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单词 work
释义

workn.

Brit. /wəːk/, U.S. /wərk/
Forms:

α. early Old English uueorc, Old English ueorc (Northumbrian), Old English weorec (rare), Old English weoruc (rare), Old English wiorc (chiefly Kentish), Old English wyorc (rare), Old English–early Middle English weorc, late Old English weorck- (inflected form), late Old English–early Middle English weorcc- (inflected form), early Middle English weork, early Middle English weorrc ( Ormulum), early Middle English weorrkess ( Ormulum, plural), early Middle English woerk (south-east midlands), 1500s weorke.

β. early Old English uuerc, early Old English wræc (transmission error), Old English uerc (chiefly Northumbrian), Old English uoerc (Northumbrian), Old English uuoerc (Northumbrian), Old English wercc- (Northumbrian, inflected form), Old English werch- (Northumbrian, inflected form), Old English weroc (rare), Old English woerc (Northumbrian), Old English wrec (Northumbrian), Old English (Anglian, rare) early Middle English (south-west midlands) wærc, Old English (rare) Middle English (northern) warc, Old English (chiefly Anglian)–Middle English werc, early Middle English uerk, early Middle English vuerk, early Middle English wærck- (south-west midlands, inflected form), early Middle English wærk (south-west midlands), early Middle English werec, early Middle English werrc ( Ormulum), early Middle English werrk- ( Ormulum, inflected form and in compounds), Middle English vark, Middle English verke, Middle English vuerc (in copy of Old English charter), Middle English warcke, Middle English werck, Middle English wercke, Middle English were (transmission error), Middle English werke (plural), Middle English werkke, Middle English wherk, Middle English wrek- (in compounds, perhaps transmission error), Middle English (chiefly northern and north midlands) 1500s (1800s– (English regional (northern and north midlands))) wark, Middle English–1500s warke, Middle English–1500s werke, Middle English–1600s werk, 1900s– waak (English regional (north-eastern)), 1900s– wahk (English regional (Yorkshire)), 2000s– waark (Irish English (northern)); Scottish pre-1700 uark, pre-1700 uarke, pre-1700 uerk, pre-1700 urke (probably transmission error), pre-1700 varck, pre-1700 vark, pre-1700 varke, pre-1700 verk, pre-1700 vuark, pre-1700 wairk, pre-1700 warke, pre-1700 werc, pre-1700 werck, pre-1700 werke, pre-1700 weryk, pre-1700 1700s– wark, pre-1700 1700s– werk, 1800s waurk.

γ. Old English wyrc (rare), Old English (rare)–early Middle English wurc, Old English (rare)–early Middle English wuruc, late Old English wyrcc, early Middle English wrc- (inflected form), early Middle English wurck, early Middle English wurhc, Middle English wrke, Middle English wyrk, Middle English (2000s– in representations of Irish English) wirk, Middle English–1500s wirke, Middle English–1500s wurke, Middle English–1500s 1700s wurk, 1500s wurcke, 1900s wuk (English regional (Lincolnshire)); U.S. regional (southern, chiefly in African-American usage) 1800s– wuk; Scottish pre-1700 vyrk, pre-1700 wurk, pre-1700 1800s virk, pre-1700 1800s– wirk; Caribbean 1800s– wuk, 1900s– wuck, 1900s– wukk.

δ. Old English–Middle English worc, late Old English wuorc, Middle English–1500s worck, Middle English–1600s worke, Middle English– work, late Middle English vourke, 1500s woorck, 1500s woryke, 1500s wourk, 1500s–1600s woorke, 1500s–1600s worcke, 1500s–1600s wourke, 1500s–1600s (1800s Irish English (Wexford)) (1900s– English regional) woork, 1600s woorcke, 1600s wourcke, 1900s– wokk (English regional (Lincolnshire)); Scottish pre-1700 uork, pre-1700 uorke, pre-1700 vork, pre-1700 vorke, pre-1700 woork, pre-1700 woorke, pre-1700 worke, pre-1700 1700s– work; Caribbean 1900s– wock, 1900s– wok.

ε. late Old English (Kentish)–early Middle English weorch, early Middle English weorche, early Middle English werch, early Middle English werche, Middle English wirche, Middle English wurche, Middle English wyrche, Middle English–1500s worch, Middle English–1500s worche, 1500s wurch, 1800s wurtch (English regional (Lancashire)); N.E.D. (1928) also records a form Middle English wurch.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian werk , wirk , Old Saxon werk (Middle Low German werk , wark ), Old Dutch werk (Middle Dutch werc , Dutch werk ), Old High German werc , werah (Middle High German werc , German Werk ), Old Icelandic verk , Old Swedish värk (Swedish verk ) < a Germanic base cognate with ancient Greek ἔργον piece of work (compare energy n.), ultimately < the e -grade of the Indo-European base of work v.; compare (with different ablaut grade) Armenian gorc.Derivatives of the same Germanic base. Compare (with different suffixation and with y- prefix) Old English gewyrce work, proceeds of work, perquisite, Old Dutch giwarki , construction, building, Old Saxon giwerki building, Old High German giwirki , giwurki action of working, construction, and also (without the prefix) Old Icelandic verki piece of art, composition, virki wall, stronghold, Old Swedish virke built structure, material (Swedish virke timber), Old Danish -wirke fortification (in compounds; Danish virke effect, fortification, material). Form history. In Old English a strong neuter; uninflected plurals occasionally survive in Middle English. A prefixed form geweorc (compare y- prefix) is also attested (see below). The β. forms typically show smoothing of the stem vowel eo to e in Anglian dialects, and subsequent (late Middle English) lowering of er to ar . (However, some forms may show confusion with the cognate wark n.1, already in Old English formally indistinguishable in some varieties, e.g. Mercian werc .) The γ. and δ. forms partly reflect the raising and retraction of the stem vowel to u or (less frequently) o due to the influence of the preceding w (compare also the rounding seen in the Northumbrian form woerc at β. forms), but they clearly also show the influence of various forms of work v., with sometimes similar results; compare discussion of forms at that entry. The ε. forms show the influence of the stem-final affricate of forms of the present stem of work v. (By contrast, the Old English (Northumbrian) form werch- at β. forms represents a purely graphic variant of werc .) Notes on senses. Some early uses of the word are perhaps reinforced by reflexes of the Old English prefixed form geweorc , which shows a similar range of senses: ‘act, deed, action, labour, result or product of labour, structure, edifice, fortification, workmanship, literary composition, etc.’; compare Old Saxon giwerk act, effort, construction. In branches I. and II. frequently used to translate classical Latin opus , which has a similar semantic range (see opus n.). As a scientific term describing the operation of a force (sense 10) after French travail (1829 in this sense in G. G. Coriolis Du calcul de l'effet des machines p. iii., specific use of travail work, labour: see travail n.1). With use with reference to built structures (senses 13, 14) compare e.g. Old Saxon giwerki , Old Icelandic virki and the related derivatives discussed above. With use with reference to textiles (sense 17) compare the Old English derivative adjective geweorclic relating to weaving ( < geweorc (see above) + -ly suffix1). In use with reference to the effects of fermentation (sense 22) after French travail (apparently rare in this sense; compare quot. 1839; also used more generally with reference to fermentation (1772 or earlier)); compare earlier work v. 6. In use with reference to pain (branch III.) there is some semantic overlap with the cognate wark n.1 (although, unlike work n., this denotes only physical pain); some Old English instances of this sense may have been influenced by wark n.1 (compare e.g. quot. OE3 at sense 24).
I. Action, labour, activity; an instance of this.
1.
a. An act, deed, or proceeding; something that is in the process of being, or has been, done or performed. Now archaic and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [noun]
workOE
operationa1393
workmanshipc1400
actionc1405
act?a1425
workinga1425
activityc1485
executiona1530
play1548
workfulness1570
inworking1587
acting1605
agency1606
operancea1625
transaction1663
operancyc1811
outworking1846
mediacy1854
functioning1856
the world > action or operation > doing > [noun] > an act or deed
deedc825
i-wurhtc888
workOE
casec1325
acta1393
actiona1393
operationc1395
featc1420
exploitc1425
commissionc1475
factc1487
practice1547
part1561
practisement1581
issuea1616
performancea1616
performenta1641
factum1641
coup1791
stunt1904
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > [noun] > proceedings or doings
workingOE
workOE
workOE
doingsa1387
practica1475
gearc1475
proceeding1524
practice1547
activity1570
courses1592
acting1596
motion1667
ongoings1673
energies1747
deed1788
movement1803
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxii. 358 Þæt weorc wæs begunnen ongean godes willan.
OE Blickling Homilies 47 Þis weorc biþ deoflum se mæsta teona.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 242 (MED) Þeo..habbeð from ham forcoruen flesches lustes..þet is, haldeð ham i reste from þet fleschliche werc.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1288 Menbriz dude an vuel weorc.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 80 Or it wer alle ent þe werke þat þei did wirke, þei ordeynd a couent.
a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) l. 446 Chaistese þam..Efter þe wark þat þ[ai ha]ue [MS þaue] wroght.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 434 Quhen Wallas thus this worthi werk had wrocht.
a1529 J. Skelton Phyllyp Sparowe (?1545) sig. B.vi The kestrell in all this warke Shall be holy wather clarke.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) iii. 310 Whyle god fulfylleth thys daye the worke of nature.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccviiv Se the worke of God,..ther rose suche a sodain wynde and a terrible tempest.
a1596 G. Peele Loue King Dauid & Fair Bethsabe (1599) sig. Eijv Is not the hand of Ioab in this worke?
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage iii. xv. 272 A people of that beastly disposition, that they performed the most secret worke of Nature in publike view.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. iii. 57 It is a damned, and a bloody worke . View more context for this quotation
1665 R. South Serm. preached before Court 26 After a long fatigue of Eating, and Drinking, and Babling, he concludes the great work of Dining Gentilely.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lxvii. 619 For almost the last time in which she shall be called upon to weep in this history, she commenced that work.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn I. viii. 105 All this doctor's stuff is no use, unless you can say a charm as will undo her devil's work.
1916 Papers & Proc. Amer. Sociol. Soc. 10 18 The Greeks who triumphed at Marathon and Salamis did a work without which the world would have been deprived of the social value of Plato and Aristotle.
b. In plural. Acts or deeds collectively. Chiefly with of or possessive adjective. Now archaic and rare.In later use coloured by sense 1c.
ΚΠ
OE Beowulf (2008) 289 Æghwæþres sceal scearp scyldwiga gescad witan, worda ond worca.
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 24 Ac þonne wisdom heo [sc. the soul] sceal leornian: þæt heo lufie god, and hine æfre wurðige on eallum hyre weorcum.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxiii. 3 Ne do ge na æfter heora worcum; Hig secgeað & ne doð.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 145 Alle we beoð in monifald wawe..hwat for ure eldere werkes, hwat for ure aȝene gultes.
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 2 Ich habbe isuneȝet mid wurken & midd muðe.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. Prol. l. 3 In Habite of an Hermite vn-holy of werkes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1983 Wit lele werks lok ȝee dele.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 9 She was..wyse in her werkes honeste in conuersacion & flowryng in alle vertuys.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xi. f. xiiij When Ihon beinge in preson herde the workes of christ.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Isa lix. 6 Their workes are workes of iniquitie.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage i. viii. 119 Hypocrisie loues her workes should be seene, but not her humour.
a1763 W. Shenstone Ess. xxxi, in Wks. (1765) II. 223 A Deity, whose very words are works, and all whose works are wonders.
1838 R. Whately Easy Lessons Christian Evid. viii. 54 The works performed by Jesus and his Apostles are called in Scripture..Miracles.
1921 J. S. Johnston Christ Victorious over All viii. 129 Their resurrection..will be a part of the concluding works of the Son of God.
c. Theology. A good or moral act or deed considered in relation to justification before God (see justification n. 1). Usually in plural. Frequently contrasted with faith or grace. Cf. good work n.Covenant of Works: see covenant n. 8a.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > good works > [noun]
workingOE
workOE
meritc1350
work of almsa1400
OE Ælfric Homily (Corpus Cambr. 162) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 255 Him is soðlice ætbroden seo boclice lar..and is geopenad eallum Cristenum þe hine wurðiað mid weorcum and geleafan.
a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 111 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 167 Ech .Mon. wat him solue best his werkes [Egerton 613(2) weorch]. and his wille.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Eph. ii. 9 By grace ȝe ben saued bi feith;..it is the ȝifte of God, not of werkis, that no man glorie.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. xi. l. 268 Ȝif I shal werke be here werkis to wynne me heuene,..Þanne wrouȝte I vnwisly.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Husbandman l. 2437 in Poems (1981) 91 The hennis ar warkis that fra ferme faith proceidis.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rom. xi. 6 Yff hit be of grace then is it not by the deservynge of workes [1611 then is it no more of workes].
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. Pvi Faith causis hime to virk throw lwiff godlie and chrissine varkis.
1625 R. Montagu Appello Cæsarem 164 The person with God must be made acceptable..before any work of his become approveable.
1635 D. Dickson Short Explan. Hebrewes vii. 19. 131 To seeke to bee..justified, and saved, by workes, is to seeke that by the Lawe, which could never bee brought to passe, by it.
1739 J. Wesley Doctr. Salvation 5 Because All Men are Sinners against God, and Breakers of his Law, therefore can no Man by his Works be justified, and made righteous before God.
1760 W. Law Of Justif. by Faith & Wks. 7 Ascribe good Works to the same Original, and divine Power, as a right Faith must be ascribed to, and then Faith and Works are equally one Power of God to Salvation.
1838 Christian Observer Pref. p. iv The doctrine of justification by works, now set forth chiefly in a stealthy..manner.
1874 Amer. Bibliopolist May 95/2 An exaltation of faith with an indirect attack on mere works.
1906 W. Walker John Calvin xv. 415 Calvin..leaves room for a conception of ‘works’ as strenuous..as any claimed by the Roman communion.
1963 E. P. Thompson Making of Eng. Working Class xi. 364 Works were the snares of pride and the best works were mingled with the dross of sin; although..works might be a sign of grace.
2006 S. Gathercole in B. L. McCormack Justif. in Perspective x. 235 The New Testament does not offer two ways of salvation, one by faith and one by works.
d. An act or deed expressive of a particular moral quality or purpose, as work of alms, work of charity, work of darkness, etc. Usually in plural. Cf. work of mercy at mercy n. 1e.In Old English with genitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > good works > [noun]
workingOE
workOE
meritc1350
work of almsa1400
society > faith > worship > good works > [noun] > instance of
good workOE
work of almsa1400
work of charitya1500
mitzvah1892
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1900) II. 370 Nu ge la godes cempan, awurpað caflice eow fram þæra þeostra weorc, and wurðað ymbscrydde mid leohtes wæpnum.
lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 95 Drihten sylf us..trymede to mildheortnysse weorcan on þan godspelle.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 11 Ðe werc of þesternesse þat ben alle heuie sennen.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19764 Cristen sco was and euer fus Abute all werkes of almus.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 5764 Werkes of mercy and of almus.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (BL Add. 9066) (1879) 341 It was a werke of charitee.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Eph. v. 11 Have no fellishippe with the vnfrutfull workes of dercknes.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xviij Amonges other workes of Charitie..we shoulde..comforte the sicke.
1635 Bp. F. White Treat. Sabbath-day 163 Spirituall ceasing and abstaining from the servile workes of sin.
1675 R. Baxter Catholick Theol. ii. vi. 117 Did not you confess that they were able..to do the works of common Grace?
1703 Earl of Orrery As you find It v. ii. 63 I have another Work of Charity upon my hands,..to reform an extravagant Husband.
1773 C. Chauncy Christian Love 28 This union in love, evidencing its reality in works of kindness and charity.
1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. ii. 131 Even in her dreams Her soul is at some work of charity.
1863 Q. Rev. Oct. 519 Cecil..did not countermine works of darkness with works of darkness.
1910 Burlington Mag. June 174/2 She [sc. St. Margaret of York] is represented eight times: twice kneeling at a prayer desk, and six times as exercising works of charity.
1959 F. O'Connor Let. 30 May (1979) 335 For the next period of her life, which the Baron counts about 21 years, she..practiced simply works of charity.
2001 L. P. Gartner Hist. Jews in Mod. Times i. 8 All these works of kindness and piety could keep busy the minds and hands of the 1,000 to 2,000 persons who constituted an average urban kehillah.
2.
†a. Acts or deeds collectively; action; conduct. Frequently in collocation with word; cf. actions speak louder than words at action n. Phrases 4. Cf. sense 1b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > [noun]
tightc888
workOE
laitsc1225
rule?c1225
guise1303
conditionsc1374
actiona1393
governancea1393
governailc1425
port?a1439
fashion1447
dressa1450
governinga1450
walkingc1450
abearing?1454
deport1474
behaving1482
dealing1484
guidinga1500
demeanoura1513
behaviour?1521
walk?1567
daps1582
courses1592
deportment1601
behave?1615
deportation1616
containment1619
conduct1673
haviour1752
daddyism1984
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > [noun] > proceedings or doings
workingOE
workOE
workOE
doingsa1387
practica1475
gearc1475
proceeding1524
practice1547
activity1570
courses1592
acting1596
motion1667
ongoings1673
energies1747
deed1788
movement1803
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxxix. 523 Swa hwæt swa ge doð on worde oððe on weorce doð symle on drihtnes naman þancigende þam ælmihtigan fæder.
OE Blickling Homilies 35 We eac agyltaþ þurh feower þing, þurh geþoht, & þurh word, & þurh weorc, & þurh willan.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5426 Wha se maȝȝ wiþþ word. & weorrc. her fillenn godess wille.
a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 108 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 167 His aȝen werch and his þonc te witnesse he scal demen.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8696 Bath warr and wis in all his werc.
a1425 Rule St. Benet (Lansd.) (1902) 3 Wha sam heris my word and dos it in werke.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dii* Ilkane be werk and be will Is worth his rewarde.
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. Aviiv Inuertlie in thair hart and outuertlie in thair word, and wark.
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 24v The euill [man], whose worke is either dronkennesse, adulterie, thefte.
1609 Bible (Douay) I. Deut. v. 1 Heare Israel the ceremonies & judgements..and fulfil them in worke.
b. Action of a particular (frequently specified) kind; the production of a characteristic, predictable, or intended effect; functioning, operation. Now chiefly in to do its work. Cf. sense 11b.In quot. a1500: †doing, performance (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [noun] > proper operation or function
workOE
office1340
helpingc1400
servicea1475
use1509
function1537
working1643
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 20 Heo [sc. the soul] is on bocum manegum naman gecyged be hyre weorces þenungum [c1175 Bodl. 343 bi hire weorces þeiȝnunȝum].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Ezek. i. 16 The biholdyng of wheelis and the werk of hem as siȝte of the se.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 89 If the maner of outring which is sauory in a sermonyng schulde be sett..in the office of scole prouyng..al the werk ther of schulde be the vnsaueryer and the vnspedier.
1481 W. Cely Let. 13 May in Cely Lett. (1975) 105 Hys howsse..schall come to be pluckyd schorttly down, or ellys burnyd ffor the schortter warke.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 4 In werke of ony goode dede.
a1635 R. Sibbes Heavenly Conf. (1656) 92 The work of God's spirit in his children, is like fire.
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. v. 36 The composition or dissolution of mixed bodies..is the chiefe worke of Elements, and requireth an intime application of the Agents.
1731 Art of Drawing & Painting in Water-colours 23 When the Spirit of Wine has done its Work, it must be pour'd off.
1763 Museum Rusticum (1764) 1 348 It will be so steady that no unevenness of the ground will be able to throw it out of its work, as a clod or stone will a common harrow.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto II cii. 170 Famine, despair, cold, thirst, and heat, had done Their work on them by turns.
1890 R. Kipling in Macmillan's Mag. June 159/1 The black cholera does its work quietly and without explanation.
1937 G. Heyer They found him Dead iv. 68 I wouldn't run the risk of bumping off an old man who had a valvular disease of the heart. Guess I'd wait a piece for Nature to do its work.
1989 G. Katz & M. Katz Gifts of Gemstone Guardians iii. 45 Although the drug may have provided a benefit, the body will not know what to do with it once the drug's work is completed.
2011 H. Brennan Faeman Quest xx. 124 The shadow cloak did its work so that Chalkhill remained unseen.
c. Cricket. Spin imparted to the ball by the bowler; esp. = break n.1 5. Cf. work v. 42g.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > motion of ball > specific
curl1833
screw1840
devil1845
rise1845
work1846
break1851
spin1851
hang1866
bump1867
fire1888
leg-spin1888
air break1900
turn1900
underspin1901
off-spin1904
finger spin1905
swing1906
back-spin1916
outswing1921
inswing1927
away swing1936
wrist-spin1960
1846 W. Denison Cricket: Sketches of Players 12 His delivery is from over the wicket, so there is..scarcely any ‘work’ from it.
1882 Evening News 2 Sept. 1/6 The amount of work the bowlers could get on the ball.
1926 Observer 23 May 23/1 Richardson was bowling splendidly, getting a lot of work on the ball, and keeping a perfect length.
1974 Times 2 Feb. 15/7 The bowler on either side to get most work on the ball is sure to be Inshan Ali, with his sometimes wayward wrist spin.
2012 Pakistan Today (Nexis) 12 Mar. I saw a young man there last week, a spinner, put so much work on the ball, it mesmerised me.
3. A thing to be done; what a person or thing has to do; a task to be carried out; a function to be served. Also (in later use chiefly) as a mass noun.In earlier use often only distinguishable from sense 1 by context and aspect, according to whether an action is viewed as complete or not complete. In later use tending to merge with senses 4a and 5a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > [noun]
workOE
travailc1350
workmanshipa1393
overage1415
tew1644
labour1662
society > occupation and work > duties > [noun]
wikec1000
workOE
wikenc1175
misterc1225
curec1300
officec1330
ward1338
duty1375
parta1382
businessc1400
commissionc1450
besoigne1474
roomth?1504
function1533
exercitation1737
pidgin1807
job1841
biz1862
OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 34 Se man ælþeodilice ferde forlet his hus & sealde his þeowum þæne anwald gehwylces weorces [L. potestatem cuiusque operis].
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1833 Whatt weorrc himm iss þurrh drihhtin sett To forþenn her onn eorþe.
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1059 Þat werk al-so To ende ich haue now ybrouȝt þat þou toke me to do.
1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) x. 40 The werke that he hath vndertaken.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. iv. 105 Fie vpon this quiet life, I want worke . View more context for this quotation
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. ii. 274 The point inuenom'd to, then venome to thy worke . View more context for this quotation
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Euerie bodies worke is no bodies worke.
1643 J. Burroughes Expos. Prophesie Hosea First Three Chapters 419 It is not my worke to handle the point of the Sabbath-day, or Lords-day now.
1786 R. Burns Twa Dogs xxx, in Poems 20 Gentlemen, an' Ladies..Wi' ev'n down want o' wark are curst.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxviii. 127 The Lord has a work for Mas'r.
1862 J. Ruskin Unto this Last iv. §82 The desert has its appointed place and work.
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate I. i. 20 To fight the devil was her work—was the appointed work of every living soul.
a1914 J. Muir Trav. in Alaska (1915) iv. 67 You, Mr. Young, have a work to do; you have a family; you have a church, and you have no right to risk your life on treacherous peaks and precipices.
1944 Christian Sci. Monitor 5 Jan. 8 This is your war. It's your work to arrange the post-war world.
2005 B. Boissery Sophie's Rebellion 154 Don't start snivelling now. There's work to be done. Begin with hiding every trace of Luc.
4.
a. Action or activity involving physical or mental effort and undertaken in order to achieve a result, esp. as a means of making one's living or earning money; labour; (one's) regular occupation or employment.Also with modifying word specifying the kind of work done. For more established compounds, as agency work, night work, piece-work, social work, etc., see the first element.With quot. 1557-8 cf. job of work at job n.2 Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession
workeOE
mysteryc1390
facultyc1405
business1477
industrya1500
roomc1500
trade1525
pursuit1529
function1533
calling1539
profession?1552
vocation1553
entertainment1568
station1574
qualitya1586
employment1598
way of lifea1616
state1625
cloth1656
avocation1660
setworka1661
employ1669
estate1685
walk of life?1746
walk1836
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > labour or toil
workeOE
i-swincheOE
swenchOE
swote971
swingc1000
swinkOE
swinkinga1225
travailc1275
cark1330
sweatc1380
the sweat of (one's) brow (brows), facec1380
laboura1382
swengc1400
labouragec1470
toil1495
laborationa1500
tug1504
urea1510
carp1548
turmoil1569
moil1612
praelabour1663
fatigue1669
insudation1669
till?a1800
Kaffir work1848
graft1853
workfulness1854
collar-work1871
yakka1888
swot1899
heavy lifting1934
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) ciii. 22 Exiet homo ad opus suum : utgaeð mon to werce his.
OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) xiv. 203 Niht wæs geworht to reste ealswa dæg to worce.
c1300 St. Francis (Laud) 248 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 61 An Asse..is i-harled here and þere and to file weorke i-do.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 21528 (MED) Of he kest al to his serk, To mak him nemel til his werk.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 176 Þere he [sc. Alexander] thoughte for to enclose hem [sc. the ten tribes] þorgh werk of his men.
1532 G. Hervet tr. Xenophon Treat. House Holde f. 59v Suffreth his worke men to leaue theyr worke and go theyr way ouer tymely.
1557–8 Accts. in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 236 Doinge certen Iobbes of woorke.
1611 R. Fenton Treat. Vsurie 29 A daies worke is valuable at a certaine price.
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 88 In Carpentry and Joyners work.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 618 Man hath his daily work of body or mind Appointed. View more context for this quotation
?1700 Adam Armed 10 Labourers..were employed but upon wheeling and digging work.
1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxvi* 84 I can stoop to the ordinary'st Work of your Scullions,..sooner than bear such ungentlemanly Imputations.
1783 Let. 1 Oct. in Jrnl. House of Commons (1792) XLVII. 372/1 To leave off Work perhaps Half an Hour before Bell Ringing.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xxxiv. 286 I do all the work of the house.
1871 S. Smiles Character iv. 98 Work—employment, useful occupation—is one of the great secrets of happiness.
1887 W. S. S. Tyrwhitt New Chum in Queensland Bush viii. 147 I have found the Cape rifle..a very useful gun for Queensland work [i.e. shooting kangaroos for sport].
1914 ‘I. Hay’ Knight on Wheels xiii. §3 Philip was a glutton for work.
1973 Los Angeles Times 4 Feb. (Western ed.) xi. 3/2 I started in merchandising and then did some security work.
1985 P. Cooke in D. Gregory & J. Urry Social Relations & Spatial Structures x. 230 The availability of better-paid work for women outside the coal industry during the war.
2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 17 Feb. ix. 11/2 She was..exhausted from her work as a vice president for advertising sales in the Los Angeles office of the A&E Television Networks.
b. An individual act or instance of labour; a task, a job; spec. a particular type of task, such as a specific manufacturing process. Also more generally: a task requiring physical or mental effort. Now regional (Caribbean) or colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > duties > [noun] > piece of work or task
workOE
notec1400
turnc1480
piece of work1533
job1557
employment1579
task1597
spot of work1689
day job1798
number1928
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > [noun] > business claiming attention
workOE
businessa1382
engagement1781
the world > action or operation > undertaking > [noun] > an undertaking > thing(s) to be done > a (difficult) task
workOE
piece of work1533
job of work1557
tesh1596
task1597
stunt1880
aufgabe1902
dreich1984
OE Beowulf (2008) 74 Ða ic wide gefrægn weorc gebannan manigre mægþe geond þisne middangeard, folcstede frætwan.
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) xli. 65 Gif hy ut an æcere wurc habben [L. si operis in agris habuerint].
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 71 Þa Iudeiscan freolsoden þone forsædon ræstandæȝ fram weoruldlice weorcum.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4343 An are nihte firste þat worc [c1300 Otho worch] wes iforðed.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. iv. 22 All werkeȝ of brass & of yren.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 5527 (MED) Wit herd werckes þai heild þam in.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 136 (MED) A þral..unþryvandely cloþed, Ne no festival frok, bot fyled with werkkez.
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1905) i. 318 He ought to mowe the ladies corne ix daies.., without other werkes that he shold do.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Di Cockys armys this is a warke I trowe.
1580 G. Harvey Let. to Spenser in Poet. Wks. (1912) 627/2 Vnlesse ye might..haue your meate, and drinke for your dayes workes.
1641 Psalme of Thanks-giving Christs-Hospital (single sheet) There is maintained and kept in the said Hospitall, in Arts, Occupatitions [sic], and other works and labours, Apprentices.
1786 T. Clarkson Ess. Slavery & Commerce Human Species ii. viii. 105 These delinquents are sentenced..to cut and clear rivers, to make and repair roads, and to perform other works of national utility.
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XV. at Foundery The ear of the bell requires a separate work, which is done during the drying of..the cement.
1894 Eng. Hist. Rev. 9 419 At the beginning of the fourteenth century we see that some of the ‘works’ were done in kind, while others were ‘sold to the homage’.
1957 V. S. Naipaul Mystic Masseur 19 ‘You have to get a work now,’ Mrs Cooper said.
1998 New Yorker 22 June 86/1 A knothead they knew only as Leecil..walked up and said, ‘Either one a [sic] you want a work this weekend?’
c. Usually with plural agreement: one's employer or place of employment.
ΚΠ
1966 New Society 29 Sept. 479/1 The gap between young and old is particularly wide on shoplifting, stealing from work, speeding and tax fiddling.
1974 Sunday Newsday (N.Y.) 29 Sept. ii. 38/4 I called in sick to work because my legs would not support me.
1984 M. Redding Life & Times Daffodil Mulligan 150 On Monday morning I had a massive hangover. So I rang work to say I was ‘throwing up’.
1994 N.Y. Times 9 Oct. (Westchester Weekly section) 1/3 [She] did try begging a car from her sister and borrowing a delivery car from work.
1996 Re: Codependency & Lying in alt.recovery.codependency (Usenet newsgroup) 7 Sept. Tell work I'm not here if they call.
2007 G. O. Ryan in S. Cohen Hollywood 195 I called work to let them know I'd be a little late.
5.
a. Action or activity of any kind, esp. when requiring physical or mental effort; (hence) effort, exertion. Frequently with modifying word.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun]
hightOE
workOE
business1340
afforcinga1398
enforce1487
effort1490
contention1583
heave and shove1600
luctation1651
struggle1706
pingle1728
exertion1777
bother1823
brainstorming1839
beef1851
go-go-go1934
OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) xxii. 217 Gymon preostas miclum weorce [L. sumopere] þæt hi þas foresædan tida mid wacolre geornfulnysse healdon.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8416 Ȝif hit seoððen ilimppeð..þat heo trukieð an hond treouðen to halden & wakieð mid wærke..let heom alle for-don.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) III. 1251 She sowned thryse, that all ladyes and jantyllwomen had worke inowghe to hold the quene frome the erthe.
1518 in I. S. Leadam Select Cases Star Chamber (1911) II. 141 I had as myche worck as I cowde by ony meanys to pacyffye theyme.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. vi. sig. Hh4v Long worke it were, Here to account the endlesse progeny Of all the weeds, that bud and blossome there.
1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis 20 in Sylua Syluarum Wee had Worke enough to get any of our Men to looke to our Shipp.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. ii. 79 They should find tough work of it.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. ii. 26 Walking obliquely up a steep hill, when the ground is what the vulgar call greasy... Sad work!
1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds vi. 76 It was weary work with any tool but the hatchet.
1882 Gaillard's Med. Jrnl. 34 20/2 I thought it was too bad to lose so much time in bed, forgetting that it was work enough to keep still and repair the fracture.
1885 Cornhill Mag. Aug. 160 It's hot and thirsty work sitting nodding here.
1902 J. Buchan Watcher by Threshold ii. 127 It was hard work rowing, for the wind was against him.
1970 Black Belt May 11/2 Pushing himself away from the table in order to shed 135-lbs. was real work.
2012 D. Calame Call Shots lvi. 405 I've put a lot of work into this screenplay.
b. Exercise undertaken to improve the fitness or condition of a horse, often in preparation for a race or competition. Frequently with modifying word indicating the type or intensity of exercise. Cf. to ride work at ride v. Phrases 2l.
ΚΠ
1795 Rules & Regulations Cavalry 158 There must be three or four days spent in riding-school work.
1854 New Sporting Mag. Dec. 419 It is trials that teach pace and the capabilities of the race-horse; these teach him when distress begins: riding exercise will not; for at such work a horse should not feel distress.
1936 N.Y. Times 3 Nov. 38/1 Major Hiram E. Tuttle of the United States Cavalry School performed the routine of the dressage work that he will do nightly at the show.
1959 Horseman's Year 78 This fault can be corrected by lunging work, using a snaffle bit with side reins.
1962 W. Farley Man O'War xii. 123 Put any more weight than that on a yearling's back and you invite unsoundness, especially when you start asking a colt for fast work.
1977 A. C. H. Smith Jericho Gun i. 9 He's never been tried on a racecourse before, but I've ridden him out in work... I'm sure he'll win.
2007 C. M. Kahn Merck/Merial Man. Pet Health (Home ed.) I. vi. 686/2 In the absence of lameness, shoeing and work can continue.
c. Physical effort expended during participation in a sport or game; the application or skill displayed by a person, team, etc., during play. Cf. work rate n. (b) at Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > training > [noun]
training1581
work1846
training session1850
overtraining1856
roadwork1856
cross-training1903
groundwork1906
sweat1916
repetition1919
repetition running1955
weight training1955
circuit training1957
interval running1957
interval training1962
repetition training1965
brick1996
society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [noun] > proper movement
work1846
1846 Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper 12 July 12/3 The men..dashed off at a fair pace, keeping even, and doing apparently good work for 4½ miles, but hereabouts Priceson..stole away, got a lead, and did as he liked thereafter.
1882 Society 7 Oct. 23/1 As a man he has done extraordinary work at long-jumping, sprinting, and hurdle-racing.
1915 C. Mathewson Catcher Craig xiv. 179 When Sam, passing the plate to reach the coacher's box at first, went by him the umpire smiled as he said softly: ‘Quick work, Craig!’
1940 Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia) 22 Nov. 13/5 Fred's ferocious tackling and general work on the field couldn't be overlooked.
2012 G. Paul Top Ten of Everything Rugby iii. 148 He had the pace and ball skills to revel in Sevens, and he brought all that..to his work in the 15-a-side game.
d. The part of an activity, endeavour, etc., requiring the most effort; the main, central, or most important aspect or component.
ΚΠ
1869 P. Landreth Life A. Thomson i. 43 The services on such an occasion [sc. the communion] were..emphatically designated by devout people ‘the work’.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lvii. 395 The ‘work’ of politics means in America the business of winning elections.
1906 School World Feb. 47/2 School bookkeeping is tossed contemptuously on one side as..a worthless and mischievous encumbrance to the real work of teaching.
2007 M. W. McCarty & R. J. McCarty Be Champion of Youth iii. 52 This is the real work of a partnership: to build a community of learners by allowing different stakeholders to come to consensus.
6.
†a. As a count noun: an instance of constructing, maintaining, or repairing a building, estate, etc., esp. (in early use) a church (cf. church work n. 1). Also occasionally in plural with same sense. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > building or repair of churches
workeOE
church worka1225
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iii. vi. 176 Þa ðæt weorc þære cirican huhugu healf wæs geworht [L. cum opus idem ad medium ferme esset perductum], þa wæs heo mid deaðe forgripen.
1387 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 1 To the werkes of our lady of Abbechirch xx. s.
1398–9 in C. Innes Liber Sancte Marie de Melros (1837) 490 I..sal paye ilke wowke..halfe a marc..to þair new werke of Melros.
1428 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 81 (MED) Y be-quethe to the wherk of the Ill of the toon side of the Cloistere..vj s. viij d.
1482 in J. D. Marwick Charters Edinb. (1871) 169 Of ilk schip in generale of gudis ii bollis..to sanct Gelis werk.
1502 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1900) II. 270 For vj waw of Spanȝe irne to the werk in Halyrudhous.
b. As a mass noun: repair, renovation, or improvement carried out on something already constructed, esp. (part of) a building.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > reparation
boota1000
reparation?a1425
reformation1449
repair1524
rebuild1826
work1828
renovation1907
do-over1920
remodel1956
1828 12th Ann. Rep. Board Public Wks. Virginia 18 They have great satisfaction in being able to point to the work done on the road.
1885 Fruit Recorder 1 Oct. 145/1 We have lately had some work done on the terrace banks and lawns about our dwelling house.
1940 Michigan Technic Feb. 24/3 Probably the biggest installation job..was the work done on the Rackham Building.
1965 Chicago Tribune 23 Apr. (South Neighborhood News section) 1/1 I pulled into a Chicago filling station the other day for some work on my car.
2002 D. Browning Around House & in Garden 28 I had intended to avoid the expense of having work done on the bedrooms.
c. Improvement judged necessary to reach a more complete or satisfactory state; refinement; finessing. Chiefly in to need (some) work.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [noun]
betteringeOE
amendmentc1230
bote of beam1330
meliorationa1400
upraisingc1400
reformation?a1425
amelioration?a1450
enrichinga1513
amendsa1547
gooding1567
betterment1594
meliorization1599
endearment1612
raisure1613
betterance1614
ascenta1616
ascension1617
enrichmenta1626
improvement1625
booty beam1642
meliorating1647
bonification1652
uplift1873
work1914
pickupa1916
upgrading1920
tone-up1943
stepping1958
upgradation1979
upgrade1980
1914 Jrnl. of Indiana State Med. Assoc. 7 521/1 Another method, but one which still requires work, is the Roentgen ray.
1949 Billboard 1 Oct. 37/1 His rendition of ‘I Know’ is somewhat strained and grandiose, indicating that he'll need some work before he can relax with Tin Pan Alley's products.
1984 A. Falcon in J. Jennings & M. Rivera Puerto Rican Polit. in Urban Amer. i. iv. 40 The Puerto Rican political and historical research agenda is in need of some work.
1992 New Republic 8 June 13/2 The new gear—especially the oxygenated helmets—needs work.
2010 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 14 June b1/1 But he needs some work on his half-court offensive game.
d. colloquial. Cosmetic surgery. Frequently in to have work done.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > [noun] > types of surgery generally
plastic surgery1837
self-surgery1863
oral surgery1866
electrosurgery1870
Listerism1880
morioplasty1880
brain surgery1881
tachytomy1898
neurosurgery1904
radiosurgery1929
psychosurgery1936
microsurgery1959
microsurgery1960
cryosurgery1962
day surgery1968
work1968
biosurgery1969
psychic surgery1975
telesurgery1976
1968 P. M. McGrady Youth Doctors 194 A much-married actress whose silky-smooth face and coquettish, sexy allure have made her the darling of café society... ‘She's had some work done, shall I put it that way?’ replied one doctor.
1977 Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 16 Sept. (Focus section) 1/7 They are saying that..[her] original nine-hour surgery in New York was..for extra bosom work and some work on her chin.
1990 Observer (Nexis) 18 Nov. 51 They list some of the surgery alleged by certain European publications, including work on her nose, chin.., breasts.., thighs and buttocks.
1998 W. Barnhardt Show World 292 ‘Have you had work done, Mimi?’ ‘It's just a Wonderbra darling, but thank you!’
2013 Q. A. Hudes Water by Spoonful 40 He's had work done. Man looks younger than he did twenty years ago.
7. Mathematics. The process of calculation; a setting out of the successive steps of a calculation; = working n. 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > [noun] > mathematical enquiry > process of calculating
accountinga1387
workingc1400
work1557
approximation1695
calculating1710
composition1827
figuring1859
extension1861
complementation1946
1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Cc ii The totalle will bei (as here in worke appeareth) 335016.
1623 J. Johnson Arithmatick i. ii. sig. C The proofe of Addition is made by Subtraction; for if you subtract the numbers which you added from the totall of the Addition, there will remaine nothing, if the worke be truly done.
1678 J. Hawkins Cocker's Arithm. v. 57 I find the sum..to be 437503.., behold the work in the Margent.
1707 J. Ward Young Mathematician's Guide i. ii. 19 Take a few Examples without their work at large.
1811 R. Goodacre Arithm. adapted to Classes (ed. 4) 51 When..the remainder is more than the divisor, the quotient figure was too small, the work must be rubbed out, and a larger number supplied.
1913 T. J. McEvoy Questions & Answers in Methods: Arithm. 60 The only difficulty will be in setting down the work correctly.
2010 G. W. Green Making your Educ. work for You vi. 157 If you do not show your work, the teacher has no idea of what was going through your head at the time.
8. With reference to price: (the cost of) the labour involved in making or building something, as distinguished from the materials used. Cf. labour n. 10a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > as distinguished from material used
work?1733
?1733 W. Salmon Country Builder's Estimator 25 Steps of common Stairs,..of Oak, 8d. per Foot; the Work only 1d.½ per Foot.
1761 J. Mordant Compl. Steward II. 44 (table) Bricklayers work, per day.
1850 J. Iredell Rep. Supreme Court N. Carolina 10 176 Ballew agreed to sell to Cline a sorrel mare, which he, Ballew, was then riding, for sixty dollars: that Cline was to give his note for the amount agreed upon, payable in carpenter's work.
1891 Manch. Guardian 10 Dec. 5/3 The prices for work and material might prove higher than Mr. Leader Williams had supposed.
1965 R. I. Christophersen tr. R. Frisch Theory of Production i. 3 Wooden materials and the carpenter's work are production factors, while the chairs and tables are the products.
2009 Log Home Living Aug. 115/3 Today, a ‘cost-plus’ contract, where you agree to pay for the cost of the work and materials, as well as a fee to the contractor for overhead and profit, is more common.
9. slang. Illicit or criminal activity. Cf. job n.2 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime
crime1485
game1739
work1762
heel1911
1762 E. Collins Misc. in Prose & Verse 115 In some dark Corner Dick, she'll lurk. A Corner fitting for the Wurk.
1797 T. B. Pettyfogger Dramatized ii. i. 41 I've nothing to apprehend if Ferret remains staunch—why should he not? he has done all kind of work for me.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 226 An offender having been detected in the very fact..is..said to have been grab'd at work.
1865 Leaves from Diary Celebrated Burglar 105/1 We..surrounded her from observation while at ‘work’.
1926 J. Black You can't Win xxi. 338 Coppers located ‘work’ for burglars and stalled for them while they worked.
1963 T. Tullett Inside Interpol xiv. 192 If he netted only about 200 guilders he would start ‘work’ again in a week.
2004 N. Smith Few Kind Words & Loaded Gun (2005) i. 13 We could ill afford a tug [i.e. an arrest] for no tax when we were tooled up and plotted on a bit of work.
10. Science. The operation of a force in producing movement or other physical change, esp. as a measurable quantity; the result of a force operating through a distance; energy transferred from one system to another that causes changes in the macroscopic properties of the latter (such as volume, height, or speed).The ability of a system to do work depends on its energy (energy n. 6a(a)), and the same units measure both quantities: the joule (in the SI), electronvolt, kilowatt-hour, erg, calorie, foot-pound, and British thermal unit.The equivalence of heat and work was described by S. Carnot in 1824 ( Réflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu 4), and demonstrated by J. P. Joule in 1845 ( Philos. Mag. 27 205).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > energy or power of doing work > [noun] > effective operation of energy or force
energy1585
work1832
1832 W. Whewell First Princ. Mech. iv. 53 The work done by a machine may be represented as certain pressures exerted through certain spaces.
1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism I. 5 The unit of Work is the work done by the unit of force acting through the unit of length measured in its own direction.
1876 P. G. Tait Lect. Recent Adv. in Physical Sci. (ed. 2) xiv. 358 We now employ the term Energy to signify the power of doing work.
1878 Harper's Mag. Jan. 313/1 Fluorescent rays do chemical work within the substance, transforming quinine, for example, into quinicine.
1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §238 In lifting coals from a pit, the amount of work done is proportional to the weight of the coals lifted; that is, to the force overcome in raising them; and also to the height through which they are raised.
1905 F. M. Saxelby Course Pract. Math. xxi. 288 If a force F is moving a point with a velocity v in its own direction, the product Fv is the rate at which the force is doing work.
1955 Sci. News Let. 7 May 297/1 Use of muscle to do work and its recovery depends upon the chemical action of an enzyme.
2004 D. Pugh Changing Sea Levels App. 233 Gravitational potential is the work that must be done against the force of gravitational attraction.
II. The result or product of action, labour, etc.; the means or process by which this is achieved.
11. Chiefly with of or possessive adjective.
a. The product of the purposive labour or operation of a specified person or other agent; things made, considered collectively; creation, handiwork. Also more generally: the result of (one's) labour, something accomplished. Also (esp. in early use) in plural with same sense.In quot. 1594 in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > product of work > [noun]
workeOE
workingc1350
notea1400
piece of work1473
overage1474
workmanship1523
piece1604
opificec1616
jobbie1950
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) viii. 6 Constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum : gesettes hine ofer werc honda ðinra.
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. iv. 392 Ic wa[t] ðætte God rihtere is his agenes weorc [e] s.
a1275 Body & Soul (Trin. Cambr. B.14.39) l. 54 in A. S. M. Clark Seint Maregrete & Body & Soul (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan) (1972) 126 Vine [read Wi ne] auedestu þe bi þout þat tu and þine uerkes, hal solde uende to nout?
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. i. 16 Hem, that..offreden to aliene goddis, and honoureden the werc of ther hondis.
a1450 Lessons of Dirige (Digby) l. 236 in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 115 (MED) Lord, þou shalt clepe me, And I shal answere to þe, werk of þyn hande.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. lxiv. B We all are the worke of thy hondes.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Iviv Thether the workes of euery familie be brought.
1594 C. Marlowe & T. Nashe Dido iii. sig. D2v Ile make the Clowdes dissolue their watrie workes.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 59 The Almighty Father..bent down his eye, His own works and their works at once to view. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 147 The waxen Work of lab'ring Bees. View more context for this quotation
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 41 Figures..which we admire as the Work of sportful Nature.
1774 Ld. Monboddo Orig. & Progress of Lang. (ed. 2) I. Pref. p. i Man in his natural state, is the work of God.
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present iii. iv. 211 And now thy work, where is thy work? Swift, out with it, let us see thy work!
1898 Overland Monthly May 408/1 Sometimes the basket maker will possess her own peculiar designs and patterns which may be recognized anywhere by her tribesmen familiar with her work.
1953 B. Pym Jane & Prudence iv. 44 ‘He has never complained about my work,’ said Miss Clothier in rather a huffy tone.
1987 S. M. Socolow Bureaucrats of Buenos Aires, 1769–1810 iv. 68 It [sc. the meritorio system] produced work of a high quality.
2011 E. Carlson Joe Rochefort's War 5 The intelligence developed at Pearl Harbor was the work of many, not just Rochefort.
b. Without connotation of purpose or intention: the effect, consequence, or result of the action of a person or the operation of a thing, agent, etc.; (one's) doing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > effect, result, or consequence > [noun]
proofc1330
worka1382
workinga1382
consequentc1386
effectc1390
processa1400
consequencec1400
sequel1477
efficacea1492
operation1525
branch1526
efficacy1549
trial1559
ensuing1561
repercussion1603
success1606
productiona1610
salutation1609
succeedinga1616
pursuancea1626
spawna1631
income1635
result1638
importance1645
consequency1651
product1651
causal1652
causate1656
consectary1659
propter hoc1671
inference1673
corollary1674
resultment1683
produce1698
recussion1754
development1803
suitea1806
eventuation1813
sequent1838
sequence1853
causatum1879
sequela1883
ramification1925
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxxii. 17 Ther shal be the werk of riȝtwisnesse pes [L. erit opus iustitiae pax].
1561 H. Becher tr. Vocation & Callyng all Nations i. ix. sig. I(vii)v The victorie of the Sainctes is the worke of God, which dwelleth in the Saints.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) v. ii. 374 Looke on the tragicke lodging of this bed: This is thy worke . View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 112 Mimic Fansie..misjoyning shapes, Wilde work produces oft, and most in dreams. View more context for this quotation
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 35 This wonderful Œconomy for the Propagation..of Animals can not be the Work of the fortuitous meeting of Atoms.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor iv, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 97 What has been between us has been the work of the law, not my doing.
1859 G. Meredith Ordeal Richard Feverel II. viii. 147 This suggestion, the work of the pipe.
1896 Misc. Notes & Queries Nov. 295 The individuation of atoms is the work of the functioning ether.
1927 S. K. Humphrey Loafing through Pacific xiii. 303 Why spend days looking at wreckage which has been so altered by fire and reconstruction that there is little of the earthquake's work to be seen?
2010 W. McGehee Story of Harry xiv. 103 When the MC announced Harry as a guest in the audience and begged him to do a number for them, Harry gave Lousier a very stern look and said: ‘This must be your work!’
