work

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You're listening to Joanna
She has an American accent.

NGSL Rank: 66
work
wəːk Listen
Meanings
noun
  • activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.
    E.g. he was tired after a day's work
  • a task or tasks to be undertaken.
    E.g. they made sure the work was progressing smoothly
  • a thing or things done or made; the result of an action.
    E.g. her work hangs in all the main American collections
  • a place or premises in which industrial or manufacturing processes are carried out.
    E.g. he found a job in the locomotive works
  • the operative part of a clock or other machine.
    E.g. she could almost hear the tick of its works
  • a defensive structure.
    E.g. 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.
    E.g. the heavens put on a show: sheet lightning, hailstones, the works
verb
  • be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result; do work.
    E.g. she has been working so hard
  • (of a machine or system) function, especially properly or effectively.
    E.g. his phone doesn't work unless he goes to a high point
  • (of a plan or method) have the desired result or effect.
    E.g. the desperate ploy had worked
  • bring (a material or mixture) to a desired shape or consistency by hammering, kneading, etc.
    E.g. work the mixture into a paste with your hands
  • move or cause to move gradually or with difficulty into another position.
    E.g. comb hair from tip to root, working out the knots at the end
  • bring into a specified emotional state.
    E.g. Harold had worked himself into a minor rage
-work
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Meanings
combining form
  • denoting things or parts made of a specified material or with specified tools.
    E.g. silverwork

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work
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