4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Work  \Work\,  v.  i.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Worked},  or  {Wrought};  p.  pr 
  &  vb  n.  {Working}.]  [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. 
  wa['u]rkjan.  [root]145.  See  {Work},  n.] 
  1.  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 
 
  O  thou  good  Kent,  how  shall  I  live  and  work  To 
  match  thy  goodness?  --Shak. 
 
  Go  therefore  now  and  work  for  there  shall  no  straw 
  be  given  you  --Ex.  v.  18. 
 
  Whether  we  work  or  play,  or  sleep  or  wake,  Our  life 
  doth  pass.  --Sir  J. 
  Davies. 
 
  2.  Hence  in  a  general  sense  to  operate;  to  act  to  perform; 
  as  a  machine  works  well 
 
  We  bend  to  that  the  working  of  the  heart.  --Shak. 
 
  3.  Hence  figuratively,  to  be  effective;  to  have  effect  or 
  influence;  to  conduce. 
 
  We  know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
  them  that  love  God.  --Rom.  viii. 
  28. 
 
  This  so  wrought  upon  the  child,  that  afterwards  he 
  desired  to  be  taught.  --Locke. 
 
  She  marveled  how  she  could  ever  have  been  wrought 
  upon  to  marry  him  --Hawthorne. 
 
  4.  To  carry  on  business;  to  be  engaged  or  employed 
  customarily;  to  perform  the  part  of  a  laborer;  to  labor; 
  to  toil. 
 
  They  that  work  in  fine  flax  .  .  .  shall  be 
  confounded.  --Isa.  xix.  9. 
 
  5.  To  be  in  a  state  of  severe  exertion,  or  as  if  in  such  a 
  state;  to  be  tossed  or  agitated;  to  move  heavily;  to 
  strain;  to  labor;  as  a  ship  works  in  a  heavy  sea. 
 
  Confused  with  working  sands  and  rolling  waves. 
  --Addison. 
 
  6.  To  make  one's  way  slowly  and  with  difficulty;  to  move  or 
  penetrate  laboriously;  to  proceed  with  effort;  --  with  a 
  following  preposition,  as  down  out  into  up  through 
  and  the  like  as  scheme  works  out  by  degrees;  to  work 
  into  the  earth. 
 
  Till  body  up  to  spirit  work  in  bounds  Proportioned 
  to  each  kind  --Milton. 
 
  7.  To  ferment,  as  a  liquid. 
 
  The  working  of  beer  when  the  barm  is  put  in 
  --Bacon. 
 
  8.  To  act  or  operate  on  the  stomach  and  bowels,  as  a 
  cathartic. 
 
  Purges  .  .  .  work  best,  that  is  cause  the  blood  so 
  to  do  .  .  .  in  warm  weather  or  in  a  warm  room 
  --Grew. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Wrought  \Wrought\, 
  imp.  &  p.  p.  of  {Work}. 
 
  Alas  that  I  was  wrought  [created]!  --Chaucer. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Wrought  \Wrought\,  a. 
  Worked  elaborated;  not  rough  or  crude. 
 
  {Wrought  iron}.  See  under  {Iron}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  wrought 
  adj  :  shaped  to  fit  by  or  as  if  by  altering  the  contours  of  a 
  pliable  mass  (as  by  work  or  effort);  "a  shaped 
  handgrip";  "the  molded  steel  plates";  "the  wrought 
  silver  bracelet"  [syn:  {shaped},  {molded}] 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words