12. A thing made; a manufactured article or object; a structure or apparatus of some kind, esp. one forming part of a larger thing. Also as a mass noun.Now chiefly with modifying word. For more established compounds, as brickwork, firework, framework, ironwork, waxwork, etc., see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacture or production > [noun] > manufactured article or product
workOE
making1340
manufacture1587
preparation1590
manufactory1653
manufact1664
manufacturage1665
fabric1753
end-product1939
run-off1952
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 132 Chromatius hæfde behydd..an wurðlic weorc on mechanisc geweorc, of glæse and of golde.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Royal) (1934) 3 Þe ȝet weren monie..þe heiden ant hereden heðene mawmez, of stockes ant of stanes werkes iwrahte.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxix. 16 As if..the werk sey to his makere, Thou hast not mad me.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 1135 Tre-wark thai brynt that was in-to tha wanys.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ezek. i. 15 I sawe a worke off wheles vpon the earth.
1591 W. Raleigh Rep. Fight Iles of Açores sig. B3v All her tackle cut a sunder, her vpper worke altogither rased.
1622 Brit. Patent 18 (1857) 1 The mistery, arte, way, and meanes of melting of iron owre, and of makeing the same into cast workes or barrs.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis viii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 458 The radiant Arms beneath an Oak she plac'd... He rowl'd his greedy sight Around the Work.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Pastry Work made of Paste or Dough.
1757 J. Muller Treat. Artillery vi. 220 The plan of the Pontoon, one part of which is left open at the bottom, in order to shew the wooden work.
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XV. at Foundery Foundery of statues, great guns, and bells... The matter of these large works is..commonly a mixture of several [metals].
1843 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. I. 346 Small works are additionally cleaned in a rumble, or revolving cask, where they soon scrub each other clean.
1970 P. Berton National Dream vii. iv. 284 During the winter the railway builders would construct enormous fills—work that looked as if it would last forever.
2001 S. Roaf et al. Ecohouse (2002) viii. 186 On to this was built a grid work of aluminium extruded profiles designed with a lower foot screwed to the sarking.
13.
a. A large architectural or engineering structure, as a house, bridge, pier, etc.; a building, an edifice. Now Scottish and rare (historical or archaic).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > that which is built or constructed > [noun]
workOE
structure1560
construction1796
OE Crist I 3 Ðu eart se weallstan þe ða wyrhtan iu wiðwurpon to weorce.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxvi. 390 Se þe bytlað of þam grundwealle his weorc hryst to micclum lyre.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8460 He lette bulden halles. & rihte al þa workes þe ær weore to-brokene.
a1325 ( Charter: Abbot Vitalis to Gerald in E. Mason et al. Westminster Abbey Charters (1988) 108 Cuidam Giraldo..quandam terre mansionem quam Anglica lingua Vuerc appellatur apud Lundoniam civitatem concedo.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8780 Þe wrightes þat suld rais þe werck.
c1480 (a1400) St. Peter 14 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 7 Þu art petir, at is, oure stane, to byg myn wark one haff I tane.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin ii. 27 The mountayne that the werke was sette on gan to tremble.
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus ii. i. sig. Iiijv This warke that is in buyldynge.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. diij It [sc. Architecture] is but for building, of a house, Pallace, Church, Forte, or such like, grosse workes.
1655 M. Carter Anal. Honor in Honor Rediv. 168 Gresham College... This famous work, and most worthy College.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 731 The work some praise And some the Architect. View more context for this quotation
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. II. 484 None of the stones employed in those works [sc. Peruvian monuments] were formed into any particular or uniform shape, which could render them fit for building.
1910 Scotsman 3 Sept. 9/1 The Wark was the old Scottish name for George Heriot's magnificent pile. The boys still used that term in my correspondent's time.
1963 Stirlingshire: Inventory Anc. Monuments (Royal Comm. Scotl.) I. 44 Mar's Work..the despoiled remains of a former town-house of the Earls of Mar.
b. Chiefly British. In plural. Building or engineering operations.Clerk, Master of (the) Works: see the first element. public works: see public works n. (b) at public adj. and n. Compounds 1b. roadworks: see roadwork n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > building operations
worka1382
mortar1582
a1382 Prefatory Epist. St. Jerome in Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) vii. l. 138 To þe ryte of iewes, & þe dyuydid workes of walles [L. murorum..opera] & of toureȝ, by synguler meynese, brengen forþ oþer þing in þe rynde.
1537 J. Whalley Let. 14 May in Lisle Papers (P.R.O.: SP 3/14/31) f. 38 From dover the xiiijth day of may wth thand of..John Whalley pay maister of the Kinges workes at dover.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 58 The new Citadell was advancing with innumerable hands... I was permitted to walke the round, and view the Workes.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Surveyor Surveyor General of the Works.
1812 Literary Panorama Feb. 225 He is forced to purchase their admission by presents to the overseers of the works.
1897 Proc. Incorporated Assoc. Munic. & County Engineers 23 153 He is responsible for works affecting the welfare and well-being of every inhabitant.
1907 J. H. Patterson Man-eaters of Tsavo vi. 66 I had works in progress all up and down the line.
1955 Concrete Roads (Road Research Lab.) xv. 279 For large works, pavers which consist of a non-tilting mixer mounted on crawler tracks are sometimes convenient.
2004 RICS Business Mar. 38 (advt.) Your main focus will be to provide effective UK-wide project management of maintenance, refurbishment and fit-out works.
14. Military. A fortified building or other defensive structure, a fortification. Also (frequently in plural): any of the sides, walls, etc., of such a structure. Cf. bulwark n.Also as the second element in compounds, as earthwork, fieldwork, hornwork, outwork, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun]
workeOE
forcementa1382
strengtha1382
strengthinga1382
warding1382
closurea1400
bulwarkc1418
propugnaclea1460
fortification1489
munition?c1500
tuition1513
fortifying1523
furniture1577
munificence1596
bloccuz1600
burg-ward1753
propugnaculum1864
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. iv. 44 Nu seo burg swelc is, þe ær wæs ealra weorca fæstast & wunderlecast & mærast.
OE Daniel 44 Witgan foron..to ceastre forð, þær Israela æhta wæron, bewrigene mid weorcum.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xii. l. 19 Fortrace and werk that was with-out the toun Thai brak and brynt.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxxxvijv The kyng..taketh Turrine,..& fortifieth it with workes and strength of men.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. ii. 3 I will be walking on the workes . View more context for this quotation
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. iii. 55 I was faine to..let 'em win the Worke . View more context for this quotation
1669 P. Staynred Compend. Fortification 4 in S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. There may be..occasion in Forts to raise..Platforms, or Batteries, to command all the other Works.
1739 D. Hume Treat. Human Nature II. iii. 311 The disposition and contrivance of the bastions, ramparts, mines, and other military works.
1755 R. Rogers Jrnls. (1765) 6 I..sent out four men as spies, who..informed me, that the enemy had no works round them, but lay entirely open to an assault.
1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. xv. 242 Some six or eight thousand men..whom their leader, wisely, judges to be safer in their works, than in the field.
1872 G. H. Burton Rambles round Stamford i. 16 No longer able to keep possession, they demolished the work lest it should be turned to account by the English.
1915 D. S. Freeman in Lee's Disp. 234 (note) Drewry's Bluff..was defended with strong works against an attack from the south or west.
1934 Amer. Hist. Rev. 39 634 In front of the main works of the fortress were outworks classified as ravelins, counterguards, and face covers.
2011 J. V. Quarstein Big Bethel i. 19 A defensive work guarding the James River.
15.
a. Workmanship, make, style of construction; esp. with reference to ornamental workmanship. In early use also in † of work: ornamental (obsolete). Frequently with modifying word, esp. denoting place or period of origin, or a style associated with this.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > [noun]
crafteOE
workOE
working1536
finishing1663
fancy work1842
ornamentation1851
arts and crafts1888
society > occupation and work > work > product of work > [noun] > done by hand > make or workmanship
workOE
OE Blickling Homilies 207 Wæs þæt ilce hus eac hwemdragen, nalas æfter gewunan mennisces weorces þæt þa wagas wæron rihte.
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Corpus Cambr.) ii. xiii. 144 He..stænene cirican timbrede æþeles weorces [eOE Tanner geweorces].
a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 61 Min þeþis [read þeyis] honket so marbre-ston in werke [rhyme sterke, derke].
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. l. 179 Colers of crafty werke.
1424 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 56 Too fyne bordeclothes, þe one of werk, þe oþer playn.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. vii. 140 A gate of marble of meruayllous werke.
1529 Will of Thomas Cromwell in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) I. 57 My best ioyned bed of Flaunders wourke.
a1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1645 (1955) II. 296 The walls..are..incrusted with most precious marbles of various colours, & Workes.
1795 H. Cowley Town before You i. 11 Why did I never tell you before that she is a sculptor? She has a large room full of fine things of her own work.
1856 Catal. Wks. of Art of Col. Sibthorp (Christie & Manson) 28 The Virgin and Child, in the clouds, of German work, on a stand, faced with mother-o'-pearl, engraved with saints.
1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 339/2 Six silver barrels, a number of big bowls and basins of silver which required four men to carry them,..the whole of Russian work.
1901 R. Kipling Kim i. 10 The lama mounted a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles of Chinese work.
1936 J. G. Cozzens Men & Brethren (1958) i. 20 It was oak, about four feet high—supposedly, thirteenth-century work.
2005 T. Kaplan-Maxfield Mem. Shape-shifter xi. 365 She raised a crystal goblet and proffered it to me. It was of the finest work.
b. concrete. The product or result of workmanship; an ornamental pattern or figure; ornamentation, decoration. In later use only as a mass noun. Also with modifying word denoting the nature of the decoration.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [noun]
device1399
vicea1400
work?a1475
pattern1581
sleight1590
figure1609
design1670
wile1849
patterning1860
key band1881
maggot1925
?a1475 Noble Bk. Cookry in Middle Eng. Dict. at Werk Mak gret coffynes with lowe liddes..and lay on the liddes wild werks.
1547 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 11 Cootes..of clothe of golde with workes.
1622 Relation Eng. Plantation Plimoth, New Eng. 12 Baskets..curiously wrought with blacke and white in pretie workes.
1622 Relation Eng. Plantation Plimoth, New Eng. 38 Their faces..painted,..some with crosses, and other Antick workes.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1646 (1955) II. 477 The bed was dress'd up with flowers, & the Counterpan, strewed in workes.
1762 P. Murdoch tr. A. F. Büsching New Syst. Geogr. II. 305 Twenty-six coffins of black marble..being curiously decorated with works of gilt brass.
1861 Archæologia Cambrensis July 120 The south doorway..has its jambs decorated with work seemingly of the earliest part of the fourteenth, if not of the end of the thirteenth century.
1892 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 559/1 The most striking and important correspondence between the Mycenæan discoveries and Homer is that shown in the inlaid work on certain dagger-blades found at Mycenæ.
1904 H. J. L. J. Massé Pewter Plate xiii. 174 The smaller of the two plateaux is decorated with relief-work, the subject being chrysanthemums very gracefully treated.
1953 Galpin Soc. Jrnl. 6 56 Guitars were often highly decorated with inlaid work.
2007 M. P. Brown Pilgrim & Bee ii. 93 A leather cover might be decorated with work that is..visual (the metallic shine of gold tooling or the darkened relief of blind tooling).
16.
a. A literary or musical composition, esp. as considered in relation to its author or composer. Also (in singular and plural): (a person's) literary or musical compositions, considered collectively.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > [noun]
workOE
musica1586
composure?1606
composition1667
writings1672
morceau1748
op.1784
piece1825
opusc1840
confection1844
number1865
oeuvre1889
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun]
i-writeOE
bookOE
writOE
workOE
pagine?c1225
lettrurec1330
dite1340
inditing1340
writing1340
scripta1350
dittya1387
stylea1400
scriptiona1425
framec1475
invention1484
piece1533
ditement1556
paperwork1577
composition1603
confection1605
composure?1606
page?1606
the written word1619
performance1665
literature1852
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) Pref. ii. 4 Ðurh Albinus swiðost ic geðristlæhte þæt ic dorste þis weorc [L. hoc opus] ongynnan.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 24 Forr þi ȝerrndesst tu þatt icc. Þiss werrc þe shollde wirrkenn.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 112 (MED) In hir wirschip wald I bigyn A lastand warc apon to myn.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 1 Than wil I, in þe name of our Lord Ihesu, beginne þis werk.
c1480 (a1400) St. John Evangelist 524 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 124 A[l]s tellis elynandus of sancte Johnnis varkis, sayand þus, quhene he suld þe ewangel wryte [etc.].
1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell sig. B.ij Plutarke and Petrarke..With vincencius..yt wrote noble warkis.
1555 H. Braham Inst. Gentleman sig. Kvjv Alexander Magnus..vsed alwayes to carrye wyth hym the woorkes of Homer.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 681 When I was first writing this worke.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Warw. 125 He [sc. T. Drax] translated all the Works of Master Perkins (his Countryman and Collegiat) into Latine.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 124. ¶1 A Man who publishes his Works in a Volume.
1779 S. Johnson Butler in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets II. 24 If unexhaustible wit could give perpetual pleasure, no eye would ever leave half-read the work of Butler.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) i. 3 A Johnson's Dictionary—the interesting work which she invariably presented to her scholars, on their departure.
1879 G. Grove Dict. Music I. 116 Bach wrote unceasingly.., and the quantity of his works is enormous.
1892 Liverpool Mercury 13 July 7/2 One of the most delightful works of fiction, in which Hellenism and Christianity..are brought into conflict.
1900 W. P. Ker Ess. Dryden Introd. p. xix The history of Corneille's original work.
1960 N. Coward Diary 9 Oct. (2000) 448 I have been plodding through the works of Beckett, Wesker, etc., all filled with pretentious symbolism or violent left-wing propaganda.
2004 S. Morgan in H. Bloom Jane Austen's Persuasion 103 The particularity of character is assumed in all Austen's work.
2006 Nature 13 July 149/4 Such chords are prominent..in the works of such nineteenth-century pioneers as Richard Wagner.
b. A product of any of the fine arts, as a painting, statue, etc., esp. as considered in relation to its creator. Also as a mass noun: artistic products collectively or in the abstract. Cf. work of art at Phrases 3b, artwork n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > work of art > [noun]
work1531
bijou1834
artwork1859
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. viii. sig. Dijv Pandenus, a counnyng painter,..required the craftis man to shewe him where he had the..paterne of so noble a warke.
1539 Bible (Great) Psalms lxxiv. 6 They breake downe all ye carued worcke therof.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) v. ii. 97 Her Mothers Statue..by that rare Italian Master, Iulio Romæno, who (had he himselfe Eternitie, and could put Breath into his Worke) would beguile Nature of her Custome. View more context for this quotation
1684 tr. F. Hédelin d'Aubignac Whole Art of Stage vi. 33 As a Picture; that is, as the work of the Artist.
a1721 M. Prior Ess. & Dialogues of Dead: Lock & Montaigne in Dialogues of Dead & Other Wks. (1907) 243 Your Work is meer Grotesque, half images of Centaures and Sphynxes trailing into Flowers and branches.
1736 T. Atkinson Conf. Painter & Engraver 16 If the Engraver..with masterly shading Touches improve the Work.
a1806 J. Barry in R. N. Wornum Lect. on Painting (1848) 228 The works of Correggio, for which they had contracted an early prejudice.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House vii. 62 [The portrait] is considered a perfect likeness, and the best work of the master.
1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 43 The carved work mouldered fast 'Neath the suns, and the frosts.
1917 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Architects 5 408/2 A chronological list of all the work of Michelangelo.
1964 S. Hall & P. Whannel Pop. Arts i. ii. 55 These popular arts..were not objects of contemplation like the works of high art, but communal artifacts.
2008 New Yorker 31 Mar. 26/1 The impulse to consider them alongside the works of a European Surrealist like Giacometti is strong.
17.
a. Textile fabric, or something made of this, esp. while being made or worked on; needlework, embroidery, etc. Also: a piece of such fabric (now only in singular).See also drawnwork n., fancy work n., lacework n. 2a, needlework n. 1, openwork n., etc.Before the mid 20th cent. commonly associated with women: see note at sense 17b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun]
workeOE
draperya1300
cloth1377
toilec1440
ware1442
stuff1604
drape1665
fabric1753
kain1783
good1831
material1848
eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 37 Opere plumari[o], bisiuuidi uuerci.
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 64 Textrinum opus, towlic weorc.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Ecclus. xlv. 12 He ȝaf to hym..an holy stole with gold & bliw violet silc & sanguyn silc þe werk wouen [a1425 L.V. a wouun werk], þurȝ þe dom of þe wise man.
1466 in J. C. Cox Notes on Churches Derbyshire (1879) IV. 86 (MED) ij cushens of cowched worke.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 290/1 Worke made of woll, œuure de layne, lanifice.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Ezek. xvi. 10 I clothed thee also with broydred worke.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xli. 320 Their maner of weaving their workes, being both sides alike.
1618 ( Inventory in E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. (1866) 182 A vestment of baudekyn ye ground black with grene Werk.
1673 Gentlewomans Compan. 10 All works wrought with a Needle.
1795 H. Cowley Town before You i. 2 (stage direct.) Rising and laying down her work.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. iii. 74 The work she had knitted, lay beside her.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men I. vii. 175 On the other side [sat] a girl with work on her lap, sewing.
1910 E. M. Forster Howards End xliv. 336 Margaret put down her work and regarded them absently.
1975 E. Dunlop Robinsheugh xi. 84 The needle ran into her finger again, and she let her work fall with an anguished squawk.
2009 N. Marchant Knitting Brioche 12/2 Bring the working yarn to the back of the work.
b. The action or process of making a textile fabric or (more commonly) making something out of such fabric, as in weaving or (more usually) sewing, knitting, or the like.Recorded earliest in webwork n. at web n. Compounds 3.Before the mid 20th cent. commonly regarded as the characteristic occupation of women, and hence approaching a spec. use of sense 4a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > [noun]
workc1175
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > [noun]
workc1175
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > [noun]
workc1175
c1175 ( Nativity of Virgin (Bodl.) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 127 Heo wolde beon fram þare æreste tyde þæs dæges on hire halig beden wuniende oð ðet þa ðridde tyde, on þa nigoðæn tide emben hire webweorc [OE Hatton webbgeweorc].
a1400 Rule of Life of Our Lady (Harl.) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 159 (MED) Fro vndern to none sche ocupied hir in weving werke.
1592 P. Moffett Comm. Prouerbes Salomon 314 She findeth by experience, that her selling of cloth is profitable,..for this cause she sitteth vp late at her worke, being loth to loose any time.
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all iv. 46 She knows little besides her work and her Prayers.
1783 S. Johnson Let. (1994) IV. 170 Your time, my Love, passes, I suppose, in Devotion, reading, work, and Company... Of work, unless I understood it better, it will be of no great use to say much.
1862 E. Bulwer-Lytton Strange Story II. viii. 73 Taking pleasure..not in music, nor books, nor that tranquil pastime which women call work.
1883 M. Oliphant Hester I. x. 156 She was not very fond of work, but it was better than doing nothing at all.
1914 St. Nicholas Mar. 392/1 Priscilla..began her work, but the thread would tangle, and the needle would prick her finger, and she hated to sew anyway.
2002 A. Packer Dive from Clausen's Pier (2003) xiv. 146 I..cut off another foot of thread, poked it through the eye of the needle, knotted the end, and finished my work.
18.
a. An object that is to be, or is being, operated or worked on, esp. (in later use) with a tool or machine. Cf. sense 15.best work: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [noun] > subjecting to an action or process > undergoing or reception of action > one who or that which
object?a1425
worka1425
passivea1500
patienta1550
sufferer1587
undergoer1601
operatee1829
experiencer1862
experient1899
a1425 Rule St. Benet (Lansd.) (1902) 30 Als tite als te belle es herde, ilkain sal leue þe werke [L. relictis omnibus] þat es in þaire hende, and rinne hastelike til þe ure of god.
1597 tr. R. Bacon Mirror Alchimy vi. 12 The stone is often chaunged in decoction into diuerse colours... According to the diuerse colours appearing in the worke, the names likewise were varied by the Philosophers.
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. x. 190 The Diameter of the Work they intend to Turn in the Lathe.
1738 G. Smith tr. Laboratory i. 28 Boil the Work either in Alom-Water, or..Aqua Fortis.
1830 M. R. Mitford Our Village IV. 84 The wheeler's shop, always picturesque, with its tools, and its work.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 192 Work. Ore not yet dressed.
1938 Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 187/2 The pad provides a square, flat surface on which to place the work being drilled.
2003 Pract. Woodworking Nov. 31/3 (caption) Horizontal and vertical featherboards hold the work firmly in place.
b. figurative. In sporting contexts: the point or area at which action or effort is to be, or is being, applied. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [noun] > points at which force is to be applied
work1851
1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 117 Be sure you stand up to your work, or close to your block-hole.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports ii. viii. iii. §2. 476/1 He [sc. a rower] sits quite square to his work.
1925 G. C. Bourne Oarsmanship 32 Those theorists who would have us place oarsmen some three to six inches away from their work.
19.
a. An excavation in the earth made for the purpose of obtaining metals or minerals; a mine; = working n. 15.Recorded earliest in tin-work n. at tin n. Compounds 2, and now rare except as the second element in compounds, as coal work, iron work, etc.: see the first element. See also minework n., openwork n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun]
minea1393
work1474
mineral?a1500
minery1567
balc1600
groove1666
bargh1693
winning1708
working1708
wheal1830
show1898
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > other places in mine
work1474
firework1606
stemple1653
stool1653
bink1675
engine pit1687
swamp1691
feeder1702
wall1728
bag1742
sill1747
stope1747
rose cistern1778
striking-house1824
plat1828
stemplar1828
screen chamber1829
offtake1835
footwall1837
triple pit1839
stamp1849
paddock1852
working floor1858
pit house1866
ground-sluice1869
screen tower1871
planilla1877
undercurrent1877
mill1878
blanket-sluice1881
stringing-deal1881
wagon-breast1881
brushing-bed1883
poppet-leg1890
slippet1898
stable1906
overcut1940
1474–5 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1472 3rd Roll §31. m. 20 A tynwerk within the said counte of Cornewaill, called the myne of the cleker.
1565 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 400 Sauffand the werk and mynd of Glengonar and Wenlok.
c1610 in G. C. Bond Early Hist. Mining (1924) 15 After..his collyers have wrought sixe dayes in the workes.
1631 E. Jorden Disc. Nat. Bathes (1669) x. 71 We have but one Copper work that I hear of in all his Majesties Dominions, and that is at Keswick in Cumberland.
1770 Ann. Reg. 1769 102 Four colliers at work in a pit near Whitehaven, were all suffocated by the foul air of an old adjoining work.
1841 C. H. Hartshorne Salopia Antiqua Gloss. Gin,... A common mode of drawing materials out of a coal-pit when a work is in its infancy.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Work, a stall or working place.
1984 World Archaeol. 16 227 On East Lode there is a large water-filled opencast work associated with large waste-heaps of lead slag.
b. Chiefly British regional. A trench or artificial ditch dug for draining or irrigation. Now rare.Cf. waterwork n. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > [noun] > ditch
dikec893
gripa1000
ditch1045
fosselOE
water-furrowlOE
sow1316
furrowc1330
rick1332
sewer1402
gripplec1440
soughc1440
grindle1463
sheugh1513
syre1513
rain?1523
trench1523
slough1532
drain1552
fowsie?1553
thorougha1555
rean1591
potting1592
trink1592
syver1606
graft1644
work1649
by-ditch1650
water fence1651
master drain1652
rode1662
pudge1671
gripe1673
sulcus1676
rhine1698
rilling1725
mine1743
foot trench1765
through1777
trench drain1779
trenchlet1782
sunk fence1786
float1790
foot drain1795
tail-drain1805
flow-dike1812
groopa1825
holla1825
thorough drain1824
yawner1832
acequia madre1835
drove1844
leader1844
furrow-drain1858
1649 W. Blith Eng. Improver vii. 42 Cut a good Substanticall Trench round about thy Bogg..; And..make one work or two just overthwart it.
1708 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husb. (ed. 2) 20 Make your main Drains wide and deep enough to carry off the Water from the whole Level, and as straight as you can, carrying all your small Drains into the middle Drain, which is the Main of the Work.
1794 T. Davis Gen. View Agric. Wilts. 31 That the disposition of the trenches (provincially ‘the works of the meadow’,) should be uniform.
1799 T. Wright Art Floating Land 60 That one feeder made diagonally, and two others in different directions..will..with the assistance of the smaller works..be competent to effect a regular distribution of the water.
1804 R. Forsyth Princ. & Pract. Agric. II. 138 The bottom of the first work ought to be as deep as the bottom of the river, when the fall in the meadow will admit of it.
