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
work |
5 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Work \Work\, n. [OE. work werk, weork, AS weorc worc; akin to OFries werk, wirk, OS., D., & G. werk, OHG. werc, werah, Icel. & Sw verk, Dan. v[ae]rk, Goth. gawa['u]rki, Gr ?, ?, work ? to do ? an instrument, ? secret rites, Zend verez to work ????. Cf {Bulwark}, {Energy}, {Erg}, {Georgic}, {Liturgy}, {Metallurgy}, {Organ}, {Surgeon}, {Wright}.] 1. Exertion of strength or faculties; physical or intellectual effort directed to an end industrial activity; toil; employment; sometimes specifically, physically labor. Man hath his daily work of body or mind Appointed. --Milton. 2. The matter on which one is at work that upon which one spends labor; material for working upon subject of exertion; the thing occupying one business; duty; as to take up one's work to drop one's work Come on Nerissa I have work in hand That you yet know not of --Shak. In every work that he began . . . he did it with all his heart, and prospered. --2 Chron. xxxi. 21. 3. That which is produced as the result of labor; anything accomplished by exertion or toil; product; performance; fabric; manufacture; in a more general sense act deed, service, effect, result, achievement, feat. To leave no rubs or blotches in the work --Shak. The work some praise, And some the architect. --Milton. Fancy . . . Wild work produces oft, and most in dreams. --Milton. The composition or dissolution of mixed bodies . . . is the chief work of elements. --Sir K. Digby 4. Specifically: a That which is produced by mental labor; a composition; a book; as a work or the works of Addison. b Flowers, figures, or the like wrought with the needle; embroidery. I am glad I have found this napkin; . . . I'll have the work ta'en out And give 't Iago. --Shak. c pl Structures in civil, military, or naval engineering, as docks, bridges, embankments, trenches, fortifications, and the like also the structures and grounds of a manufacturing establishment; as iron works locomotive works gas works d pl The moving parts of a mechanism; as the works of a watch. 5. Manner of working; management; treatment; as unskillful work spoiled the effect. --Bp. Stillingfleet 6. (Mech.) The causing of motion against a resisting force. The amount of work is proportioned to and is measured by the product of the force into the amount of motion along the direction of the force. See {Conservation of energy}, under {Conservation}, {Unit of work}, under {Unit}, also {Foot pound}, {Horse power}, {Poundal}, and {Erg}. Energy is the capacity of doing work . . . Work is the transference of energy from one system to another. --Clerk Maxwell. 7. (Mining) Ore before it is dressed. --Raymond. 8. pl (Script.) Performance of moral duties; righteous conduct. He shall reward every man according to his works --Matt. xvi. 27. Faith, if it hath not works is dead. --James ii 17. {Muscular work} (Physiol.), the work done by a muscle through the power of contraction. {To go to work}, to begin laboring; to commence operations; to contrive; to manage. ``I 'll go another way to work with him.'' --Shak. {To set on work}, to cause to begin laboring; to set to work [Obs.] --Hooker. {To set to work}, to employ; to cause to engage in any business or labor. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Work \Work\, v. t. 1. To labor or operate upon to give exertion and effort to to prepare for use or to utilize, by labor. He could have told them of two or three gold mines, and a silver mine, and given the reason why they forbare to work them at that time. --Sir W. Raleigh. 2. To produce or form by labor; to bring forth by exertion or toil; to accomplish; to originate; to effect; as to work wood or iron into a form desired, or into a utensil; to work cotton or wool into cloth. Each herb he knew, that works or good or ill. --Harte. 3. To produce by slow degrees, or as if laboriously; to bring gradually into any state by action or motion. ``Sidelong he works his way.'' --Milton. So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains Of rushing torrents and descending rains, Works itself clear, and as it runs, refines, Till by degrees the floating mirror shines. --Addison. 4. To influence by acting upon to prevail upon to manage; to lead. ``Work your royal father to his ruin.'' --Philips. 5. To form with a needle and thread or yarn; especially, to embroider; as to work muslin. 6. To set in motion or action to direct the action of to keep at work to govern; to manage; as to work a machine. Knowledge in building and working ships. --Arbuthnot. Now Marcus, thy virtue's the proof; Put forth thy utmost strength, work every nerve. --Addison. The mariners all 'gan work the ropes, Where they were wont to do --Coleridge. 