses them. Blood may be in your works even if you can't see it. Clean your works either with rubbing alcohol (available in drugstores), a household bleach solution (three tablespoons of bleach in a cup of water), or boiling water.

1996, Paul Harding Douglas with Laura Pinsky, The Essential AIDS Fact Book, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 25:

While in San Francisco, where the AIDS crisis was particularly devastating, they saw numerous public awareness signs reading “Bleach Your Works” posted around the city, urging IV drug users to clean their needles with bleach to help staunch the spread of the disease.

2009, Gillian G. Gaar, The Rough Guide to Nirvana, Rough Guides UK, →ISBN:

(slang, plural only) The equipment needed to inject a drug (syringes, needles, swabs etc.)

en-noun

work (countable and uncountable, plural works)

all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Pijin: waka

treball

result of a particular manner of production

изделие

something produced using the specified material or tool

werk

physics: measure of energy expended in moving an object

աշխատանք

thermodynamics: energy in transit between one form or repository and another

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-om
Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom
Proto-Germanic *werką
Proto-West Germanic *werk
Old English weorc
Middle English werk
English work
From Middle English work, werk, from Old English weorc, from Proto-West Germanic *werk, from Proto-Germanic *werką, from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom.
Akin to Scots wark, Saterland Frisian Wierk, West Frisian wurk, Dutch werk, German Werk, German Low German Wark, Danish værk, Norwegian Bokmål verk, Norwegian Nynorsk verk, Swedish verk, yrke and orka, Icelandic verk, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌹 (gawaurki), Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”) (from ϝέργον (wérgon)), Avestan 𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰 (vər^əz, “to work, to perform”), Armenian գործ (gorc, “work”), Albanian argëtoj (“entertain, reward, please”). English cognates include bulwark, boulevard, energy, erg, georgic, liturgy, metallurgy, organ, surgeon, wright. Doublet of erg and ergon.

cog

Avestan 𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰 (vər^əz, “to work, to perform”)


work

I work in a national park.

She works in the human resources department.

He mostly works in logging but sometimes works in carpentry too.

(intransitive) To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers.

Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business) [with in or at].

This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 287:

I work as a cleaner.

She works for Microsoft.

He works for the President.

Said of a company or individual who employs [with for].

I work closely with my Canadian counterparts.

You work with computers, right?

She works with the homeless people from the suburbs.

General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients [with with].

She works the night clubs.

The salesman works the Midwest.

(transitive) To work or operate in a certain place, area, or speciality.

She's working the phones.

(transitive) To work or operate in, through, or by means of.

He's working in a bar.

The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about "creating compelling content", or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing", "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.

2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, volume 189, number 2, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-08, page 48:

He pointed at the car and asked, "Does it work"?

He looked at the bottle of pain pills, wondering if they would work.

My plan didn't work.

(intransitive) To function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for.

He worked the levers.

(transitive) To cause to operate, be productive, behave a certain way, or happen.

The mine was worked until the last scrap of ore had been extracted.

They were told of a ſilver mine, that had been worked by the Spaniards, ſomewhere in the Healthſhire Hills, in St. Catharine; but they were not able to diſcover it.

1774, Edward Long, chapter 11, in The History of Jamaica. Or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of that Island, volume 2, page 240:

He used pliers to work the wire into shape.

The rock musician worked the crowd of young girls into a frenzy.

She knows how to work the system.

To use or manipulate to one’s advantage.

To use or manipulate to one’s advantage.

I cannot work a miracle.

Failure to hold the annual meeting, or to otherwise conduct the business of the annual meeting, shall not work a forfeiture or dissolution of the Cooperative.

2022, Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation Bylaws, Article III, Section 3.01:

(law) To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence.

He is working his servants hard.

to work into the earth

(intransitive) To move or progress slowly or with difficulty.

He worked his way through the crowd.

The dye worked its way through.

(transitive) To move or progress slowly [with one's way].

To move or progress slowly [with one's way].

Using some tweezers, she worked the bee sting out of her hand.

So the pure limpid Stream, when foul with Stains / Of ruſhing Torrents, and deſcending Rains, / Work’s it ſelf clear, and as it runs, refines; / ’Till by Degrees, the floating Mirrour ſhines, / […]

1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene iv, page 16:

(transitive) To cause to move slowly or with difficulty.

To cause to move slowly or with difficulty.

For Inanimate Things, you may trie the Force of Imagination, vpon Staying the Working of Beere, when the Barme is put in; Or vpon the Comming of Butter, or Cheeſe, after the Cherming, or the Rennet bee put in.

1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “X. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 992, page 255:

They worked on her to join the group.

(intransitive, figuratively) To influence.

His fingers worked with tension.

A ship works in a heavy sea.

Here vex’d with Winter Storms Benacus raves, / Confus’d with working Sands and rolling Waves; / Rough and tumultuous like a Sea it lyes, / So loud the Tempeſt roars, ſo high the Billows riſe.

1705, J[oseph] Addison, “Brescia, Verona, Padua”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 54:

(intransitive) To move in an agitated manner.

This dough does not work easily.

The soft metal works well.

(intransitive) To behave in a certain way when handled

And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, “I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!”

1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman. [Night 557.]”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume VI, [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC, pages 51–52:

So sad it seemed, and its cheek-bones gleamed, and its fingers flicked the shore; / And it lapped and lay in a weary way, and its hands met to implore; / That I gently said: "Poor, restless dead, I would never work you woe; / Though the wrong you rue you can ne'er undo, I forgave you long ago."

1909, Robert W[illiam] Service, “The Ballad of One-eyed Mike”, in Ballads of a Cheechako, Toronto, Ont.: William Briggs, →OCLC, stanza 12, pages 54–55:

(ditransitive, poetic) To cause (someone) to feel (something); to do unto somebody (something, whether good or bad).

‘I wolde hit were so,’ seyde the Kynge, ‘but I may nat stonde, my hede worchys so—’

1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XXI:

(obsolete, intransitive) To hurt; to ache.

I would have never thought those pieces would go together, but she is working it like nobody's business.

(slang, transitive) To pull off; to wear, perform, etc. successfully or to advantage.

en-verb

work (third-person singular simple present works, present participle working, simple past and past participle worked or (rare/archaic) wrought)

works (present singular third-person)
working (participle present)
worked (participle past)
worked (past)
wrought (archaic participle past)
wrought (archaic past)
work (infinitive)

→ Cantonese: work (adjective)

drive

to operate in a certain place, area, or specialty.

سَارَ

to function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for

работя се

to behave in a certain way when handled.

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).