1895 L. Wilcox Irrigation Farming v. 39 The works must be strong enough to hold and control all the water which may ever flow there.
1906 B. O. Reynolds Irrigation Wks. i. 4 The principal works of this system are the main canals and distributaries.
20.
a. A set of (esp. moving) parts forming a machine or mechanism. In later use (in plural): the internal working parts of a machine; esp. the mechanism of a clock or watch.Perhaps originally a contextual use of sense 12.In early use esp. as the second element in compounds.Recorded earliest in wheelwork n. See also clockwork n., motion work n. at motion n. Compounds, watchwork n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > part(s) of
nut1428
peise1428
plumbc1450
Jack1498
clockwork1516
larum1542
Jack of the clockhouse1563
watch-wheel1568
work1570
plummeta1578
Jack of the clock1581
snail-cam1591
snail-work1591
pointer1596
quarter jack1604
mainspring1605
winder1606
notch-wheel1611
fusee1622
count-wheel1647
jack-wheel1647
frame1658
arbor1659
balance1660
fuse1674
hour-figure1675
stop1675
pallet1676
regulator1676
cock1678
movement1678
detent1688
savage1690
clock1696
pinwheel1696
starred wheel1696
swing-wheel1696
warning-wheel1696
watch1696
watch-part1696
hoop-wheel1704
hour-wheel1704
snail1714
step-wheel1714
tide-work1739
train1751
crutch1753
cannon pinion1764
rising board1769
remontoire1774
escapement1779
clock jack1784
locking plate1786
scapement1789
motion work1795
anchor escapement1798
scape1798
star-wheel1798
recoil escapement1800
recoiling pallet1801
recoiling scapement1801
cannon1802
hammer-tail1805
recoiling escapement1805
bottle jack1810
renovating spring1812
quarter-boy1815
pin tooth1817
solar wheel1819
impulse-teeth1825
pendulum wheel1825
pallet arbor1826
rewinder1826
rack hook1829
snail-wheel1831
quarter bell1832
tow1834
star pulley1836
watch train1838
clock train1843
raising-piece1843
wheelwork1843
gravity escapement1850
jumper1850
vertical escapement1850
time train1853
pin pallet1860
spade1862
dead well1867
stop-work1869
ringer1873
strike-or-silent1875
warning-piece1875
guard-pin1879
pendulum cock1881
warning-lever1881
beat-pin1883
fusee-piece1884
fusee-snail1884
shutter1884
tourbillion1884
tumbler1884
virgule1884
foliot1899
grasshopper1899
grasshopper escapement1899
trunk1899
pin lever1908
clock spring1933
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > [noun]
work1570
parta1677
workings1744
machinery1758
machine part1888
componentry1959
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. c.iiijv All maner of Milles, and Whele worke.
1769 W. Emerson Princ. Mech. 109 This work is within the watch between the two plates.
1773 T. Mudge Let. 19 Feb. in Descr. Timekeeper (1799) 40 The repeating work.
1773 T. Mudge Let. 19 Feb. in Descr. Timekeeper (1799) 40 The balance work.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 22 He took to pieces the eight-day clock..under pretence of cleaning the works.
1884 A. W. Kerr Hist. Banking in Scotl. xix. 184 The restriction imposed on the Bank of England acted like the sudden jamming of an engine's works.
1924 Pop. Mech. Nov. 732/2 The stopping of the large clock in the tower of an English church, due to jackdaws having built their nests in the works.
1964 Pop. Sci. Oct. 110/1 Grass, caught on his rotary mower's underside, gummed up the works.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 10 Apr. c26/6 The 1920s Cartier mystery clocks, so called because their works are ingeniously hidden.
b. colloquial (originally U.S.). In plural. The internal organs of a person or animal; the innards. Cf. waterwork n. 1c, plumbing n. 3d. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > internal organs > [noun]
innethc888
guta1000
inwardc1000
inwarda1300
entrailc1330
innerera1340
entraila1382
inwardness1388
bowelc1440
paunch?c1475
umbles1536
parts entire1596
inmeat1616
in-parta1629
internalsa1629
giblet1647
viscera1651
pluck1711
viscus1728
inside1741
trollibags1824
innards1825
interior1835
splanchnology1842
work1884
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xxxii. 281 Here we're a running on this way, and you hain't told me a word about Sis, nor any of them. Now I'll rest my works a little, and you start up yourn.
1885 ‘M. Twain’ in Cent. Mag. Dec. 196/1 Then it would bray—..spreading its jaws till you could see down to its works. It was a disagreeable animal.
1944 Living off Land: Man. Bushcraft v. 106 Even the shivers may only be a slight cold, or some little thing gone temporarily wrong with the works.
1974 E. Thompson Tattoo x. 114 She..gave a scootch and a twist to her works.
c. colloquial (originally U.S.). In plural. Processes, stages, etc., likened to the working parts of a machine; the components of a system. Cf. to throw a spanner in the works at spanner n.1 2b.
ΚΠ
1913 Mixer & Server (Cincinnati) 15 Apr. 58/2 If some one don't try to throw a monkey wrench into the works.., we will have an organization which will come close up to some of the leaders in the A. F. of L.
1951 N.Y. Herald Tribune 5 Jan. 32/1 Mr. Truman rejected a complaint..that he was slowing down the works by delaying his various messages so long.
1964 R. Gordon Nuts in May viii. 61 He wondered anxiously if the plan for the reunion in bliss had somehow got stuck in the works.
2013 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 26 May 4 In Whitehall's Alice-in-Wonderland world, disliked thoughts get lost in the works.
d. slang (originally U.S.). In plural. The equipment used for taking drugs, esp. intravenously.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > equipment for taking drugs
outfit1881
cooker1905
quill1916
spike1934
work1934
joint1935
rig1935
1934 L. Berg Revel. Prison Doctor iv. 42 All became adept in the use of ‘the works’; this was a syringe and needle.
1951 N.Y. Times 15 June 14/3 Do they ask you if you want the ‘works’ when you're buying needles?
1970 G. Scott-Heron Vulture v. 188 We found his works rolled up in a sheet in the bureau... He had the usual needles, eye dropper, syringe, cotton, and alcohol.
2000 N. Griffiths Grits 22 Ee must still be usin then, if ee carries is wirks around with im.
21. Chiefly British. An establishment or premises in which industrial or manufacturing processes are carried out; esp. a factory. In later use only in plural (often with singular agreement).Also as the second element in compounds: see gasworks n., glass-work n. 1, silk-work n. 3, waterwork n. 1b, etc.Recorded earliest in ironwork n. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > factory > [noun]
mill1403
work1581
factory1618
manufacture1623
manuary1625
manufactory1641
fabric1656
hong1726
plant1789
machinery1799
usine1858
oficina1889
officina1906
1581 Act 23 Eliz. c. 5 Which woods..be by him preserued and coppised for the vse of his Iron workes.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 322 The Servants,..in both the Works were upwards of three hundred.
1789 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 348 We cam' na here to view your warks, In hopes to be mair wise.
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. vii. 118 During the half-hour allowed at the works for tea.
1898 Mrs. H. Ward Helbeck of Bannisdale iii. i. 214 On night-duty at a large engineering ‘works’.
1911 F. W. Rolt-Wheeler Boy with U.S. Census iii. 90 His father before him was a barrel-sighter and his son has just entered the works.
1922 Amer. Federationist Feb. 144/2 The Great Lakes Engraving Works have closed down.
1976 Econ. Hist. Rev. 29 418 The Landore Works is reputedly the first to have installed a steam engine to drive a plate-rolling mill, in 1851.
2010 Independent 5 Oct. 17/1 The process sees sewage arriving at the works for treatment.
†22. A froth produced by fermentation in the manufacture of vinegar. Cf. work v. 6b. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > manufacture of other foodstuffs > [noun] > vinegar manufacture > froth produced in manufacture
work1839
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 4 To..see if the fermentation [of the vinegar] has been complete..we plunge into the liquor a white stick or rod..: if it be covered with a white thick froth, to which is given the name of work (travail), we judge that the operation is terminated.
23. colloquial (originally U.S.). In plural. With the. The whole lot; everything needed, desired, or expected. Also with intensifying adjective, as full, whole, etc. See also Phrases 2c(b), to shoot the works at shoot v. 23j.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > the whole or all > [noun] > the whole quantity, number, or amount > the whole lot
every whita1450
every stitch?a1500
the devil and all1543
prow and poop1561
Christ-cross-row1579
every snip1598
thread and thrum1600
boodle1625
hair and hoof1705
rag-tag (also rag, tag) and bob-tail1725
tutti quanti1772
lot1791
lock, stock, and barrel1824
stock and fluke1825
the whole boiling1837
box and dice1839
the whole caboodlea1848
sub-cheese1859
the whole kit and boiling (boodle, caboodle, cargo)1859
the whole jingbang1866
the whole hypothec1871
the whole ball of wax1882
the whole (entire) shoot1884
(at) every whip-stitch1888
work1899
issue1919
guntz1958
full monty1979
1899 J. London Let. 18 May (1966) 38 I..quite enjoyed the thought of saying good-bye to the whole works.
1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle iii. 35 Tell him the works.
1971 Chicago Tribune Mag. 6 June 24/2 Suddenly there's this insatiable craving for a [hot] dog with ‘the works’.
1977 Guardian 23 Dec. 7/7 I get an enormous kick out of doing the full works for Christmas.
1989 C. Grant Last India Overland 38 I like castles, and this one had the works.
2003 T. McClain-Watson Loose Lips 55 I wanted the full treatment tonight. Dinner, a movie, the works.
III. Suffering, disturbance, commotion.
24. Originally: †suffering, pain; distress, affliction (obsolete). Later in weakened sense: disturbance, commotion, fuss; an instance of this. Cf. to make work at Phrases 2d(b), wark n.1 Now rare (regional in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > [noun]
sorec888
teeneOE
sorrowOE
workOE
wrakeOE
careOE
gramec1000
harmOE
howc1000
trayOE
woweOE
angec1175
derfnessc1175
sytec1175
unwinc1175
wosithc1200
ail?c1225
barrat?c1225
derf?c1225
grief?c1225
misease?c1225
misliking?c1225
ofthinkingc1225
passion?c1225
troublec1230
pinec1275
distress1297
grievancea1300
penancea1300
cumbermentc1300
languorc1300
cumbering1303
were1303
angera1325
strifea1325
sweama1325
woea1325
painc1330
tribulationc1330
illa1340
threst1340
constraintc1374
troublenessc1380
afflictiona1382
bruisinga1382
miseasetya1382
pressurec1384
exercisec1386
miscomfortc1390
mislikea1400
smarta1400
thronga1400
balec1400
painfulnessc1400
troublancec1400
smartness?c1425
painliness1435
perplexity?a1439
penalty?1462
calamity1490
penality1496
cumber?a1513
sussy1513
tribule1513
afflict?1529
vexation of spirit1535
troublesomeness1561
hoe1567
grievedness1571
tribulance1575
languishment1576
thrall1578
tine1590
languorment1593
aggrievedness1594
obturbation1623
afflictedness1646
erumny1657
pathos1684
shock1705
dree1791
vex1815
wrungnessa1875
dukkha1886
thinkache1892
sufferation1976
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > commotion, disturbance, or disorder > [noun]
winOE
torpelness?c1225
disturbance1297
workc1325
disturblingc1330
farec1330
frapec1330
disturbing1340
troublingc1340
blunderc1375
unresta1382
hurling1387
perturbationc1400
turbationc1400
rumblec1405
roara1413
rumourc1425
sturblance1435
troublec1435
stroublance1439
hurlc1440
hurly-burlyc1440
ruffling1440
stourc1440
rumblingc1450
sturbancec1450
unquietness?c1450
conturbationc1470
ruption1483
stir1487
wanrufe?a1505
rangat?a1513
business1514
turmoil1526
blommera1529
blunderinga1529
disturbation1529
bruyllie1535
garboil1543
bruslery1546
agitation1547
frayment1549
turmoiling1550
whirl1552
confusion1555
troublesomeness1561
rule1567
rummage1575
rabble1579
tumult1580
hurlement1585
rabblement1590
disturb1595
welter1596
coil1599
hurly1600
hurry1600
commotion1616
remotion1622
obturbation1623
stirrance1623
tumultuation1631
commoving1647
roiling1647
spudder1650
suffle1650
dissettlement1654
perturbancy1654
fermentationa1661
dissettledness1664
ferment1672
roil1690
hurry-scurry1753
vortex1761
rumpus1768
widdle1789
gilravagea1796
potheration1797
moil1824
festerment1833
burly1835
fidge1886
static1923
comess1944
frammis1946
bassa-bassa1956
OE Andreas (1932) 1277 Hra weorces ne sann, wundum werig.
OE Cynewulf Juliana 569 Þæt þam weligan wæs weorc to þolianne, þær he hit for worulde wendan meahte.
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Corpus Cambr.) iv. xxi. 322 Of sweoran forðhlifaþ seo reðnes & bryne þæs swyles & weorces [eOE Tanner wærces].
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9207 Holichirche He bigan to worri & made him þe worse wurche.
1473 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 464 He seyde that this troble sholde begyn in Maye,..that þe Scottys sholde make vs werke.
?1529 S. Fish Supplicacyon for Beggers sig. 5v Your grace may se whate a worke there is in London, howe the bisshoppe rageth for endyting of certayn curates of extorcion and incontinency the last yere in the warmoll quest.
1676 Earl of Anglesey in C. E. Pike Essex Papers (1913) II. 71 Philipsburgh and Mastrick are sore pressed, and there is hot worke at both.
1717 M. Prior Alma iii. 250 Tokay and Coffee cause this Work, Between the German and the Turk.
1776 L. Gansevoort Let. 8 Nov. in J. Judd Corr. Van Cortlandt Family (1977) 106 The enemy..are returned to Canada, telling the inhabitants that..early in the spring they would return and give them (meaning our Army) hot work.
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. ii. 24 This work about Esther, and not knowing where she is, lies so heavy on my heart.
1896 G. F. Northall Warwickshire Word-bk. 269 There'll be nice work over this broken window.
1923 E. Gepp Essex Dial. Dict. (ed. 2) 123 Sech a work, an' that don't make a hap'th a differ.
1972 Tocher No. 8. 249 There were a graet wark wi puttin baas, an they puttit baas till the 24th night [of Yöl].

Phrases

P1. With a preposition.See also awork adv.
a. at work.
(a) Occupied with labour; engaged in a task; working, esp. at one's regular job or occupation. Cf. hard at work at hard adj. and n. Phrases 6a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [adverb]
in worka1382
at work?1440
in (also into, out of) employ1659
to work1776
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupied or busy [phrase]
at work?1440
at it1609
in (full) play1669
on the run1795
on the trot1822
on the hop1863
on the job1882
for (or on) the (high) jump1884
as busy as a nailer1899
the world > action or operation > in operation [phrase] > specifically of a machine
at work1683
in tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) Prol. l. 90 At Oxenford thys lord his bookis fele Hath euery clerk at werk.
1511 H. Watson tr. St. Bernardino Chirche of Euyll Men & Women sig. D.iijv You se it by ye experyence of dyuers, they can not abyde halfe a day at werke.
1570 J. God Disc. Great Crueltie of Widowe sig. B.iijv Hard at woorke,..She skant would lift hir from her stoole where she as then did spin.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. i. 73 I was set [i.e. seated] at worke, Among my Maids. View more context for this quotation
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 148 That the Matrice fly or start not back when it is at Work.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccccxl. 417 You [sc. a mole] have Nothing for Digging 'tis True; but pray who set you at Work?
1709 J. Strype Let. 21 Mar. in Lett. to R. Thoresby (1832) II. 235 The book will make one hundred sheets in folio,..and there are three presses at work about it.
1773 Scots Mag. June 326/2 They were taken at Pittsylvania, about two o'clock in the afternoon, at work in their shop.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. x. 141 The poor woman was still hard at work at an ironing-table.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men II. xxxii. 295 The street..was as quiet as on the Sunday, the children being at school and the men at work.
1940 R. Wright Native Son i. 11 With his hands deep in his pockets, another cigarette slanting across his chin, he brooded and watched the men at work.
1979 D. P. Jordan King's Trial i. 18 Edmund Burke..was already at work on the first great book to be inspired by the Revolution.
2008 C. Walsh Interns: Truth or Fashion iii. 35 When I'm away from my desk, you make sure to tell people that I'm hard at work on our presentation.
(b) More generally: occupied in some action or process, esp. to a definite end; actively engaged; in operation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > in operation [phrase]
aworka1398
at work1549
in action1584
on foot1586
in motion1598
in operation1878
1549 W. Baldwin Canticles of Salomon iv. sig. f.iv Thy brestes, thy helpe to succour all that nede Alwayes at wurke.
1655 in C. H. Firth Clarke Papers (1899) III. 17 The Blades..who were att worke to have brought new troubles uppon us.
1688 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 600 The Jesuites hard at worke to foment confusions amongst the Protestants.
a1708 W. Beveridge Wks. (1720) I. xl. 344 The Father is always at work in the Government of the World.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xviii. 158 Your pretty imagination is always at work to aggrandize the man.
1820 R. Southey Life Wesley I. 3 He has set mightier principles at work.
1862 Cornhill Mag. Jan. 35 The mare..continued her feeding. How she enjoyed this plashy young grass! She had been at work in this way for the last five or six hours.
1887 J. R. Lowell Democracy & Other Addr. 12 The little kernel of leaven that sets the gases at work.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 874 These lowly lichens..begin the weathering of the rocks, and we find them at work on the tops of the hills.
1970 Observer 15 Feb. (Colour Suppl.) 24/1 Sinister influences are at work to turn Fiji into another Hawaii, that plastic paradise further along the route.
2009 L. Joseph in L. Robin et al. Boom & Bust 219 Ways of thinking about how evolution is at work in species that undergo periodic booms and busts.
(c) Of a mine: in the process of being worked (work v. 30b); in active operation.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > [adverb] > in process of being worked
at work1665
1665 D. Dudley Mettallum Martis sig. A4 They..would lay in a Common, or Joynt Stock, fully to set the Mines at Work.
1713 M. Stringer Opera Mineralia Explicata 245 Thomas Bushel; who..extracted to much Silver and Gold, as kept several Mines at work.
1802 J. Britton & E. W. Brayley Beauties Eng. & Wales III. 27 During the times the mines are at work, the laborers are reported to be watched as narrowly as if they were gathering pearls.
1878 Ann. Rep. Dept. Mines New S. Wales 1877 67 At present the only mine at work in the Quartz Ridge is that known by the name of the Just in Time.
1911 Act 1 & 2 George V c. 50 §36 Two shafts..with which every seam for the time being at work in the mine shall have a communication.
1951 N.Y. Herald Tribune 1 Apr. ii. 10/5 Only five lode gold mines are at work compared to thirty producers before the war.
1998 R. Church Strikes & Solidarity (2002) v. 89 The prevalence of strikes in 1938, when 9 or 10 per cent of all mines at work were struck, was..greater than in previous years.
b. Phrases with in.
(a) in work.
†(i) Engaged in a task; in operation; = at work at Phrases 1a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [adverb]
in worka1382
at work?1440
in (also into, out of) employ1659
to work1776
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) Judges xvi. 11 If I [sc. Samson] were bowndyn wiþ newe cordys þe whiche weryn not ȝit in werk [L. novis], I schal ben feble.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Chron. x. E Daye and night were they in worke withall.
1568 Abp. M. Parker Let. 4 July in Corr. (1853) (modernized text) 328 I am content to set some of my men in work.
c1610 in G. C. Bond Early Hist. Mining (1924) 15 It is mutche wished..that suche an ingein may be seene in worcke.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. iii. 127 Most commonly there are 12 or 14 Colerys in work, and twice as many out of work, within 10 miles round.
1777 C. Carroll Let. 12 Aug. in B. Franklin Papers (1984) XXIV. 420 When our plating mills get in full work, it will be better to make the pans of plate iron.
(ii) In regular employment. Also with qualifying adjective, as full-time, part-time, etc. Cf. out of work adv., in-work adj. at in- prefix1 2.Occasionally also as noun, denoting a person who is in regular employment: cf. quot. 1924.
ΚΠ
1519 Statutes Prohemium Iohannis Rastell sig. F.iiv If any..seruaunt woman seruaunt or child seruaunt beforesayd nat reteyned in worke refuse to serue then he to be commytted to warde by the constable.
1599 S. Harsnett Discov. Fraudulent Pract. I. Darrel xi. 59 The trades-men in that skil [sc. casting out devils], haue deuised many wayes to keepe themselues in worke.
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved i. 5 The labouring man,..who may be were he not maintained in work would cost as much as to be maintained idly.
1738 J. Munn Observ. Brit. Wool 28 This makes them that have a good Place of Work, take all the care imaginable to please their Masters, that they may keep in Work.
1842 W. C. Taylor Notes Tour Manufacturing Districts Lancs. iii. 39 When in good work the united earnings of both averaged about 30s. weekly.
1897 Daily Tel. 4 Jan. 5/4 It was remarked that the Select Committee..never consulted any person who was not in full work.
1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey i. xii The out-of-works and the in-works.
1953 Soviet Stud. 4 237 Both the parents are in full-time work and the three children are at school.
1971 Daily Tel. 16 June 3/3 Men are prevented from drawing more in State benefits than they had earned while in work.
2007 P. Hughes et al. Building Stronger Communities ii. 40 15 per cent of those who had casual work had no one to whom they could turn for personal support compared with 8 per cent of those people in part-time work.
(b) to put (also set) in work: †(a) to make use of (obsolete); (b) to put in operation; = to put (also set) to work at Phrases 1f(a) (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > use or make use of [verb (transitive)]
noteOE
take?a1160
turnc1175
usec1300
to fare witha1340
benote1340
spenda1400
usea1400
weara1400
naitc1400
occupy1423
to put (also set) in work?a1425
practise?c1430
apply1439
employ?1473
to call upon ——1477
help1489
tew1489
handle1509
exercise1526
improvea1529
serve1538
feed1540
enure1549
to make (also take) (a) use of1579
wield1601
adoperate1612
to avail oneself ofa1616
to avail oneself ofa1616
prevail1617
to make practice of1623
ploy1675
occasion1698
to call on ——1721
subserve1811
nuse1851
utilize1860
the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > begin or enter upon (an action) [verb (transitive)] > cause to begin to act or operate
to put (also set) to worka1398
to put on work?1440
streek?a1500
setc1500
to put (also set) in (also into) motion1598
spring1598
to set offa1625
to put (also set) in work1626
to set (a-)going1705
start1822
to start up1865
to set in motion1890
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 192 In that contree..men putten in werke the sede of cotoun.
1546 S. Gardiner Declar. True Articles f. lxixv Man can not playe goddes parte, and of him selfe put in worke, the material cause of vertue.
1626 C. Potter tr. P. Sarpi Hist. Quarrels 100 The Iesuites..put in worke all their artifices.
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. viii. 41 For his Gloves were put in work sixteen Otters skins,..for the bordering of them.
1655 F. G. tr. ‘G. de Scudéry’ Artamenes IV. vii. i. 86 All the Carvers and Ingravers of any reputation were set in work.
1798 J. H. Stone Orig. Lett. to Dr. Priestley 14 The government here are putting in work every engine, attempting to engage every passion, to enlist every prejudice.
1864 Mining & Smelting Mag. 6 261 The roasting in open heaps is at present carried on at the Eckardthütte.., until the sulphuric acid manufactory is put in work.
1921 Motor Boating Sept. 18/2 The interior furnishings..were put in work long before Nourmahal was launched.
1934 Economist 11 Aug. 262/1 The Peace Treaties contained a clause automatically setting it in work for all signatories.
(c) Originally U.S. in the works: in preparation; under way. Cf. sense 21, in the pipeline at pipeline n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > in progress [phrase]
in handc1405
in expeditiona1616
on (also upon) the anvil1645
on the wheel1677
in progress1849
in the works1870
in process1906
in the pipeline1945
1870 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 17 May Several matters of great interest are ‘in the works’, and will receive due attention both from members of the lobby and members of the legislature.
1935 N. J. Ware Labor in Mod. Industr. Society x. 216 Why, if the revolution was ‘in the works’, to put it crudely, should Marx bother to write the Communist Manifesto?
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 16 Oct. 10/3 As might be expected, a movie deal is in the works.
1984 National Times (Austral.) 2 Nov. 41/2 There are, of course, follow-up books in the works.
2008 H. F. Lynch Confl. of Conscience in Health Care ii. 57 The existence of the current debate might suggest that a renegotiation of professional responsibilities is in the works.
c. of all work (also †works): (as postmodifier) employed in or involving all kinds of (esp. domestic) work, as opposed to one particular role or responsibility. Also in extended use. Now somewhat archaic.For more established phrases, as man-of-all-work, maid-of-all-work, woman of all work, etc., see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > [phrase] > employed in all kinds of work
of all work (also works)1750
1750 Student 1 No. 5. 173 She..sent for us, and in a week's time recommended us both to places, what they call in London places of all work.