7. To cause to ferment, as liquor. {To work a passage} (Naut.), to pay for a passage by doing work {To work double tides} (Naut.), to perform the labor of three days in two -- a phrase which alludes to a practice of working by the night tide as well as by the day {To work in}, to insert, introduce, mingle, or interweave by labor or skill. {To work into}, to force, urge, or insinuate into as to work one's self into favor or confidence. {To work off}, to remove gradually, as by labor, or a gradual process; as beer works off impurities in fermenting. {To work out}. a To effect by labor and exertion. ``Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.'' --Phil. ii 12. b To erase; to efface. [R.] Tears of joy for your returning spilt, Work out and expiate our former guilt. --Dryden. c To solve, as a problem. d To exhaust, as a mine, by working. {To work up}. a To raise; to excite; to stir up as to work up the passions to rage. The sun, that rolls his chariot o'er their heads, Works up more fire and color in their cheeks. --Addison. b To expend in any work as materials; as they have worked up all the stock. c (Naut.) To make over or into something else, as yarns drawn from old rigging, made into spun yarn, foxes, sennit, and the like also to keep constantly at work upon needless matters, as a crew in order to punish them --R. H. Dana, Jr 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]: Work \Work\, n. 1. (Cricket) Break; twist. [Cant] 2. (Mech.) The causing of motion against a resisting force, measured by the product of the force into the component of the motion resolved along the direction of the force. Energy is the capacity of doing work . . . Work is the transference of energy from one system to another. --Clerk Maxwell. 3. (Mining) Ore before it is dressed. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: work n 1: activity directed toward making or doing something "she checked several points needing further work" 2: something produced or accomplished through the effort or activity or agency of a person or thing: "it is not regarded as one of his more memorable works'; "the symphony was hailed as an ingenious work"; "he was indebted to the pioneering work of John Dewey"; "the work of an active imagination"; "erosion is the work of wind or water over time" [syn: {piece of work}] 3: the occupation for which you are paid; "he is looking for a job"; "a lot of people are out of work" [syn: {job}, {employment}] 4: applying the mind to learning and understanding a subject (especially by reading); "mastering a second language requires a lot of work"; "no schools offer graduate study in interior design" [syn: {study}] 5: the total output of a writer or artist (or a substantial part of it); "he studied the entire Wagnerian oeuvre"; "Picasso's work can be divided into periods" [syn: {oeuvre}, {body of work}] 6: a place where work is done "he arrived at work early today" [syn: {workplace}] 7: (physics) a manifestation of energy; the transfer of energy from one physical system to another expressed as the product of a force and the distance through which it moves a body in the direction of that force; "work equals force times distance" v 1: exert oneself by doing mental or physical work [ant: {idle}] 2: be employed; "Is your husband working again?" "My wife never worked" [syn: {do work}] 3: have a desired effect; do the trick; "This method doesn't work"; "The breaks of my new car act quickly" [syn: {act}] 4: work in a specific place with a specific subject, or in a specific function; "He is a herpetologist; "She is our resident philosopher"; "She works as a waitress to put herself through law school" [syn: {be}, {follow}] 5: function properly; "The washing machine won't go unless it's plugged in" [syn: {function}, {operate}, {go}, {run}] [ant: {malfunction}] 6: shape, form or improve something: "work stone into tools"; "process iron" [syn: {work on}, {process}] 7: give a work-out to: "Some parents exercise their infants" [syn: {exercise}] 8: work one's way through a problem or task; "Start from the bottom and work towards the top" 9: operate in a certain place area, or specialty; "She works the night clubs"; "The salesman works the Midwest"; "This artist works mostly in acrylics" 10: ferment; "What is working in the minds of the people?" [syn: {operate}] 11: pick one's way [syn: {make one's way}, {airt}, {work one's way}] 12: cause to happen or to occur as a consequence; "wreak havoc"; "bring comments"; "play a joke"; "The rain brought relief to the drought-stricken area" [syn: {bring}, {play}, {wreak}, {make for}] 13: move in ran agitated manner; "His fingers worked with tension" 14: cause to work "he is working his servants hard" [syn: {put to work}] 15: prepare for crops, of soil [syn: {cultivate}, {crop}] 16: deal with verbally or in some form of artistic expression; "This book deals with incest"; "The course covered all of Western Civilization" [syn: {cover}, {treat}, {handle}, {plow}, {deal}, {address}] 17: make uniform, as of dough or clay [syn: {knead}] 18: find the solution to (a problem or question):"did you solve the problem?"; understand the meaning of "did you get it?"; "Did you get my meaning?" [syn: {solve}, {figure out}, {puzzle out}, {lick}]
more about work
This work is licensed under a
