work
noun
[ wəːk ]
• activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.
• "he was tired after a day's work"
Similar:
labour,
toil,
exertion,
effort,
slog,
drudgery,
the sweat of one's brow,
industry,
service,
grind,
sweat,
donkey work,
spadework,
elbow grease,
graft,
fag,
yakka,
travail,
moil,
• a task or tasks to be undertaken.
• "they made sure the work was progressing smoothly"
Similar:
tasks,
jobs,
duties,
assignments,
commissions,
projects,
chores,
• a thing or things done or made; the result of an action.
• "her work hangs in all the main American collections"
• a place or premises in which industrial or manufacturing processes are carried out.
• "he found a job in the locomotive works"
Similar:
factory,
plant,
manufacturing complex,
mill,
foundry,
yard,
industrial unit,
business unit,
workshop,
shop,
• the operative part of a clock or other machine.
• "she could almost hear the tick of its works"
• a defensive structure.
• "just north of the fort were trenches and the freshly reconstructed patriot siege works"
• the exertion of force overcoming resistance or producing molecular change.
• everything needed, desired, or expected.
• "the heavens put on a show: sheet lightning, hailstones, the works"
Similar:
everything,
the full treatment,
the lot,
the whole shooting match,
the whole (kit and) caboodle,
the whole shebang,
the whole nine yards,
the full monty,
the whole ball of wax,
work
verb
• be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result; do work.
• "she has been working so hard"
Similar:
toil,
labour,
exert oneself,
slave (away),
plod away,
work one's fingers to the bone,
work like a Trojan/dog,
work day and night,
keep at it,
slog (away),
beaver away,
plug away,
peg away,
put one's back into something,
work one's guts out,
work one's socks off,
knock oneself out,
sweat blood,
kill oneself,
graft,
fag,
bullock,
drudge,
travail,
moil,
work one's balls/arse off,
work one's ass/butt off,
• (of a machine or system) function, especially properly or effectively.
• "his phone doesn't work unless he goes to a high point"
• (of a plan or method) have the desired result or effect.
• "the desperate ploy had worked"
Similar:
succeed,
be successful,
work out,
turn out well,
go as planned,
have the desired result,
get results,
be effective,
take effect,
be efficacious,
come off,
pay off,
do the trick,
do the business,
turn the trick,
• bring (a material or mixture) to a desired shape or consistency by hammering, kneading, etc.
• "work the mixture into a paste with your hands"
Similar:
knead,
squeeze,
form,
shape,
fashion,
mould,
model,
mix,
stir,
blend,
• move or cause to move gradually or with difficulty into another position.
• "comb hair from tip to root, working out the knots at the end"
• bring into a specified emotional state.
• "Harold had worked himself into a minor rage"
Similar:
stir (up),
excite,
drive,
move,
spur,
rouse,
fire,
galvanize,
whip up,
inflame,
incite,
agitate,
Origin:
Old English weorc (noun), wyrcan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch werk and German Werk, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek ergon .
-work
combining form
• denoting things or parts made of a specified material or with specified tools.
• "silverwork"