1775 Pennsylvania Evening Post 30 Mar. 114/2 (advt.) Wanted a complete Servant for a Place of all Work, in a middling Family.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility III. ii. 50 Two maids and two men, indeed!.. No, no, they must get a stout girl of all works . View more context for this quotation
1824 W. Scott in A. Radcliffe Novels Pref. p. xviii A garrulous waiting-maid;..a villain or two of all work.
1896 Current Lit. July 15/1 A literary hack is a writer of all work who writes for pay.
1914 Nation 16 May 271/2 Another industrious author of all work.
2007 J. E. Fischer in J. E. Fischer & K. I. Bland Master of Surg. (ed. 5) I. Pref. p. xxix/2 The director of the department, business manager, factotum, and person of all work.
d. to put (also †set) on work: = to put (also set) to work at Phrases 1f(a). Now rare.In quot. ?1440 in †to set to on work; cf. to set to 6a at set v.1 Phrasal verbs 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > begin or enter upon (an action) [verb (transitive)] > cause to begin to act or operate
to put (also set) to worka1398
to put on work?1440
streek?a1500
setc1500
to put (also set) in (also into) motion1598
spring1598
to set offa1625
to put (also set) in work1626
to set (a-)going1705
start1822
to start up1865
to set in motion1890
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iv. l. 720 Fodder hem [sc. cattle] as thay beth setto on werke [L. laborum coget accessio].
1549 H. Latimer 1st Serm. before Kynges Grace sig. Diiii To the setting his subiectes on worke, and kepynge them from idlenes.
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 31v His witte shalbe new set on worke.
1576 G. Gascoigne tr. Pope Innocent III 1st Bk. Vewe Worldly Vanities in Droomme of Doomes Day sig. B.j They..till feildes, dresse viniards, heat fornaces, and set milles on worke.
1636 G. Primrose tr. D. Primrose Treat. Sabbath iv. v. 300 The persons whom the one put on work for the preparing of their feast.
1693 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. III. 193 When the Powers of the Soul shall be more awaken'd, and its Thoughts more vehemently set on work.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 258 All the manufacturing Hands in the Nation were set on Work.
1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. v. lii. 401 By setting on work such immense numbers of our manufacturers.
1839 Brit. & Foreign Rev. 8 246 How is the unemployed population of Ireland to be put on work in a manner that will be useful to the state?
1887 Manch. Guardian 10 Aug. 6/4 The express engine drivers, the men of long experience in the Company's service, have been put on work.
1908 Monthly Cycl. & Med. Bull. (Philadelphia) Oct. 528 In the White Haven Sanatorium patients were originally put on work.
e. out of work: see out of work adv., adj., and n.
f. Phrases with to.
(a) to put (also set) to work.
(i) To set (a person, an animal, etc.) to a task, or to do something; to put (a thing) to use, or (less commonly) in action or operation. Also (reflexive): to apply oneself to labour or an occupation or undertaking; to set about doing something. [Compare Middle French, French mettre en besogne (early 15th cent.; mid 15th cent. in reflexive use).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > begin or enter upon (an action) [verb (transitive)] > cause to begin to act or operate
to put (also set) to worka1398
to put on work?1440
streek?a1500
setc1500
to put (also set) in (also into) motion1598
spring1598
to set offa1625
to put (also set) in work1626
to set (a-)going1705
start1822
to start up1865
to set in motion1890
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xli. 1190 Atte laste he [sc. a colt] is ysette to worke [L. labori exponitur]..and may nouȝt souke his dame tetes.
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes iii. viii. sig. Miij Euery lorde,..that taken folke in to wages, is holden to paye them for al the tyme that they be so taken be they putte to werke or not.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Diiv A nysot..That wyll syt ydyll..And can not set herselfe to warke.
1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Job (new ed.) xxxix. 200/2 They [sc. our nails] serue to arme the fingers, that they may be put to worke.
1641 W. Gouge Sabbaths Sanctification 34 That time wherein they are not put to work they spend in sleeping, grazing, or otherwise feeding.
1662 S. Pepys Diary 19 Dec. (1970) III. 286 With the Lieutenant's leave, set them to work in the garden in the corner against the Mayne-guard.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 286 I set Friday to Work to boiling and stewing.
1749 T. Smollett tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas IV. xii. i. 176 The time draws near when I shall set thy address to work.
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. iv. 104 Such a lamp..is..soon set to work, and as soon extinguished.
1838 H. C. Carey Princ. Polit. Econ. II. v. 209 They were put to work that bore no relation to their age, their strength, or their habits.
1867 ‘Ouida’ Cecil Castlemaine's Gage 235 Somebody else daring him to go in for honours,..he set himself to work to show them all what he could do.
1909 Bull. Internat. Bureau Amer. Republics May 844 I saw a statement..that there were hundreds of thousands of idle workingmen in this country. Let us lay plans now to put them to work.
1961 New Statesman 26 May 830/3 Nancy..set her persuasive charms to work to get Billy, Bob and Nick a free sky-sheltered bench to kip on.
2011 S. Pinkerton Fall of House of Forbes xviii. 101 Heimann put him to work in a room with a stack of annual reports and an adding machine.
(ii) In passive. Of a mine: to be put in operation. Cf. Phrases 1a(c).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > begin working
to fall to work1523
fall1589
to go out1660
to put (also set) to work1694
to turn to1799
1694 T. Houghton Royal Inst. Ep. Ded. sig. A3 Which Veyns and Mines, if they was..Set to Work, by any that understands them, would..prove as Rich.
1792 T. Wilson Compar. Statement of Effects of Steam Engines 4 In the latter end of 1779 these Mines ceased working, and in September 1782 were again set to work by five of Boulton and Watts Engines.
1864 Mining & Smelting Mag. May 271 A large number of new mines were put to work.
1909 Proc. 20th Ann. Convent. United Mine Workers Amer. 583 A communication from the Operators' Association,..cutting off negotiations unless the Hudson mine was put to work.
2001 Monumenta Nipponica Spring 78 In 1946 fourteen coal mines were set to work again.
(b) to get (also get down, go, go adown, set, set down) to work: to proceed to some action (expressed or implied); to begin doing something, esp. in a purposeful or energetic manner; to commence operations. See also to fall to work at fall v. Phrases 1c(a). Cf. to get down to business at business n. Phrases 13.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > begin action or activity [verb (intransitive)]
beginc1000
onginOE
aginOE
ginc1175
to go tillc1175
to take onc1175
comsea1225
fanga1225
to go toc1275
i-ginc1275
commencec1320
to get (also get down, go, go adown, set, set down) to workc1400
to lay to one's hand(sc1405
to put to one's hand (also hands)c1410
to set toc1425
standa1450
to make to1563
to fall to it1570
to start out1574
to fall to1577
to run upon ——1581
to break off1591
start1607
to set in1608
to set to one's hands1611
to put toa1616
to fall ona1625
in1633
to fall aboard1642
auspicatea1670
to set out1693
to enter (into) the fray1698
open1708
to start in1737
inchoate1767
to set off1774
go1780
start1785
to on with1843
to kick off1857
to start in on1859
to steam up1860
to push off1909
to cut loose1923
to get (also put) the show on the road1941
to get one's arse in gear1948
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. vii. l. 181 To werke we ȝeden.
1563 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments 1594/2 Say your mind, and goe briefly to worke. For I thinke it almost diner.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. ii. sig. O7 Swearing he neuer knew man go more aukewardly to worke.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iv. i. 33 Ile go another way to worke with him: Ile haue an action of Battery against him. View more context for this quotation
1634 J. Bate Myst. Nature & Art iii. 120 Having provided these, you shall set to worke, observing the subsequent directions.
1672 T. Shadwell Miser ii. 17 How did you go to work to Suiter my Mother?
1681 R. Griffith A-la-mode Phlebotomy No Good Fashion 11 Then he goes a down right way to work, and finds fault with every kind of thing..that has been made use of, before his coming.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 158 I set to Work a Taylering, or rather indeed a Botching.
1771 O. Goldsmith Hist. Eng. I. 363 This parliament..went expeditiously to work upon the business of reformation.
1826 New Monthly Mag. 16 353 I..set to work at another two-act piece.
1888 House Painting & Decorating Dec. 79/2 When he finally got down to work, the manner in which he could handle the bunch of bristles rather astonished the boys.
1890 Temple Bar July 329 His wits went instantly to work.
1906 Watson's Mag. Nov. 70/1 I set down to work that afternoon to study my ‘Brain Surgery’.
1940 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. 13 May 5/2 The authorities went to work yesterday to clean up Amsterdam with a vengeance.
1956 Life 2 Apr. 99/1 (advt.) Golden Vigoro..goes to work immediately. Clean and odorless!
2010 ‘M. Caine’ Elephant to Hollywood v. 67 ‘OK,’ he said, ‘let's get to work.’
(c) to work.
(i) As an imperative exhortation to begin or resume work or an activity.
ΚΠ
1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. C4 Follow me Hodge, follow me Hans, come after my fine Fyrk, to worke, to worke a while and then to breakfast.
1676 T. Shadwell Virtuoso iii. 76 I have forty of 'em [sc. disguises] upon Intriguo's and businesses. But now to work. Do you know me?
1731 C. Coffey & J. Mottley Devil to Pay iv. 16 To Work, to Work, come and spin, you Drab, or I'll tan your Hide for you.
1792 H. Cowley Day in Turkey ii. 28 What are you seated for, and tuning your pipes in the middle of the day?—To work—to work, sirrah!
1846 M. Ryllo et al. tr. M. Mieczyslawska Nuns of Minsk i. 26 We have rested well my children, let us now try to work well. To work! to work!
1880 Harper's Bazar 18 Dec. 802/3 Each true-born American shakes off his blissful idleness, and cries, ‘To work! to work!’
1907 J. R. Carling By Neva's Waters xxv. 248 ‘Now, girls, to work!’ said he cheerfully.
1940 K. A. Porter Let. 14 June (1990) iv. 181 Well, to work, to work: these long days are splendid, they cannot last.
1995 A. Warner Morvern Callar (1996) 82 Right now, to work!
2009 J. Lindsay Dexter by Design (2010) xvii. 129 All right then: to work. Time to heed the clarion call and strap myself into my trusty computer.
(ii) U.S. colloquial. In the process of working; at work. Cf. to prep. 4. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [adverb]
in worka1382
at work?1440
in (also into, out of) employ1659
to work1776
1776 in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1886) 2nd Ser. II. 304 [We] met some people to work on the High: way.
1827 S. S. Arnold Proc. Vermont Hist. Soc. (1940) 8 111 Her husband..had died instantly in the barn, where he was to work.
1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing, Major xvi. 116 I have been to work on it ever since we was at the Rip-Raps.
1858 Rome (New York) Sentinel Sept. The boiler..passed through the main building..without injuring the workmen there, although men were to work on each side of where the boiler passed.
1978 M. Z. Lewin Silent Salesman xxvii. 146 He's to work... Don't rightly know what time he'll be back.
P2. Phrases with verbs.
a.
(a) to cut out work (for a person): to prepare work to be done by a person; to give a person something to do. In later use frequently in passive. Now rare.Perhaps originally with metaphorical allusion to the preparation of fabric to be worked on; see sense 17a. [Compare Middle French, French tailler de la besogne (à quelqu'un) to cut out work, create a job (for someone) (1520 in the passage translated in quot. ?1543 at Phrases 2d(b)(ii)).]
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (transitive)] > set (person) to work > give or prepare work for
to make work for?1543
to cut out work1591
1591 G. B. A. F. tr. Discouery Subtiltie & Wisedome Italians xlvii. 74 See then here is more worke cut out in this one Chapter, then they and their disciples will euer be able to do.
1619 in S. R. Gardiner Lett. Relations Eng. & Germany (1868) 2nd Ser. 68 How they may by..ill affected subjects cutt us out newe worke in Ireland and Scotland.
1669 J. Flavell Husbandry Spiritualized i. i. 19 You find in the Word, a world of work cut out for Christians; there's hearing work, praying work, reading, meditating, and self-examining work.
1759 Edinb. Chron. 8 Oct. 6/2 If all these expeditions succeed, the English will have work cut out for them at home.
1795 E. Burke Lett. Peace Regic. France iv, in Wks. (1839) V. 100 They will cut out work for one another, and France will cut out work for them all.
1836 Dublin Univ. Mag. May 494/2 They [sc. the smugllers] knew a safe asylum would be afforded them by the peasantry, till they were again in a state to cut out work for his Majesty's coast-guards.
1866 T. Carlyle Inaug. Addr. Edinb. 174 The most unhappy of all men is the man..who has got no work cut out for him in the world.
1908 Manufacturers' Rec. 9 Apr. 44/3 There is..enough work cut out to insure a comfortable degree of activity during the coming summer and fall.
1934 Los Angeles Times 14 Mar. ii. 4/3 He has certainly cut out work for himself now.
(b) colloquial. to have one's work cut out (for one) and variants: to have enough to do; to have as much to do as one can manage, esp. in the time available; to be faced with a hard or lengthy task.
ΚΠ
1822 Morning Post 13 Mar. Martin has his Summer work cut out, as he is matched to fight Ab Belasco (the best Jew fighter since Mendoza).
1879 H. C. Powell Amateur Athletic Ann. 19 This [race] Crossley had all his work cut out to win.
1927 R. A. Freeman Magic Casket vii. 222 ‘You will have your work cut out,’ I remarked, ‘to trace that man. The potter's description was pretty vague.’
1951 Sport 27 Jan. 9/3 The Quakers will have their work cut out to keep the bigger clubs away.
2010 B. T. Bradford Playing Game xi. 96 ‘I've got my work cut out for me in the next week.’ ‘You love to be overloaded with writing assignments and to have piles of work surrounding you.’
b. slang (chiefly U.S.). to get the works: to receive harsh or abusive treatment; spec. to be killed; (in weakened sense) to be treated badly or unfavourably. Cf. to get the business at business n. Phrases 18. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (intransitive)] > be killed
to be deadc1000
fallOE
spilla1300
suffera1616
to fall (a) prey (also victim, sacrifice) toa1774
to lose the number of one's mess1807
to go up1825
to get his (also hers, theirs)1903
to cop (also stop, catch, get, etc.) a packet1916
click1917
not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1923
to get the works1928
to go for a burton1941
(to get) the chop or chopper1945
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > have effect on [verb (transitive)] > be subjected to or undergo an action > specifically of a person > something undesirable
sufferc1390
reachc1429
make1453
to get the works1928
1928 Amer. Mercury Apr. 429/2 One-Lung here squealed, an' I got the works for two years—poundin' rocks wit' a sledge.
1930 Daily Express 23 May 11/3 Threatening that unless the money was produced somebody would ‘get the works’.
1952 N.Y. Times 5 July 3/8 The group that really got the works, hotel-wise, was the Texas Eisenhower delegation... They were assigned to the Moraine-on-the-Lake Hotel in Highland Park—a fast (or rather, slow) thirty miles from the convention hall.
2000 J. McDonald Gettyrama 98 He was obviously not dry behind the ears, and he really got the works.
c. slang (chiefly U.S.). to give (a person) the works. Cf. to give (a person) the business at business n. Phrases 17.
(a) To treat (a person) harshly, violently, or abusively; spec. to murder (someone). Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > be harsh or severe upon [verb (transitive)]
to be sharp upon1561
to come down1611
to be severe on (or upon)1672
spitchcock1674
to sit hard on1715
to handle without gloves1827
to handle with gloves off1828
to catch or get Jesse1839
to jump upon1868
to give (one) snuff1890
to give (a person) the works1901
hardball1984
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > ill-treat [verb (transitive)]
tuckc888
tawc893
misbedeOE
graithc1330
to fare fair or foul with1340
misusea1382
outrayc1390
beshrewc1430
huspelc1440
misentreat1450
mistreat1453
abuse?1473
to mayne evil1481
demean1483
to put (a person) to villainya1513
harry1530
mishandle1530
touse1531
misorder1550
worrya1556
yark1565
mumble1588
buse1589
crow-tread1593
disabuse1607
maltreat1681
squeeze1691
ill-treat1794
punish1801
tousle1826
ill-use1841
razoo1890
mess1896
to play horse with1896
to bugger about1921
slug1925
to give (a person) the works1927
to kick about or around1938
mess1963
the world > life > death > killing > man-killing or homicide > murder or assassination > murder or assassinate [verb (transitive)]
amurderOE
murderc1175
homicidec1470
murdresc1480
murtrish1490
manquell1548
slaughter1582
massacre1591
assassinate1600
remove1609
assassin1620
to do the business for a person1759
Septembrize1794
croak1823
square1888
shift1898
to take out1900
to bump off1907
bump1914
to do in1914
to put out1917
to knock off1919
terminate1920
to give (a person) the works1929
scrag1930
snuff1932
wash1941
waste1964
wipe1968
to terminate with extreme prejudice1969
neutralize1970
snuff1973
stiff1974
1901 W. A. Paxson Buckeye Baron ii. iii. 251 I'll fine you five dollars and the costs..and if you come here again, I'll give you the works.
1927 Vanity Fair 29 134/2 ‘Giving a guy the works’ is handing someone a raw deal.
1929 C. F. Coe Hooch! vii. 156 This man never was bumped here at all. They gave him the works some place a long way off.
1952 Jet 27 Nov. 52 If that head-butter starts rough stuff with me next time, I'll really give him the works—head, elbows, laces, knees, and even a few below the belt.
1981 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 23 Aug. a18/2 They gave him the works. They tortured him 10 different times.
(b) To give (a person) the greatest possible amount of attention, information, etc. Cf. sense 23.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > follow (a course of behaviour) [verb (transitive)] > behave towards > give or get full treatment
to give (a person) the works1927
to give (or get) the full treatment1950
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > make complete [verb (transitive)] > give or receive without omission
to give (a person) the works1927
to give (or get) the full treatment1950
1927 K. Nicholson Barker i. ii. 61 Get this kid—hook, line an' sinker—give him the works.
1934 P. G. Wodehouse Right ho, Jeeves ix. 111 Heave a couple of sighs. Grab her hand. And give her the works.
1955 Princeton Alumni Weekly 18 Feb. 19/1 Dick apparently gave him the works, took him around his ranches,..and then home for dinner at Dick's house.
1973 Chicago Tribune 5 Aug. ii. 8/2 An order ‘to give me the works’ produced not only the shave and haircut, but also a facial massage and a spell under the sun lamp.
2010 S. Law Forest Environm. 116 Our wives were ‘queens for the day’ and were given the works.
d. Phrases with make.
(a) With qualifying adjective, as to make good (also quick, sure, etc.) work: to carry out an action or task, or deal with a person or thing, in the manner specified or implied by the adjective. Usually with of, (now rarely) with. Now chiefly in to make quick work of. See also to make short work of at short adj. 5c, to make smooth work of at smooth adj. 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupy or engage (a person) [verb (transitive)] > conduct (an affair) > deal with (a matter) > specific manner
to make good (also quick, sure, etc.) workc1330
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > be occupied or busy (in or at something) [verb (intransitive)] > conduct affairs > deal with a matter > competently
wielda1500
to make good (also quick, sure, etc.) worka1616
manage1762
cope with1934
c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) l. 4489 Þei..made of hem so clene werk, Þat þai neuer spek wiþ prest ne clerk.
1533 T. More Answere Poysened Bk. iv. v. f. cxcvv Because the questyon ys yet double and captyouse, I purpose to make sure worke & answere, that I can not tel.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 265 Hauing made sure worke with one, she [sc. the spider] hyeth her to the Center of her Web, obseruing..whether any newe prey will come.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iv. vi. 99 You haue made good worke, You and your Apron men. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iv. vi. 105 You haue made faire worke . View more context for this quotation
1707 M. Henry Expos. Five Bks. Moses (Gen. xxxviii. 7) sig. S2v/2 Sometimes God makes quick Work with sinners.
1789 T. Twining tr. Aristotle Treat. Poetry 266 Seeing what strange work Lord Shaftsbury has made with this passage in his..translation of it.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. xi. 225 Wild wark they made of it; for the Whigs were as dour as the Cavaliers were fierce.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn III. viii. 135 The Doctor, on his..mare, was making good work of it across the plains.
1865 H. Mayhew Shops & Companies of London 199/1 I can always make quick work of my washing by using ‘Harper Twelvetrees' Glycerine Soap-Powder’.
1935 Pop. Mech. Nov. (Advertising section) 157 a/2 A husky, he-man tool that will make quick work of so many tough jobs you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.
1981 Cook's Mag. Jan. 43/3 The thin, guitar-like wires make quick work of a stick of butter.
2011 G. J. Ikenberry Liberal Leviathan p. xv When he confronts Valance he is slapped down, and the gang prepares to make quick work of him.
(b) to make work.
(i) Also to make a work. To create havoc or confusion; (hence) to make a fuss or to-do, to cause disturbance or trouble. Cf. sense 24. Now rare (Scottish and English regional in later use).In quot. 1574: †to trouble oneself to do something (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > commotion, disturbance, or disorder > be in commotion or disorder [verb (intransitive)] > cause commotion or disorder
to make work?1473
perturb1543
hurly-burly1598
to throw (also fling) the house out of (also at) the window (also windows)1602
tumultuate1611
to beat up the quarters of1670
hurricane1682
larum1729
to kick up, make, raise a stour1787
stour1811
to strike a bustle1823
to cut shindies1829
to kick up a shindy1829
hurricanize1833
rumpus1839
to raise (Old) Ned1840
to raise hell1845
fustle1891
to rock the boat1903
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)]
tillc897
stightlea1375
stretcha1375
wrestlea1382
to put it forthc1390
to put one's hand(s) to (also unto)a1398
paina1400
takea1400
to do one's busy pain (also care, cure, diligence)?a1430
to make great force?c1450
makec1485
to stir one's stumpsa1500
to bestir one's stumps1549
to make work1574
put1596
bestira1616
operate1650
to lay out1659
to be at pains1709
exerta1749
tew1787
maul1821
to take (the) trouble1830
to pull outc1835
bother1840
trouble1880
to buck up1890
hump1897
to go somea1911
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) II. lf. 181 He made suche werke [Fr. il fist tant] that the libyens had the worse.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 616/2 He maketh suche a worke whan he cometh that all the house is wery of hym.
1574 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlii. 234 Thay maid na werk To seek ony.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) i. iv. 20 There is Auffidious. List what worke he makes Among'st your clouen Army. View more context for this quotation
1678 Earl of Arran in O. Airy Lauderdale Papers (1885) III. 102 It is a foolish thing for scots men to complain or make worke heir, or to endeavour a Rebellion in scotland.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xxvii. 223 O thou savage-hearted monster! What work hast thou made in one guilty hour, for a whole age of repentance!
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. ix. 191 Ou dear! Monkbarns, what's the use of making a wark?
1883 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 425/1 Passing in and out and making no end of a work.
1948 M. Carbery & E. Grey Herts. Heritage 156 Sech a woork as was made an' all o-er noothin'.
(ii) To cause (additional) labour to be required; (with negative implication) to necessitate (inconvenient or troublesome) labour or effort.Recorded earliest in to make work for at Phrases 2d(c).
ΚΠ
?1543 T. Phaer tr. N. de Houssemaine Treat. Pestilence i. vii. f. xix, in tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe They [sc. mercury precipitants] leaue a certeine euel qualitie or impression of the bodyes of al that do receyue them, and so they make worcke [Fr. est..besoigne taillee] for good phisitions, to the great hurt of them yt haue beleued them.
1606 A. Wotton Def. M. Perkins Bk. 406 You need not make worke: you haue your hands full.
1668 R. Steele Husbandmans Calling vi. 176 Except infants that make work, he will have all the rest do some work or other.
1754 A. Berthelson Eng. & Danish Dict. at Work Instead of doing work, he makes work.
1814 Eclectic Rev. Feb. 145 Making work, for the sole pleasure of paying for it.
1885 Outing Aug. 552/1 A strong, new vessel of eighty tons or more..ought not, if properly modeled, to make such a piece of work as this while laying at anchor.
1913 Amer. Poultry Advocate Feb. 208/1 The air has been so filled with moisture for the straw to absorb that it has made no end of work.
1969 I. Murdoch Bruno's Dream i. 2 He would have liked a coal fire now, only it made so much work.
2000 A. Granger Shades of Murder (2001) 14 The other house was a rambling place and made a lot of work.
(c) to make work for: to give (a person, etc.) something to do; (with negative connotation) to necessitate (inconvenient or troublesome) labour or effort from (a person, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (transitive)] > set (person) to work > give or prepare work for
to make work for?1543
to cut out work1591
?1543Make worke for [see Phrases 2d(b)(ii)].
1570 W. Elderton Newe Well a Daye (single sheet) Such as seduce the people with blyndnes, and byd them to trust the Pope and his kyndnes Make worke for the tynker, as prouerbes doth saie, by such popishe patching.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) ii. i. 303 Yong Arthur..Who..this day hath made Much worke for teares in many an English mother. View more context for this quotation
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 238 Lest by sauing their workmanship, my selfe might haue made worke for the hang-man.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 2 To..make more Work for the Hempen Whores in London.
1798 T. Dibdin Mouth of Nile iii. 25 The French took a trip to the Banks of the Nile, To make work for brave Admiral Nelson.
1837 C. M. Sedgwick Live & let Live xix. 191 All sorts of notions that have no use but just to be taken care of and make work for us.
1887 Pop. Sci. Monthly Dec. 233 We are creating shifting sands by the removal of the forest-cover, to make work for the ingenuity of our children in devising methods for fixing these sands again.
1935 G. Blake Shipbuilders v. 143 The foreman to whom he had been allotted had to make work for him.
1945 D. Bolster Roll on my Twelve 33 Chaps we'd picked up dying on deck, which always induces a bit of gloom, besides making extra work for everyone.
2011 New Yorker 28 Mar. 51/2 The idea that breaking windows is economically useful, because it makes work for glaziers.
P3.
a. the work of the devil: a creation of the devil; something evil, which should be avoided or rejected; (in weakened use) something regarded as unpleasant, hateful, or unnatural.
ΚΠ
1529 J. Frith Pistle Christen Reader f. lv This persuasion with out doute is the worke of the devill.
1555 E. Bonner Profitable & Necessarye Doctryne sig. Ll.iiiv Untruth (whiche is the worke of the Deuyl) may be destroyed.
1680 C. Ness Compl. Church-hist. 217 Self-Admiration and Ambition, which is the Work of the Devil.
1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed xvii. 171 Other Hereticks..condemned Marriage as the Work of the Devil.
1820 M. Starke Trav. on Continent vi. 211 The third [bridge], which consists of only one large arch, is by far the loftiest; and, according to oral tradition, was the work of the Devil.
1885 F. MacLaughlin tr. D. Silvagni Rome II. xxxv. 172 Many persons looked upon the arrival of the balloon as a mircale, but not a few thought it was the work of the devil.
1956 R. M. Lester Towards Hereafter xiv. 165 Those who had held to the twisted idea that all psychical phenomena and spirit communication was ‘the work of the devil’ began to think again.
2005 Z. Smith On Beauty 121 He thinks affirmative action is the work of the devil.
b. work of art: something produced or created by skill or craft. In later use spec.: a product of the creative arts, esp. one with strong aesthetic or imaginative appeal; a fine picture, sculpture, poem, musical composition, etc. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bathes Ayde iii. f. 27 All may be reduced, to those three [signs] of Galen, as it also appeareth by Hippocrates,..who wyll haue the Indicatiues to be vnderstanded afore any other works of art.
1585 R. Parsons Christian Directorie i. ii. 30 If he should espie some exquisite building or other worke of arte and reason in the place.
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients iii. 28 It would be wonderfull easie for us to prove here..how pitifully poore and ridiculous the first workes of Art have been.
1689 N. Tate et al. tr. A. Cowley Of Plants iv, in 3rd Pt. Wks. 89 Each hollow Leaf, envelop'd, does impart The form of a gilt Pipe, and seems a work of Art.
1700 J. Astry tr. D. de Saavedra Fajardo Royal Politician I. 102 There's scarce any one Instrument can by its self make a Work of Art entirely perfect.
1792 W. Gilpin On Landscape Painting 43 in Three Ess. The inferior critic has no scale of judging of a work of art, but by comparing it with some other work of the same kind.
1823 European Mag. Dec. 551/2 A curious work of art has just been produced by Mr. Clark, under the appellation of Myriorama, or Many Thousand Views.
1883 Atlantic Monthly Jan. 86 The homage of rapt appreciation due to a great work of art.
1906 Daily Chron. 29 Oct. 3/5 In ‘The Duchess of Dantzic’..he produced a ‘comedy-opera’—such is the new word!—which was a genuine and delightful work of art.
1949 A. Koestler Insight & Outlook 410 The more romantic a work of art, or a landscape, the quicker its repetitions are perceived as kitsch or ‘slush’.
1994 N.Y. Times Mag. 19 June 25/3 Women are real works of art.
2011 A. D. Morton Revol. & State in Mod. Mexico v. 140 Attitudes present in a work of art can..be appreciated from an aesthetic point of view while also subjecting the same to critique in terms of ideological content.
c. job of work: see job n.2 Phrases 1. line of work: see line n.2 28d. piece of work: see piece n. Phrases 4.
P4. Proverbial and idiomatic phrases.
a. Phrases referring to the importance of working well, enthusiastically, readily, etc.
ΚΠ
c1391 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Bodl. 294) Prol. l. 87* (MED) Who that wel his werk bygynneþ, The rather a good ende he wynneth.
a1598 D. Fergusson Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. B A begun work is half ended.
1707 J. Mapletoft Sel. Prov. 125 A Work ill done must be twice done.
1877 Friend 1 Dec. 124/3 ‘Work well done is work twice done’, says a good old adage.
1909 H. J. Watt Econ. & Training Memory (1911) xl. 81 Work begun is work done.
2012 Tulsa (Oklahoma) World (Nexis) 5 Feb. e6 Work begun is half done.
b.
(a) the work of a minute (also a moment, a week, etc.) and variants: a process or task taking (the specified length of time). Cf. day's work n.In later use chiefly indicating a task will not take long or be too troublesome.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [noun] > a proceeding occupying a specific length of time
the work of a minute (also a moment, a week, etc.)1533
society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > work occupying specific time
the work of a minute (also a moment, a week, etc.)1533
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > [noun] > which takes a (short or long) time
the work of a minute (also a moment, a week, etc.)1533
a work of time1622
1533 T. More Debellacyon Salem & Bizance i. i. f. xiiiv That is but yf Bizance wryte fast, I warraunt the wurke of a weke.
1589 G. Gifford Eight Serm. ii. f. 32v To haue the full vse of naturall reason in perfect rules, it is not the worke of a few daies, nor yet of a few yeares.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. G4v The confused Masse, and matter of heauen and earth was made in a moment, and the..disposition of that Chaos or Masse, was the work of sixe dayes. View more context for this quotation
1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety ix. 265 The avoiding eternal misery, the acquiring endless bliss is not so trivial..as to be the Work of a moment.
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 120 All this was not the work of the fourth part of a minute.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. xv. 266 If a view to inclosing makes it necessary to straight the ridges, the levelling them should be the work of several years.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby ii. 85 To wrench the sword from Wilfrid's hand..Was but one moment's work.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. xiv. 248 All this was..but the work of a few minutes.
1871 T. Hardy Desperate Remedies II. ii. 74 To bring him out and lay him on a bank was the work of an instant.
1927 C. Asquith Black Cap 73 To light his candle and put on his dressing-gown and slippers was the work of a moment.
1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxv. 166 There was a big two kilowatt electric fire plugged into a wall point... It was the work of a minute to switch on the wall plug.
2006 InfoWorld 11 Dec. 34/2 After this task was completed, it was the work of a few seconds to ad the VI3 server to the management console.
(b) a work of time: a process or task which takes a long time. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [noun] > long duration or lasting through time > something having long duration
a work of time1622
perennial1748
marathon1915
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > [noun] > which takes a (short or long) time
the work of a minute (also a moment, a week, etc.)1533
a work of time1622
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 50 Iudging it would be a worke of Time, hee laid his plot.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iv. 113 This was a work of time to perform, and took not full effect to the end of this Kings reign.
1736 F. Drake Eboracum ii. ii. 472 The carrying on a work of this nature must also be a work of time.
1792 Archaeologia 10 358 Whether the Orwell altered its course..immediately upon the demolition of Orwell town, or was a work of time, is very uncertain.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian xiv, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. IV. 339 They had now only to double a small head-land..but in the state of the weather, and the boat being heavy, this was like to be a work of time.
1864 Yale Lit. Mag. Oct. 5 It will be a work of time to remodel the edifice.
1906 A. Werner Natives Brit. Central Afr. vi. 136 Once the water has been brought to the boil, which..is apt to be a work of time.
1963 Washington Post 8 Dec. a13/1 To review the last [sc. the Act of 1947] and bring it into conformity with the Constitution..must be a work of time—and there is no time.
c. all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and variants: incessant work without rest or relaxation is detrimental to one's personal life and general well-being; working all the time can make one boring. Hence also (of a person, way of life, etc.) to be all work and no play.
ΚΠ
1659 J. Howell Prov. Eng. Toung 12/2 in Lex. Tetraglotton (1660) All work and no play, makes Iack a dull boy.
?1760 H. Dixon Moral Ess. 43 All Work, and no Play, makes Jack a dull Boy. That is, makes Business a Burthen too heavy and insupportable for human Nature to bear.
1770 Ess. Trade & Commerce 33 They forget the vulgar adage, all work and no play.
1825 M. Edgeworth Harry & Lucy Concluded II. 155 All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.
1867 Detroit Free Press 6 Jan. 3/1 With them it is all work and no play.
1880 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 472 All work and no play makes the peasant a dull fellow, and the little education he gets does not help him much.
1929 Rotarian Mar. 30/1 All work and no play makes even an Abraham Lincoln a sick boy.
1967 Black Belt Sept. 15/2 (caption) All work and no play is not for Joe, shown taking a break.
1995 Denver Post 21 Mar. e1 Don't think Baxter is all work and no play. She loves to watch Monday Night Football and jam to the latest sounds from Big Head Todd and the Monsters or Counting Crows.
2011 A. Emery Death at Christy Burke's v. 99 You know what they say. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
d. With modifying word, as good, great, etc., in imperative phrases expressing encouragement to continue working or performing well, esp. in keep up the good work; also in interjections commending a person's efforts, as good work!
ΚΠ
1875 Daily Arkansas Gaz. (Little Rock, Arkansas) 19 Sept. Keep up the good work we say to agents and friends.
1939 T. T. Flynn in Detective Fiction Weekly 2 Dec. 28/1 A moment later Trixie was free and on her feet. She handed me the gun... ‘Good work, Sweetness,’ I told her.
1942 R. A. J. Walling Corpse with Eerie Eye vi. 185 You're doing nobly. Carry on with the good work.
1985 Ebony Jr! Feb. 39/1 I love the way your magazine makes me feel... Keep up the great work!
1992 W. Stewart Hole in One xxviii.194 Splendid work, Staff.
2012 M. Royal & T. Agnew Enemy of Engagem. xi. 202 ‘Keep up the good work,’ Lauren told him as he went back to his desk.
e. all in a day's work: see day's work n. 1b. many hands make light work: see hand n. Phrases 3d. nice work if you can get it: see nice adj. and adv. Phrases 4. a woman's work is never done: see woman n. Phrases 1d.

Compounds

C1. attributive.
a.
(a) With the sense ‘of, relating to, or used in work’, as work address, work environment, work routine, work stress, etc.See also workday n. and adj., work life n., etc.
ΚΠ
1543 J. Bale Yet Course at Romyshe Foxe sig. B.ijv The worke manne with his worke toles.
1894 A. S. Robertson Provost o' Glendookie 91 The Glendookian year contained two work-pauses.
1928 Los Angeles Times 9 Dec. 14/4 Measures affecting the work routine of San Quentin and Folsom prisons.
1947 J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus 13 Get the work-light on the long cord connected.
1959 Encounter Feb. 14/2 At the local level, there must always be potential disputes between workers and management over redundancy, work-norms, wage-differentials..and so on.
1973 Computerworld 8 Aug. 2/2 Each employee will get a listing of a name and work telephone number of potential carpoolers.
1986 Jrnl. Royal Coll. Physicians 20 113/2 Respiratory medicine has recently changed radically in terms of work patterns and staffing.
1996 B. B. Reinhold Toxic Work 3 The relationship between work stress and cardiovascular emergencies is so clear that it's been given a special name.
2002 C. Newland Snakeskin xvi. 199 Looking through my notepad I saw her work address scribbled on the inside cover.
2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) xi. 233 Family tax credits, which are intended to keep people in the work environment but help them survive on pitiful wages.
(b)
work crew n.
ΚΠ
1883 Columbus (Indiana) Herald 15 Sept. Luckily the cars were running slow and the caboose in which the work crew were seated remained on the track.
1956 G. R. Taylor Amer. Railroad Network ix. 81 The event was an occasion for a holiday, people traveling many miles in some cases to watch the work crews.
2010 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 9 Nov. (Finance section) 61 Our work crews can fill a gap where businesses or councils are under resourced, whether it is cleaning gutters, washing windows, landscaping, pruning or weeding.
work plan n.
ΚΠ
1838 Standard 26 Jan. 2/3 The work plans and statements for establishing steam navigation on the Pacific.
1957 J. Kerouac On the Road ii. ix. 170 A paper for the want ads and workplans.
2011 C. Kufs Stats with Cats xxv. 323 Add data or other information so that the scenario can be developed into a work plan.
work site n.
ΚΠ
1892 Proc. 40th Meeting Amer. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 288 Argillite and sandstone blades were made on the Delaware and Susquehanna from river pebbles at work sites like Point Pleasant.
1966 Times 1 Mar. 10/4 Members of the former union..found about 50 picket men from the rival union parading outside the work site.
2011 N. B. Chambers Urban Green i. 14 Hauling loads of iron from work site to factory causes large quantities of dirt to become loosened along the road.
work time n.
ΚΠ
1700 P. B. Help to Magistrates lxviii. 176 In Harvest or Work-time poor Persons setled in a Parish..may go into any of the adjacent or distant Parishes to work.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men II. xx. 78 During work time he planned amusements..for Miss Kennedy and her girls.
1970 Ski Jan. 99/1 Many understanding employers allow for split work shifts and exchanging work time with other employees.
2011 M. Okun & R. Sparks Along Cherry Lane xv. 210 We were on tour a lot, but when we were in New York, it was work time.
work tool n.
ΚΠ
1543Worke toles [see Compounds 1a(a)].
1694 T. Houghton Royal Inst. Postscript 115 All the Work-Tools, Instruments, and Materials, Used in and about the Mines.
1738 J. Andree tr. P.-J. Desault Treat. Venereal Distemper 238 Those Work-Tools which are employed in almost all Arts.
1888 A. S. Cole tr. E. Lefébure Embroidery & Lace i. 3 The embroiderer's work-tool is the needle.
1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. i. 78 We have blunted our axes, We lack work-tools.
2000 Sci. Amer. Oct. 65/2 Whereas soldiers were buried with their weapons, artisans were interred with their work tools.
work yard n.
ΚΠ
1614 T. Gentleman Englands Way to win Wealth 31 Houses, and worke-yards erected for Coopers, and Rope-makers.
1750 C. Smith Antient & Present State Cork I. ii. i. 149 Mr. Sinclair, who has in his work-yard various kinds of fine marble.
1864 R. Kerr Gentleman's House 308 An enclosed Work-yard is..required... The Workshops ought to face it.
1906 Westm. Rev. Dec. 641 The multiplying factories and workrooms and work-yards of every kind would urbanise vast areas.
2013 T. Burke Under Blue Beret iii. 42 The work yard behind the building looked like a vast wasteland of dilapidated sheds and workshops.
b. With the sense ‘designating an animal used for draught, ploughing, farm work, etc.’. Cf. working adj. 2 and see also workhorse n.
work beast n.
ΚΠ
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Jonah iv. 11 Shal Y not spare to the grete citee Nynyue, in whiche ben more than a hundred and twenti thousand of men..and many werk beestis [L. iumenta]?
?a1450 (?c1400) Lay Folks' Catech. (Lamb.) (1901) 55 Thow schalt not coueyte þy neyȝborys wyf..ne his oxe ne his werk-best.
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xi. f. xxi A husbande his tenure and his werke beestes.
1614 G. Markham 2nd Bk. Eng. Husbandman ii. vii. 98 For worke-beasts, except necessitie constraine, let them haue Hay simple of it selfe.
1747 tr. F. Hutcheson Short Introd. Moral Philos. ii. v. 148 Nor could men unassisted by work-beasts..employ any cares or labour in their defence.
1813 Sporting Mag. Jan. 156/1 The shelties..still preserve their character of excellent work-beasts.
1921 Retail Coalman June 115/1 The exemption law of the state of Kentucky allows a man his work beasts of the field.
2005 T. K. Seung Nietzsche's Epic of Soul vi. 298 In the Bible, the ass was perhaps the most important work beast for carrying heavy loads.
work mare n. originally Scottish
ΚΠ
1590 Edinb. Test. XXI. f. 296, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Wark Ane virk meir.
1673 Kirkcudbright Test. 19 Dec. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Wark Ane old work meire.
1804 Caledonian Mercury 11 Aug. Three Work Mares, with their Foals.
1914 A. Boss Farm Managem. xii. 130 The work mare will do as much work as a gelding if she does not raise a colt.
2011 G. Mears Foal's Bread i. 7 When she put out her hand to feel his hair it was just as fine as the old grey work mare's mane and tail.
work nag n.
ΚΠ
1576 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories N. Counties Eng. (1835) I. 411 ij woryke nagges.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1851) II. 335 Thair wes..plunderit from sum honest men about the toune's wark naiges to be baggage hors.
1836 Amer. Turf Reg. & Sporting Mag. July 484 The brood mares may be used as work nags.
1915 National Stockman & Farmer 26 June 323/1 Possibly the most generally useful work nag in the whole list.
2011 T. F. Averill Rode 16 Though he only rode work nags to the field along the Clarksville Road where men gathered to race, Robert often finished first.
work ox n.
ΚΠ
1567 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 210 xxj wark oxen.
1788 G. Washington Diary 23 Apr. (1979) V. 308 Sent the fatting Steers, and an old work oxen..to Pasture.
1897 Harper's Mag. Mar. 534/2 He looked as wise as a work-ox.
1927 Amer. Mercury May 107/2 They..covered the backs of the work-oxen with lacerations from the harness.
2013 R. G. Johnson et al. in A. Jalloh et al. W. Afr. Agric. & Climate Change xii. 332 The rate of ownership of calves, work oxen, rabbits, and guinea fowl are much less than 1 percent.
work steer n. North American (now chiefly historical)
ΚΠ
1763 G. Washington Diary May (1976) I. 310 7 Work Steers.
1875 L. F. Allen Amer. Cattle xxiv. 296 Many excellent work steers may be selected from the native cattle.
1911 Blackwood's Mag. Sept. 359/2 Setting him up with a work-steer and a milk cow.
2004 D. Dary Oregon Trail (2005) xiii. 237 Crow, his four sons, and Loveland started driving 785 cattle, including 64 work steers.
work stock n. U.S.
ΚΠ
1828 Amer. Farmer 25 Jan. 359/2 The value of these animals as work stock..he speaks of in the highest terms.
1950 M. H. Saunderson Western Stock Ranching viii. 229 Up to ten head of animals kept primarily for home use or for work stock.
2011 E. C. Hagerstein et al. Amer. Georgics v. 202 The acres and hours once required to feed work stock were freed up to be devoted to cash crops.
c. With the sense ‘designating a person employed in manual, practical, or industrial labour’. Cf. working adj. 1, and see also workman n., workpeople n. workwoman n., etc.
work-girl n. now rare
ΚΠ
1829 Ladies' Mag. Sept. 457/1 Work-girls were employed in making or repairing curtains, blinds, toilette-covers.
1908 Catholic World Nov. 188 Charming and lifelike studies of the French work-girl.
1992 N. Cohn Heart of World viii. 94 Workmen in fustian and poverty-stricken workgirls appear in stream, besides threadbare adventurers.
work-lass n. now rare
ΚΠ
1663 in A. Macdonald & J. Dennistoun Misc. Maitland Club (1840) II. 499 Helen the work lasse.
1848 tr. in Dublin Univ. Mag. Feb. 249 Know any of the work-lasses here?
1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl vi. 98 Yet it was always packed with colliers and work-lasses.
workmaid n. now chiefly historical
ΚΠ
1627 M. Drayton Battaile Agincourt 16 A Workmayd in her Summers weed, With Sheafe and Sickle.
1867 Boston Daily Advertiser 28 Nov. (Suppl.) This monarch..fell very much in love with his workmaid.
1998 D. E. Briggs Malts & Malting ix. 440 By keeping the workmaid singing you could check that she was awake and, hopefully, tending the kiln correctly.
2003 Daily Variety (Nexis) 11 Nov. 12 Scarlett Johansson's magnetic, nearly wordless performance as the humble workmaid who becomes Vermeer's subject.
† work-servant n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1507 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 76 Evere fyrhouse within this burghe sale furnis and sende ane sufficient work seruand..to help to rede the common loche.
1593 in J. P. Earwaker Lancs. & Cheshire Wills (1884) 155 I gyve..unto everye one of my worke servants over and besids theire waigs x s. apeece.
1857 Oxf. Critic June 2 Mr. Moderate Mediocrity..may be found in every grade and department of life, in every work-shop of action, with his work-servants Will, Purpose, Energy, and Time.
d.
(a) With the sense ‘designating clothing designed or suitable for wear at work, esp. in being either smart or (more often) practical and hard-wearing’, as work boot, work shirt, work shoe, etc.
ΚΠ
1806 Aberdeen Jrnl. 21 May (advt.) Strong Linens and Harns for Work-Shirts.
1859 Rep. Trans. Pennsylvania State Agric. Soc. 5 527 Caroline Chambers, best pair work shoes.
1902 Southern Workman Mar. 153 Dressed in their work-trousers and hard at work!
1927 Amer. Speech 2 366/2 The man had on his work pants this morning.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 22 May 16/1 At first wearing a suit, then gradually assuming work boots and old clothes.
1997 N. Ricci Where she has Gone xxi. 188 She was dressed in a loose summer dress, legs bare but her feet in heavy-soled work shoes that looked bumpkinish against her bare legs.
2010 H. Simonson Major Pettigrew's Last Stand xxiv. 333 He wore stout boots and jeans with a short work coat and a large reflective vest.
(b)
work clothes n.
ΚΠ
1844 Symbol (Boston) Jan. 221/1 He is in his work-clothes, sir.
1978 F. Weldon Praxis xx. 170 She changed out of her work clothes.
2007 H. Kunzru My Revol. 98 Men in work clothes or suits and skinny-brim hats were hunched over the Formica tables.
work wear n.
ΚΠ
1901 Washington Post 27 July 12/1 (advt.) Pants of all grades—from the stoutest for work-wear to the neatest for dress.
1967 St. Andrews Citizen 25 Feb. 5/4 Men's workwear. Full range mens overalls..trousers, jackets, coats and boilersuits.
2011 T. Edwards Fashion in Focus v. 98 The selling and marketing of clothing or fashion..relies on the process of expansion through diversification: day wear, work wear, evening wear, children's wear, etc.
e. With the sense ‘relating to or used for sewing, embroidery, etc.’ (see sense 17b), as work case, work pattern, work stand, etc.Recorded earliest in work basket n. at Compounds 3. See also work bag n., workbox n., work desk n. (a) at Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1579 G. Gilpin tr. P. van Marnix van Sant Aldegonde Bee Hiue of Romishe Church i. xi. f. 67 Our deare Ladies needles, her sowing thred, and her workebasket [Du. naeycorfken].
1785 A. M. Bennett Anna II. xxxvi. 142 I'll shew you, said Patty, drawing a laylac breast-bow from her work-stand.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 129 Miss Bertram's work-patterns.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) viii. 70 She took from her work-drawer an enormous..piece of knitting.
1903 Irish Monthly Sept. 521 Teresa, if you'll go to the parlour, you'll find some lint ravelling in the bag in the work-drawer.
1928 G. Whiting Tools & Toys of Stitchery 245 Automatically they come together, closing this little work case of Brazil-nut appearance.
2011 C. Mclennan Busy Girl's Guide to Sewing iii. 117 This bag is suitable for use as a craft bag, a work case, baby changing bag or even as an overnight make-up and toiletries ‘roll’.
C2.
a. Objective.
(a) With present participles and verbal nouns, as work-creating, work-loving, work-producing, work-seeking, etc.
ΚΠ
1837 D. Nelson Cause & Cure Infidelity vi. 29 The careless, loitering, and work-hating apprentice may have a desire for knowledge and skill in the business of his employer.
1883 H. H. Cunynghame Treat. Law Electric Lighting ii. i. 168 In considering the work-doing power of electricity we must ask, what quantity is there?
1915 M. Bloomfield Youth, School, & Vocation viii. 160 A thorough scheme of vocational advising and of training necessarily involves provisions for work-finding.
1917 T. B. Wood National Food Supply in Peace & War 27 The work-producing power of 1 lb. of flour is 1,250 calories.
1947 Life 12 May 145/1 Fun-loving Ambassador William Bullitt added a ballroom to one wing. Work-loving Ambassador Smith uses it for offices.
1995 Midwest Living June 95/1 The kitchen is equal parts work space and work-saving appliances.
2002 P. Percival in M. Krausz Is there Single Right Interpr.? x. 193 Were novel critical interpretations sometimes on a par with the work-creating interpretative attitudes of artists, critics would sometimes create works.
2010 D. Budlender Time Use Stud. & Unpaid Care Work iii. 82 The fact that some unemployed and NEA [i.e. not economically active] persons are recorded as doing paid work would reflect both work-seeking..and under-recording of employment.
(b) With agent nouns, as work doer, work provider, work seeker, etc.
ΚΠ
1842 Morning Chron. 13 Jan. The work-provider is growing corn across the sea.
1892 Daily News 18 May 6/1 There are no openings for work-seekers.
1905 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 13 May 1053/2 As a work-producer it [sc. alcohol] was exceedingly extravagant.
1952 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Nov. 1/4 The jobless work hunters totaling only 1,284,000.
1990 M. E. Rozen in K. Weiermair & M. Perlman Stud. Econ. Rationality ii. 113 Human beings are inherently work avoiders.
2005 D. P. Koenker Republic of Labor iv. 132 Socialist industry..faced continuing antagonisms between work givers and work doers.
b. Instrumental.See also work-hardened adj.
work-driven adj.
ΚΠ
1880 E. C. Rollins New Eng. Bygones 42 These farmers..were almost always work-driven and weary.
1961 R. S. Weiss & D. Riesman in R. K. Merton & R. A. Nisbet Contemp. Social Probl. x. 465 America was a country in which all men were expected to have jobs. This is still true, even in the less work-driven America of our own day.
2004 Guardian 9 Dec. ii. 2/3 A new British middle class: expanding, work-driven, once modestly-off but now increasingly prosperous.
work-gnarled adj.
ΚΠ
1897 Harvard Advocate 29 Oct. 21/2 A tear fell on her work-gnarled hand.
1957 J. Kerouac On the Road iii. vi. 216 A wiry..man..with work-gnarled hands.
2000 Antioch Rev. 58 204 The rosaries they held between work-gnarled fingers.
work-hard adj.
ΚΠ
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August i. 14 The gray woman not plump and not thin, manhard, workhard, in a serviceable gray garment.
1952 Boston Daily Globe 10 Mar. 4/6 He held out a weatherbeaten, work-hard hand.
2001 T. Greenwood in J. Boswell & S. Pike Fit to Die 62 ‘You rat, Ashe!’ cried Ketcheson, his work-hard hand snaking towards his baggy pocket.
work-soiled adj.
ΚΠ
1847 Douglas Jerrold's Shilling Mag. 6 131 Bearers in work-soiled clothes, with careless tread, Hurried the cold one to her silent bed.
1921 Printing Art Feb. 488/2 Is your copy marred by work-soiled hands and fingers?
2003 J. M. Bates Flashes xx. 81 He..put on his work-soiled cap, and pulled a sheet of paper from his shirt pocket.
work-stained adj.
ΚΠ
1850 Eliza Cook's Jrnl. 26 Oct. 415/2 Fair young girls with glossy curls, and the toiler with work-stained hand Up marble steps they slowly went.
1901 Scotsman 8 Oct. 5/1 There are some of us who have learned to love that work-stained river.
2012 A. Shorey Where Wildflowers Bloom xxvii. 263 The banker's eyebrows lifted higher as he surveyed Royal's work-stained clothing.
work-thickened adj.
ΚΠ
1895 Pall Mall Mag. 7 541 One work-thickened hand lay across her white throat.
1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xvi. 146 Along the fence a row of heads hatted and bare above work-thickened shoulders.
2010 B. Barclay Forest Horses 367 A multi-patched, red star cap folded between his work-thickened hands.
† work-wan adj. poetic Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold i. i. 5 Look! am I not Work-wan, flesh-fallen?
work-wearied adj.
ΚΠ
1845 R. Howitt Impressions Austral. Felix 119 Parks and squares..for the healthful exercise and recreation of its outpouring wall-pent, work-wearied, people.
1922 W. V. Kelley Open Fire 65 The minister addressing drowsy audiences of work-wearied men.
2001 Washington Post 15 Apr. a1 The work-wearied mom slumped over her kitchen table.
work-weary adj.
ΚΠ
1789 W. Woty Poet. Amusem. 43 When Night o'er each work-weary, drudging Wretch Her curtain drops opaque.
1853 C. Brontë Villette I. v. 82 A brief holiday, permitted for once to work-weary faculties.
1944 Billboard 23 Sept. 63/2 One of the most favorable factors which helped cater to the needs of a work-weary people was the weather.
2005 S. Winchester Crack in Edge of World (2006) 21 Offering his work-weary bones a cold massage of highly oxygenated spray.
work-worn adj.
ΚΠ
1804 J. Cartwright England's Ægis 172 That is perpetual war which never ceases but as the work-worn peasant ceases to labour through exhaustion.
1967 Life 13 Oct. 58/2 His gaunt work-worn face was the hue of his white nightshirt.
2004 M. Hickey Irish Days 12 Hulking farmers and labourers with thick, work-worn hands play fiddles, flutes and accordions.
C3.
work bag n. (a) a bag used for storing implements and materials for sewing, knitting, etc.; (b) (more generally) a bag used for work, esp. for carrying items to and from one's workplace.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > box, bag, or case
work basket1579
workbox1605
housewife1735
work bag1745
working box1773
housewife-case1817
1745 Daily Advertiser 26 Apr. A brown Silk Work Bag, containing almost half a Yard of clear Lawn.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House v. 39 Some half-dozen reticules and work-bags, ‘containing documents’, as she informed us.
1921 Calif. Safety News Jan. 14 The deceased and his partner had finished setting the tile, and..the deceased went to get his work bag.
1922 Delineator June 36/1 In these times of efficiency the busy woman should have her work-bag always at hand.
2010 J. Weiner Fly away Home (2011) 191 Gary..picked up his work bag, and walked out the door.
2012 B. Barnden 75 Floral Blocks to Crochet 11 It is useful to keep a few other items in your work bag.
work basket n. a basket used for storing implements and materials for sewing, knitting, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > box, bag, or case
work basket1579
workbox1605
housewife1735
work bag1745
working box1773
housewife-case1817
1579Workebasket [see Compounds 1e].
1631 T. Dekker Match mee in London ii. 17 Reach my workebasket, is the imbrodered Muffe perfum'd for the Lady?
1743 J. Bulkeley & J. Cummins Voy. to South-seas 39 A small Basket..about the Size of the Womens Work-baskets in England.
1876 Galaxy Jan. 56/2 In a closet..I found a work-basket and some half-finished sewing crowded into a corner on the floor.
1930 Pop. Mech. Feb. 320/1 A banding for work baskets.
2002 L. T. Ulrich Age of Homespun vii. 260 Pocketbooks, work baskets, and dressing boxes were produced for sale to white colonists and visitors.
workbench n. a bench at which manual or practical work, esp. carpentry, is done.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > work-benches, seats, etc. > [noun] > work-bench
workbench?1675
bench1728
tram1807
?1675 R. Garbutt One Come from Dead 20 Any true Workman from his Work-bench.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia xix. 303 While we have land to labour then, let us never wish to see our citizens occupied at a work-bench, or twirling a distaff.
1864 R. Kerr Gentleman's House 307 A Carpenter's Shop..will contain..the well-known work-bench of the trade, and perhaps a lathe.
1941 Los Angeles Times 1 June 14/3 This compact and sturdy workbench will enable them to go ahead with their hammer-and-saw urge.
2006 B. Horeck Minnow Trap iii. 40 He grabbed a bottle of vodka off his workbench and pulled two Dixie cups out of a dispenser.
work board n. a board on which (esp. manual) work is done.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > work-benches, seats, etc. > [noun] > board
work board1571
1571 Rec. Crail Burgh Court 5 Mar. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Wark Helene..murtheryst the barne..and thairefter ȝeirdit the same within the smyddy howse vnder the said Patrickis work burde.
1659 C. Hoole tr. J. A. Comenius Orbis Sensualium Pictus lxix. 143/1 The Box-maner, smootheth hewen-Boards with a Plain, upon a work board.
1776 J. Bentham Fragm. on Govt. iii. 106 Depending for their daily bread on..the labour of some manual occupation, they are nailed to the work-board.
1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts 4th Ser. 325/1 The [watchmaker's] ‘workboard’ should be made of well-seasoned wood.
1940 Atlanta Constit. 8 Sept. d5/1 Kitchen work boards for slicing bread and vegetables..frequently have a tendency to splinter.
2004 V. Payne Stained Glass in Afternoon 22 (caption) Triangle, push pins, metal squaring bars—arranged on a work board.
workboat n. †(a) a container used for storing implements and materials for sewing, knitting, etc. (obsolete rare); (b) a boat used for carrying out various kinds of work, such as fishing, transporting freight, etc.
ΚΠ
1799 S. Trimmer Silver Thimble 43 I..always put them [sc. silk and cotton], and every other article, such as my scissars, housewife, threadcase, &c. carefully into my work-boat.
1869 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Daily Sentinel 27 Sept. Mr. Manly intends adapting his attachments to sculls, work-boats and whitehalls.
1931 Fortune Aug. 16 (advt.) Many of the largest and most beautiful yachts as well as many of the most profitable work boats.
2009 D. Kinney Big One i. 27 You could be fooled into thinking the place is still a commercial fishermen's port, with workboats in the harbor.
workbox n. (a) a box for storing or holding materials for sewing, etc.; (b) a box used when working, esp. a tool box.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > box, bag, or case
work basket1579
workbox1605
housewife1735
work bag1745
working box1773
housewife-case1817
1605 P. Erondelle French Garden sig. E7v I haue not my siluer thimble, it is within my worke-boxe.
1790 F. Burney Diary Jan. (1842) V. 85 Everything..was spread about as on any common day—workboxes, netting-cases, etc. etc!
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) viii. 74 Berry brought out a little workbox,..and fell to working busily.
1911 Sat. Evening Post 30 Sept. 33/2 Often the workman had more gold scrap by weight in his workbox than the shot would balance.
1957 N.Y. Times 25 July ii. 12/3 The charts were..found in the false bottom of a workbox that belonged to Captain Kidd's widow.
2002 Pop. Crafts Nov. 65/4 I have a yard of Bruges lace that I just pull out of my workbox now and again to look at—I may do something with it one day!
2007 C. Todd False Mirror xxix. 362 In my workbox there's a ball-peen hammer I don't recognize.
work camp n. (a) = labour camp n. at labour n. Compounds 2; (b) a camp, esp. one attended by young volunteers, which is organized to undertake community or charitable work for a fixed period.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > camp for volunteers working for community > [noun]
work camp1877
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > camp or encampment > [noun] > type of
ordu1673
chantier1823
douar1829
outcamp1844
log-camp1858
lumbering-camp1858
yayla1864
refugee camp1865
cow-camp1873
gypsyry1873
work camp1877
tent town1878
logging-camp1880
lumber-camp1882
town camp1885
base camp1887
line-camp1888
wanigan1890
isolation camp1891
tent village1899
sheep-camp1911
safari camp1912
jungle1914
transit camp1919
Siwash camp1922
health camp1925
tent city1934
fly camp1939
bivvy1961
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > penal settlement > labour camp
labour camp1833
labour colony1857
work camp1877
1877 Times of India 7 Sept. 2/6 The work camps present none of the harrowing spectacles of extreme emaciation and impending death which beset one at the Monegar Choultry.
1933 O. Nichols & K. Glaser Work Camps for Amer. 13 The types of participants in work camps vary according to the purpose of the camps and the organizations which control them.
1981 ‘W. Haggard’ Money Men i. 18 The Gestapo..had sent him back to Germany to a work camp where he'd been starved to death.
2004 Irish News (Nexis) 10 June 28 The ‘workforce’ is usually made up of half Irish and half overseas volunteers... This year's work camps start on June 13 and continue for 12 weeks.
work card n. (a) a card issued by an employer as proof that the cardholder is employed; (also in later use) a card certifying that the bearer has permission to work; (b) a card on which is printed a list of exercises for students, such as questions to be answered or tasks to be carried out (cf. worksheet n. 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employee's documents
union card1852
working card1855
work card1878
pie card1895
card1913
society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [noun] > exercises or homework
lesson?c1225
renderc1380
vulgars1520
practicec1541
theme1545
example1562
tax1564
repetition1579
exercise1612
praxis1612
recreation1633
pensum1667
vacation-exercisea1668
version1711
task1737
thesisa1774
dictation1789
challenging1825
holiday task1827
devoir1849
homework1852
vulgus1857
cram-book1858
rep1858
banco1862
prep1866
classwork1867
preparation1875
work card1878
vacation-task1904
1878 Manch. Guardian 10 Oct. 4/4 Not only are..the prescribed work books and work cards entirely wanting, but the most ingenious devices are resorted to in order to circumvent the regulations respecting the duration and specified hours of work.
1918 Crisis Dec. 69/2 All ablebodied persons between the ages of eighteen and sixty would be forced..to have constantly in his or her possession a work card certifying to their employment.
1966 J. Derrick Teaching Eng. to Immigrants 239 The work cards, picture-cards, wall pictures and flashcards which accompany the course, are also recommended.
2001 Child Educ. Oct. 46/1 Each month we are providing Child Education readers with an exclusive range of online activities and downloadable workcards to support and extend our ICT activities.
2013 B. Miller Son of Gambling Man vi. 50 If the guy looked all right.., the Sheriff might give him a six-month work card.
work chant n. a chant performed while working, esp. by a group of people, typically having a strong, steady rhythm intended to accompany repetitive manual labour; cf. work song n.
ΚΠ
1934 J. A. Lomax & A. Lomax Amer. Ballads & Folk Songs iii. 61 This work chant is to the same air as ‘Black Betty’.
1965 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 78 55 Aside from simply easing the strain by taking one's mind off the labor, the work chant also produced cohesion among the participants.
2009 W. Smith Assegai 113 The Luo porters sang a work chant as they heaved on the line.
† work-covenant n. Theology Obsolete rare = Covenant of Works at covenant n. 8a; cf. sense 1c.
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society > faith > worship > vow > covenant > [noun] > of works
Covenant of Worksa1640
work-covenant1892
1892 B. F. Westcott Gospel of Life 260 The work-covenant of Sinai brings to light the duty and the weakness of men.
work desk n. †(a) a desk used for sewing (obsolete rare); (b) (more generally) a desk used for work; a desk in the workplace.
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1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Scrignetto, a little shrine, chest, coffin, or deske... Also a womans worke-deske.
1849 Godey's Lady's Bk. Dec. 417 Your letter found me fagging away over my work-desk.
1944 Flying Nov. 50/2 One button unfolds a work desk from the wall.
2009 R. Gingeras Sorrowful Shores 1 For the last five years two photos have hung behind my work desk.
work ethic n. the attitude or principle that hard work is intrinsically virtuous, a belief in the value of hard work; (also more generally, chiefly with modifying adjective) a particular attitude towards work or the workplace.Usually connected with the view that to be successful through hard work is a person's moral duty, and deriving from Max Weber's thesis on the Protestant origins of modern capitalism (cf. Protestant work ethic n. at Protestant n. and adj. Compounds).In quot. 1945 as a mass noun. [Probably after German Arbeitsethik (1906 or earlier), often attributed to M. Weber, who described the concept in 1905, but apparently did not use the term.]
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the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > moral philosophy > [noun] > work ethic
Puritan ethic1903
work ethic1945
1945 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 10 204/1 The need for well-developed work ethic.
1959 Past & Present Apr. 44 Weber also asserted that Calvinistic Protestantism was an indispensable precondition of the development of a capitalistic work ethic.
1975 N.Y. Times 13 Apr. ix. 10/9 (advt.) Good work ethic valued and rewarded by generous salary.
1980 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts July 468/1 They are showing the way which we should follow—if only we were not ‘locked on to’ some puritanical work ethic.
2001 W. C. Clemens Baltic Transformed ix. 177 Many lacked enterprise and showed a poor work ethic.
2012 Men's Health Apr. 60/3 I owe a lot to my mum in terms of my work ethic.
work experience n. chiefly British (the provision of) experience of employment and the workplace environment in the form of a supervised fixed-term placement, esp. for older secondary school pupils.
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society > occupation and work > working > career > [noun] > training or preparation schemes
work–study1924
work experience1967
exposure1968
shadowing1976
work shadowing1976
Youth Opportunities Programme1977
YOP1978
job shadowing1979
Youth Training Scheme1981
YTS1984
new deal1995
1967 Times 20 Feb. 23/1 (caption) Schoolgirls learn about retail distribution at a work experience course in the London borough of Newham.
1983 Fortune 16 May 112/3 CETA's primary approach, providing ‘work experience’ in temporary public service jobs, does no good at all, presumably because the jobs don't lead anywhere.
2004 B. Coles et al. Building Better Connections 11/1 When Sal entered Year 10, the Head of Year agreed to Sal embarking on work experience.
work farm n. chiefly U.S. a correctional facility (now typically a minimum-security prison for minor offenders) where inmates are required to undertake agricultural work.Cf. farm n.2 7, prison farm n. at prison n. Compounds 1c.
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society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > reformatory prison
workhouse?c1475
house of correction1575
bridewell1583
work-jail1619
correction-housec1625
rasp house1651
bettering house1735
bettering mansion1740
penitentiary house1779
penitentiary1807
work farm1835
farm1857
pen1881
prison-industrial complex1965
1835 G. Pinckard Suggestions for restoring Moral Char. Poor 19 If any one should be found begging he should be instantly taken up, and sent to the district work-farm.
1962 K. Kesey One Flew over Cuckoo's Nest (1963) 171 He'd had a six months' sentence at the work farm with two months finished, four more to go.
2007 D. N. Griffin & F. Cullotta Cullotta vi. 109 The goal of any inmate was to get transferred from the main prison to the work farm.
work fellow n. = workmate n.
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society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > fellow-worker
fellowOE
labour-fellow1526
work fellow1526
yokefellow1526
fellow worker1534
yokemate1567
co-brother1590
workmate1763
butty1791
side-partner1845
deskmate1850
co-labourer1859
bobber1860
with-worker1884
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rom. xvi. 21 Thimotheus my worke felow [Gk. συνεργός].
1662 D. Sennertus et al. Sixth Bk. Pract. Physic ix. v. 91 The Witches are his work-fellows.
1830 Standard 4 Sept. A young man named Halts..expressed a desire to his work-fellows to get rid of his beard.
1903 C. R. Coleridge C. M. Yonge: Life & Lett. x. 276 She was the most delightful comrade, workfellow, or playfellow.
2010 J. R. Page Leaving before it's Over 191 I owed it to you since your work fellow was involved.
work field n. (a) a field or piece of ground on which agricultural labour is carried out (now rare); (b) a sphere of work, an area of activity or responsibility.
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society > occupation and work > duties > [noun] > sphere of work, business, or activity
field1340
vineyardc1380
orb1598
spherea1616
province1616
work field1684
purview1688
scope1830
coverage1930
shtick1965
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > [noun] > enclosed land or field > other fields
broom-fieldc1314
summer field1597
roughet1616
share acre1641
work field1684
town park1701
tath-field1753
town1822
gas field1833
summer country1860
broom-croft1871
infield1875
1684 T. Tryon Friendly Advice to Gentlemen-planters ii. 105 They are forced to carry their Children with them into the Work-field.
1825 J. Wilson Foresters xxii. 186 I will get back to the Manse before night—Lucy—if I should have to hire a horse out of the work-field.
1848 Blackburn Standard 12 Jan. His sole work-field was the present.
1888 Daily News 24 July 7/1 A technical school in land-work—a workfield, as a supplement to the workhouse.
1907 23rd Ann. Rep. Mich. Dairymen's Assoc. 200 People leave trees in their work fields because they beautify the landscape.
2011 Daily Tel. (Austral.) (Nexis) 17 Oct. 26 I worked 10 years at both the domestic and international terminal in Sydney and my work field ranged from checking passengers to baggage handling.
work furlough n. U.S. leave of absence, esp. from prison, in order to undertake normal employment; a rehabilitation programme based on this; cf. work release n.
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society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > [noun] > work release
work furlough1918
work release1952
day release1964
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [adjective] > work release
work furlough1918
1918 N.Y. Times 9 Mar. 4/1 (heading) House passes bill to grant work furlough to drafted men.
1970 Criminology May 63 Work furlough has been used..for felons as well as misdemeanants.
1980 New Age (U.S.) Oct. 15/2 Both men received suspended jail sentences and three years probation; each will serve about a month in a work-furlough program or community service.
2011 K. Garth-James Eleuthera iv. 141 The Hawaii Department of Corrections provides work opportunities through work furlough, release, and marketable job skills training.
work gang n. a gang (esp. of slaves or prisoners) that carries out manual or physical labour; cf. work party n. (a).
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1847 Cornwall Royal Gaz. 12 Feb. The workgangs will require to be well guarded and watched.
1981 W. Ebersohn Divide Night xii. 157 A work gang..cleaning up the litter along the road.
2012 B. Sapergia Blood & Salt 288 There aren't enough guards to supervise the work gang and they're marched back to camp.
workhand n. originally and chiefly U.S. a labourer, a worker; cf. hand n. 14a.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to conditions > [noun] > employee
employé1811
workhand1821
employe1835
employee1850
employée1862
permanent1863
staff1931
perm1945
staffer1950
hire1954
1821 Amer. Baptist Mag. Sept. 185/2 Opposite to which, forming a square, is a row of cabins containing a lumber room, and kitchen for the work hands.
1893 T. N. Page In Ole Virginia 173 He was a good work-hand, and a first-class boatman.
1963 Boston Globe 18 Aug. a8/2 The sign said all the work hands had to be under 35 years of age.
2001 J. E. Sherow in C. Miller Fluid Arguments viii. 148 Drovers had to pick a suitable location, one with reliable water, good grass, and protection for workhands during inclement weather.
workhead n. (a) the part of a lathe or other machine tool which holds the object being worked on; = headstock n. 3b; (b) (on a multi-purpose power tool) an interchangeable attachment with a particular purpose, such as cutting, drilling, etc.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine tool > lathe > [noun] > headstock
headstock1815
workhead1893
society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > [noun] > powered > attachment for
workhead1893
1893 U.S. Patent 502,174 6/1 A driving mechanism for rotating the shaft and work-head.
1930 Engineering 25 Apr. 538/3 A pair of flat ways for the work-head, tailstock and journal supports.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 12 Jan. 121/1 (advt.) Other workheads, quickly interchangeable without tools, include—12 and 17in. hedge-cutters, pruning saw,..etc.
2010 M. P. Groover Fund. Mod. Manufacturing (ed. 4) x. xxxviii. 897 The next workhead position is defined relative to the present location.
work holder n. (a) a device in a sewing machine for holding the fabric (now historical); (b) Engineering the part of a machine tool that holds the object being worked on; the headstock of a lathe.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > sewing-machine > parts of or attachments for
presser bar1813
flat bed1819
shuttle1847
foot1854
looper1857
take-up1859
work holder1859
feller1860
shuttle-carrier1860
binder1865
braider1866
ruffler1868
presser foot1875
shuttle-windera1877
tension-device1877
thread-cutter1877
thread-oiler1877
tuck-creaser1877
tucking-gauge1877
tuck-marker1877
thread-guide1924
zipper foot1938
free arm1948
balance-wheel1961
tuck-folder-
1859 U.S. Patent 26,570 1/1 I..have invented a new and useful Machine for Holding Ladies' Sewing-Work and other similar purposes, called the ‘Lady's Work-Holder’.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2120/2 The cylinder sewing-machine has a cylindrical work-holder for sewing seams on sleeves.
1929 U.S. Patent 1,702,023 10/2 Advance the work, and re-enable the work-holders to grip the work.
1993 A. Stanley Mothers & Daughters of Invention (1995) iv. 344 Mary Carpenter also patented a Machine for sewing straw braid (1876) and a Work-holder (1894).
2012 T. K. Doi et al. Adv. in CMP Polishing Technol. iii. 44 The work piece rotates about the axis of the work holder.
† work-holy n. depreciative Obsolete rare (with the and plural agreement) people who believe or expect that their own actions, rather than God's grace, will bring about justification before God; cf. sense 1c, workmonger n.
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society > faith > worship > good works > [noun] > reliance on good works for salvation > doctrine of salvation by > person adhering to
work-holy1528
legalist1630
1528 W. Tyndale Obed. Christen Man f. xlijv The sophistres, werkeholy, & iustifiars..which so magnifie their dedes.
work hour n. (in plural) the part of the day (typically) spent at work; (later also) the amount of time spent at work; (in singular) an hour during which work is done (cf. working hour n. at working n. Compounds 3); (also) the hour at which work begins.
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society > occupation and work > work > times or periods of work > [noun] > portion of day allotted to work
day1637
working hour1698
work hour1786
business day1796
working day1796
business end1828
eight hours1845
core time1972
1786 Act 11 & 12 Geo. III, c. 33 in Statutes at Large, Ireland X. 329 (margin) Work hours for shipwrights from 6 to 6, save for dinner and breakfast.
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. vii. 121 To try and get a little sleep before work hour.
1913 T. Tapper How to build Fortune xvi. 192 A certain toll must be expended for every work hour to build up the future protection fund.
1977 Time 10 Jan. 48/1 Employees can arrange their own work hours around a ‘core’ of time.
2001 J. Hamilton-Paterson Loving Monsters vii. 114 You have consistently been absenting yourself from the office during work hours.
2003 J. Hinde When Coal was King v. 132 The Knights of Labor..pursued an active agenda, including the struggle for shorter work hours.
† work-jail n. Obsolete rare a prison or house of correction in which inmates are put to work; cf. workhouse n. 2a.
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society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > reformatory prison
workhouse?c1475
house of correction1575
bridewell1583
work-jail1619
correction-housec1625
rasp house1651
bettering house1735
bettering mansion1740
penitentiary house1779
penitentiary1807
work farm1835
farm1857
pen1881
prison-industrial complex1965
1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. 349 Breaking vp the worke-iails, or bride-wells [L. refractis ergastulis] by right of warre.
1834 Q. Rev. Aug. 239 The whole country must be studded with district workhouses, or rather work-gaols.
work lead n. †(a) a large vessel used for fermentation (cf. lead n.1 5a) (obsolete); (b) Metallurgy lead as it comes from the smelting furnace, containing impurities. [In sense (b) after German Werkblei (1562 as werck bley).]
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the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > brewing > [noun] > vat or vessel for brewing or fermenting
ale fateOE
sesterc1000
bruthen-leadc1275
kimnel1335
tine1337
gyle-fat1341
yeast-fat1367
brew-lead1369
coomb?a1400
gyle-tunc1425
brewing-lead1444
brewing vessel1462
work lead1471
lead1504
brewing copper1551
gyle-tub1568
kier1573
batch1697
ale vat1701
working tun1703
tun1713
brewing tub1766
flat1791
round1806
beck1828
gyle1836
tun-tub1842
stone-square1882
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > base metal > [noun] > lead > types of
pot lead1584
plumbagine1656
slag lead1668
work lead1800
Clichy1840
1471–2 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 156 Pro operacione cca vxx viij petr. plumbi in iiij Warkledes, Brewledes, et j Steplede.
1800 tr. F. A. C. Gren Princ. Mod. Chem. II. xi. 292 The cupels are kept until the work-lead [Ger. Werkbley] is so far diminished, that various inter-changing colours appear on its surface.
1907 W. R. Ingalls Mineral Industry during 1906 XV. 502 The Government assesses duty on only 90 per cent. of the work-lead and lead content of ore imported.
1971 R. J. Forbes Stud. Anc. Technol. (ed. 2) VIII. vi. 204 Pliny calls lead plumbum nigrum.., his stagnum meaning ‘Werkblei, crude lead, work-lead’.
1980 Brit. Patent 1,574,974 1/1 The blast furnace products..include work lead.
workmate n. a person with whom one works; a colleague.Somewhat rare in North American usage.
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society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > fellow-worker
fellowOE
labour-fellow1526
work fellow1526
yokefellow1526
fellow worker1534
yokemate1567
co-brother1590
workmate1763
butty1791
side-partner1845
deskmate1850
co-labourer1859
bobber1860
with-worker1884
1763 London Chron. 3 Sept. 230/2 When he went to work in the morning, he told his work-mates that he could find Mr. Juris's breeches.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 95/2 The man accordingly got a boat, and was soon afloat among his old workmates.
1937 L. Jones Cwmardy ix. 145 It would be an act of betrayal to his family, to himself, and to the men in the barry if he left the ranks of his workmates.
2011 A. Duffy My Ladder of Life lvii. 228 Nick worked hard and soon earned the respect of his workmates.
work measurement n. originally U.S. (as a count noun) an estimate, calculated using ergonomic techniques, of the time required for carrying out a particular task to a certain standard; (as a mass noun) the action or process of calculating such estimates, in order to improve efficiency in the workplace; cf. time and motion adj.
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society > occupation and work > working > career > [noun] > analysis or grading of posts or salaries
job analysis1916
work measurement1916
relativity1944
1916 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 64 158 It is essential that the various departments..develop work measurements which will become standards for recognizing merit or penalizing inefficiency.
1969 J. Argenti Managem. Techniques 271 The procedure used in Work Measurement to determine the amount of labour required to do a job is to time how long it takes the average man to perform each element of the job.
2000 L. S. Aft Work Measurem. & Methods Improvem. v. 147 Work measurement is one of the oldest tools used by industrial engineers, and..stopwatch time study is the oldest type of work measurement performed.
work-minded adj. focused on work; keen to work.
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society > occupation and work > work > attitudes to work > [adjective]
workfulOE
laboursome1552
work-shy1883
work-minded1931
Luddite1957
workaholic1972
1931 Sun (Baltimore) 9 Aug. 4/3 He would force the State to ‘play’ all fiesta week whether its more work-minded executives liked it or not.
1954 Encounter Sept. 33/1 The Army requires..work-minded people who try to do a good job of whatever they're told to do.
2003 J. Cullen Amer. Dream 152 A historic shift from the goal-oriented, work-minded, ‘inner-directed’ individual to a more self-conscious, consumer-minded, ‘outer-directed’ one.
work-mindedness n. the quality or state of being work-minded.
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society > occupation and work > work > attitudes to work > [noun]
solidarity1885
work-shyness1904
ergophobia1905
technophobia1947
technomania1948
work-mindedness1951
Luddism1967
workaholism1968
Ludditism1971
1951 Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Devel. 16 121 She is serious and purposeful,..expressing most active work-mindedness.
1960 Encounter Nov. 27/1 William H. Whyte, Jr.,..points out that some large corporations, worried about the decline in ‘work-mindedness’, are seeking to substitute an ideology of corporate loyalty.
2006 B. A. Salmoni in E. T. Ewing & D. Hicks Educ. & Great Depression ix. 205 Cooperativism in particular inculcated frugality, work-mindedness, and the pooling of efforts for national economic production.
workmonger n. depreciative (now rare) a person who believes or expects that his or her own actions, rather than God's grace, will bring about justification before God; cf. sense 1c, and earlier work-holy n.
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society > faith > worship > good works > [noun] > person characterized by > person expecting to be justified by
workmonger?1548
merit-monger1552
merit-worker1577
merit-merchant1647
?1548 N. Lesse in tr. J. Aepinus Very Fruitful Expos. Psalme Dauid Ep. Ded. sig. D.viv The workmongars: those (I saye) which do claime saluation by their owne workes and ryghtuousnes.
1698 B. Keach Christ Alone Way to Heaven i. 27 We have new Babel-builders, or Work-mongers that think to climb up to Heaven by their own Works, by their own Faith, and sincere Obedience.
1751 J. Rogers Serm. Death W. Bentley 28 The apostle Paul was as good a workmonger before his conversion, as any of you all, and did as many good works in his own opinion.
1882 C. Booth Addr. Crit. Salvation Army 7 One class of critics stigmatise us as being..work-mongers.
1904 Primitive Monitor Jan. 32 The ungodly world and Arminian work mongers.
work name n. a name or alias used for work purposes; spec. an alias used by a person engaged in secret intelligence work.
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the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [noun] > assumed or fictitious name
alias1605
nom de guerre1652
onomastic1654
martial name1762
anonym1812
pseudonym1817
nom de plume1841
stage name1847
cryptonym1862
pen namea1864
allonym1867
code name1867
screen name1923
nom de vente1955
work name1963
society > communication > information > [noun] > private > alias used by one engaged in intelligence work
work name1963
1963 Bull. School Oriental & Afr. Stud. 26 387 Great Way sects operating at certain periods under the secret work-name of White Lotus.
1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy iii. 54 Karla..was the workname of the Soviet case officer who had recruited Bill Haydon..and had the running of him.
2011 S. Nadeem Dead Ringers iii. 56 Sean is my work name, but I go by it now.
work party n. (a) a group of people (typically soldiers, sailors, prisoners, etc.) assigned to a task, esp. one involving manual or physical labour (cf. working party n. 1a, 1b); (b) a group of people working voluntarily on a task or project for mutual benefit, charitable purposes, etc.
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society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > group of workers > doing work of mutual or social benefit
work party1823
work group1923
span1956
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prisoner > [noun] > working party
working party1744
party1805
working party1821
work party1823
1823 J. Hastie Narr. Voy. to Poyais 10 No measures had been adopted by the governor or other officers to divide the men into section or work parties, or to fix any of them on high ground before the rainy season set in.
1940 Sci. Monthly Nov. 435/2 It is a village work-party, with a measure of last season's rice as pay and, of course, a noontime dinner in the fields.
1957 R. Frankenberg Village on Border 20 They [sc. women] also work together in sewing groups and work-parties preparing material for sales-of-work.
1981 I. Boland tr. E. Ginzburg Within Whirlwind i. iii. 22 Many considered the shock of being drafted to a work party every bit as bad as being arrested.
2002 L. Purves Radio (2003) xvi. 225 A chance to..live for a week with the work-party of the explorer Tim Severin, who was building an Arabic ship..to follow the voyages of Sindbad the Sailor.
work permit n. originally U.S. an official document granting permission to work, esp. one giving a foreign national permission to work legally in the country of issue.
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society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employee's documents > licence or permit to work
working paper1831
work permit1900
togt licence1948
1900 S. S. Whittelsey Mass. Labor Legislation 111 When a doctor's certificate states the applicant to be physically unable to both work and study, a special work permit may be given for a fixed period.
1971 Times 25 Feb. 4/1 A Commonwealth citizen wishing to work here in future will need a work permit issued for a specific job in a specific place for a fixed initial period.
2005 Independent 16 Aug. 29/3 See that roofer? Shouldn't he have a hard hat? A mask? A work permit? A visa? Accident insurance?
work placement n. the action or practice of finding a person employment or a placement for work (cf. placement n. 2); (now) spec. (chiefly British) a period of attachment to a workplace, either paid or unpaid, in order to gain work experience.
ΚΠ
1931 Hartford (Connecticut) Daily Courant 26 Nov. 22/5 The work placement committee... This committee will see that all unemployed are placed on jobs which have been discovered by the project committee.
1954 N.Y. Times 28 Feb. e9/2 More than fifty colleges are now offering student credit for work placements that have been satisfactorily completed under supervision.
1977 Higher Educ. 6 458 The colleges and several of the courses involved in this study have explicit vocational objectives, and some involved a sandwich, professional training or work placement, element.
1995 J. Miller Voxpop i. 19 The next three months were spent on work placement, wherever you can get it.
2007 G. Gregory et al. Careers in Media & Film xii. 172 How do you make it in an industry which is happy to keep wannabes on extended unpaid work placements in the hopes of landing that first job as an editorial assistant?
work point n. now historical (in the People's Republic of China) a unit used in communes to calculate wages due, based on the quality and quantity of work done. [After Chinese gōng fēn ( < gōng work (see gung ho n.) + fēn (verb) to divide, distinguish, (noun) fraction, also used to denote various units of measurement).]
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society > occupation and work > work > amounts of work > [noun] > unit of work for calculating pay
Labour Day1930
work point1956
1956 Manch. Guardian 19 July 6/3 Families receive an income according to the ‘work points’ with which they are credited from the amount of labour they put in on the collective farm.
1964 Current Scene 15 Apr. 2/2 The use of work points rather than absolute money terms to express wages..preserves Peking's control over the allocation of the harvest.
2011 G. Hershatter Gender of Memory v. 147 A day of work on the Qiangjiawan reservoir..could bring in more than twenty work points.
work rate n. (a) the rate at which work is done, the amount of work done in a period of time; (b) the amount of effort expended by a person in a sport or game; spec. (in team sports, as football, hockey, etc.) the effort expended in running, chasing, tackling, etc., considered as a measure of a player's contribution to the team's effort.
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the world > movement > rate of motion > [noun]
speedc1175
passa1393
pace?a1439
strake1558
rate1652
velocity1656
rapidity1701
rake1768
bat1824
clip1868
tempo1898
work rate1906
pacing1958
society > occupation and work > work > amounts of work > [noun] > amount per person per time unit
hour1900
man-hour1915
woman-hour1915
man-shift1930
work rate1957
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > association football > [noun] > player > player's contribution to fatigue of game
work rate1969
1906 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 77 515 If the work rate diminishes more rapidly than at the combustion rate,..the rates may become equal.
1957 Washington Post 4 Sept. c5/3 When breakfast was skipped, their work rate as well as their work output decreased in the late morning hours.
1969 Punch 12 Feb. 248/4 I wish I could recall the lingo—the through-balls, high crosses, work-rates and searching diagonals.
1986 Times 20 Nov. 41/2 The tackling of their three-quarters..and the high work rate of the back row.
2003 Daily Star 3 Apr. 50/2 Boss Gary Megson is well pleased with the Ginga-Ninja's work-rate. Now he just needs the boost of a strike or two before the season's end.
2009 R. Savage Rowing Atlantic vii. 92 Despite Richard's enormous energy and enthusiasm and prodigious work rate, much remained to be done.
work release n. originally U.S. leave of absence from prison in order to undertake normal employment; a rehabilitation programme based on this.In quot. 1952 with reference to the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > [noun] > work release
work furlough1918
work release1952
day release1964
1952 in D. S. Thomas et al. Salvage (1975) ii. 260 I was told that the companies didn't have any jobs for workers who came from another city and they wouldn't recognize my work release.
1981 C. Bartollas Introd. Corrections viii. 168 Objectives of work release.
2001 G. Barbieri in R. J. Simon Compar. Perspective Major Social Probl. 51 Work release is intended to provide inmate participation in a structured program of work or community service.
workroom n. a room for working in, esp. one equipped for a particular kind of work; cf. workshop n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > workshop > [noun] > workroom
workroom1665
sluttery1711
working room1898
1665 R. Head Eng. Rogue I. xli. 309 Being one time above in his work-room, I chanced to spy a very rich Jewel.
1707 F. Shaftoe Narrative 17 On a Friday in the Evening, when we were all in the Work-Room.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth vii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 162 The work-room of Simon Glover was filled to crowding by personages of no little consequence.
1949 N. Coward Diary 17 Aug. (2000) 131 Retired to my work room and contemplated my navel.
2001 Harper's Mag. Jan. 40/2 His long and narrow workroom is chockablock with wood and tools and objects in molds and on benches.
work rule n. chiefly U.S. one of a set of regulations governing working procedures, conditions, etc., in a business or industry.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [noun] > regulations governing work
work rule1870
MacBride principles1985
1870 York Herald 16 Apr. 9/6 It was agreed to hold another board meeting in a fortnight, to consider..work rules.
1948 Southern Econ. Jrnl. 15 182 In actual trading with the unions, management is far more inclined to give way on a demand for a work rule than a wage increase.
2012 M. Miura Welfare through Work iv. 71 The enactment of the law would send a message to employers that they are free to degrade working conditions by changing the work rules at will.
work sharing n. Economics a working arrangement in which employees in an overmanned industry work fewer hours, as an alternative to redundancies.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [noun] > work-sharing
work sharing1905
job sharing1932
job splitting1939
job-share1981
1905 A. C. Pigou Princ. & Methods Industr. Peace ii. iii. 72 Employers..often look askance at work-sharing pressed over far.
a1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 56 They were entirely concerned about the problem of redundancy and in particular the impression created by Gunter's public statements that in principle the Government is opposed to work-sharing in the motor-car industry.
2011 S. Lehndorff & T. Haipeter in S. Hayter Role Collective Bargaining in Global Econ. ii. 41 It is more likely that work sharing will become a major policy issue in countries with dismissal protection and unemployment insurance systems.
work song n. a song sung while working, esp. by a group of people, typically having a strong, steady rhythm intended to accompany repetitive manual labour.Recorded earliest in figurative use.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > folk-song > work song
work song1841
holler1936
1841 J. W. Ord Bard 12 The honey-bees' sweet work-song fill'd my soul.
1911 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore 24 379 Like the other songs, the work-songs give a keen insight into the negro's real self.
1977 Listener 25 Aug. 244/3 The persistent play with three for four notes suggests incantation or work-songs.
2010 Dunoon Observer & Argyllshire Standard 13 Aug. 19/2 Members of the Inverclyde Waulking Group will be waulking the tweed, singing traditional Gaelic work songs.
work surface n. a flat surface suitable for working on, esp. one in a kitchen; cf. working surface n. at working n. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > table > [noun] > work-top
benchtop1844
working top1905
working surface1913
worktop1924
work surface1927
bench1928
1927 Boston Sunday Globe 29 May 6/3 Suggestions about height of sink, working table, work surfaces and so on.
1979 J. Barnett Backfire is Hostile! xii. 117 They were inside a kitchen, work surfaces, refrigerator, an electric cooker gleamed.
2005 C. A. Hagen Fabulous Felt Hats 34/2 Keep most of the hat on the work surface as you rub to prevent excess stretching of the fragile wet felt.
worktable n. (a) a small table used for sewing typically having compartments, drawers, etc. (now chiefly historical); (b) (more generally) a table used for work.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > table > [noun] > other tables
dormant tablec1405
set board1512
chair-table1558
oyster table1559
brushing-table1575
stand board1580
table-chair1671
reading table1749
worktable1762
centre table1775
pier table1778
loo-table1789
screen table1793
social table1793
octoped1822
claw-table1832
bench table1838
mould1842
end table1851
pedestal table1858
picnic table1866
examining table1877
silver table1897
changing table1917
rent table1919
capstan table1927
conference table1928
tricoteuse1960
Parsons1962
overflow table1973
butcher's block1976
1762 Mem. Master Taylors Edinb. against Journeymen Taylors 9 Many of them do still take their Breakfast upon the Work Table before Nine o'Clock.
1824 Family Picture Gallery II. i. 20 His days were passed at his work-table.
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay i. 12 A small basket work-table, overflowing with bright-colored wools and silk.
1958 Daily Defender (Chicago) 7 Aug. 16/4 Your portable typewriter that's kept open on desk or worktable ready for action.
1985 J. T. Butler Field Guide to Amer. Antique Furnit. 53 Designed specifically with the needleworker in mind, the work table also appeared at this time.
2006 Smithsonian May 30/1 An array of chisels, anvils, electric buffers and other tools clutter the sooty worktables.
work team n. (a) U.S. a team of draught horses, oxen, etc.; (b) a team of people who work together, a work group; spec. (in the People's Republic of China) any of the working units making up a commune (now historical). [With reference to China after Chinese shēngchăn duì, lit. ‘production team’ ( < shēngchăn to produce + duì team).]
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > group of workers
work team1809
labour brigade1886
lads1888
span1913
work group1928
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > work animals > draught animal > team of
teamOE
yokeOE
draught?1523
teamware1567
plough team1726
work team1809
span1812
farm team1818
spike-team1848
1809 J. Tayloe Let. Aug. in Mem. Philadelphia Soc. for promoting Agric. (1811) 2 100 I have some at each of my farms for the purpose of feeding it [sc. a crop], when half cured, to my horses, and other work team, through the summer.
1933 L. I. Wilder Farmer Boy xi. 75 He was old enough to..drive the old, gentle work-team... They were wise, sober mares.
1942 R. A. Peterson & N. J. Demerath in L. Pope Millhands & Preachers Introd. p. xliii The job routine does not allow for the development of work teams or for personal freedom and initiative.
1965 New Statesman 3 Sept. 321/1 The giant communes were divided into smaller units. The basic unit is a work-team, generally about the size of an average village.
2002 D. Goleman et al. Business: Ultimate Resource 198/3 Multidisciplinary, cross-functional work teams in which power flows from expertise, not position.
2009 L. M. Hasselstrom No Place like Home 67 I named her after the mare in the work team my father had been driving when I moved to the ranch.
work thing n. an object or item used in work; contrasted with plaything.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > [noun]
tacklea1325
enginea1393
geara1400
workhorse1463
graith1513
trinketc1525
implementsa1552
furniture1577
store1605
tew1616
thing1662
stock-in-trade1775
tack1777
apparatus1796
work thing1812
gearinga1854
matériel1856
plant1867
hardware1947
workhorse1949
1812 M. R. Mitford Let. 5 Jan. in A. G. L'Estrange Life M. R. Mitford (1870) I. 168 The playthings and the workthings, that this unlucky search discovered.
1929 N.Y. Herald Tribune Mag. 2 June 20/1 The child who is to visit in a household of grown-ups..is entitled to special consideration when the summer playthings—and work things—are selected.
2006 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 16 June a1 They're as much a work thing as a play thing.
worktop n. chiefly British a work surface in a kitchen.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > table > [noun] > work-top
benchtop1844
working top1905
working surface1913
worktop1924
work surface1927
bench1928
1924 Pop. Mech. Sept. 527/1 The block is then screwed to the work top of the kitchen cabinet.
1953 Archit. Rev. 114 127/1 Though not as highly resistant to abrasion as Formica it is considerably cheaper, and suitable for anything but worktops where there is much cutting and sliding.
1984 Which? Oct. 458/3 If you are going to use tiles for a worktop, check that they have good scratch resistance.
2010 L. Rosa Not my Idea of Heaven xxxiv. 206 I had to eat in the kitchen... I sat on a bar stool, pulled up to the narrow worktop and read Dad's Telegraph.
work train n. originally U.S. a railway train used in construction or repair work on the railway line; spec. one with wagons or trucks for conveying materials.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > train > train carrying railway materials
work train1858
1858 Amer. Railway Times 4 Sept. Engine No. 131, (Work Train,)..ran 1,116 miles, using 25 cords of wood.
1949 Los Angeles Times 6 June i. 1/6 Explosion of the locomotive of a work train at Serra..killed one man.
2003 Yorks. Post (Nexis) 1 June Work trains have already begun using the line, which lost its last regular passenger service in the 1950s.
work triangle n. originally U.S. (in a kitchen design) a triangle formed by the sink, cooking area, and refrigerator, intended to minimize the movement required for work, esp. while a person is preparing food.
ΚΠ
1950 Handbk. Kitchen Design 15 The three distances between appliances usually form a 'work triangle' which serves as a measure of the efficiency of the kitchen. The sum of these distances should not exceed 22 feet.
1964 Washington Post 26 Dec. b11 One way to reduce kitchen chores is to lay out a work triangle.
1985 D. Holloway Which? Bk. Plumbing & Central Heating (1992) vii. 88/1 The positioning of the sink in relation to other parts of the kitchen is important: it should form part of the ‘work triangle’.
2006 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 2 Apr. x. 42 Lay out equipment in the classic work triangle—with the refrigerator, sink and range along the triangle's points, as long as that suits your cooking habits.
work visa n. a visa granting a foreign national permission to work legally in the country of issue; a work permit.
ΚΠ
1939 N.Y. Times 5 Nov. ix. 4/3 He had been on the verge of accepting some Summer camp work in New York when his work visa reached him from the U.S.S.R.
1989 M. S. Kassem in M. S. Kassem & G. M. Habib Strategic Managem. Services Arab Gulf States iv. 61 These workers (technicians, teachers, engineers, nurses, doctors..[etc.]) are invited to come on a temporary work visa.
2005 T. Hall Salaam Brick Lane i. 13 Anu..was in Delhi waiting for her British work visa to be issued.
workweek n. chiefly North American (a) the total number of hours or days worked in a week; (b) the part of the week during which one typically works, as distinguished from the weekend; cf. working week n. at working n. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > times or periods of work > [noun] > working week
workweek1892
five-day week1926
1892 Irish Times 30 Apr. 4/8 A forty-eight hours work week.
1912 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 39 212 An approximate ten hour work-day and sixty hour work-week were secured for women and children.
1987 Flying May 48/1 PAL..makes 14 round trips a day, during the workweek, to Newark.
2013 F. Pritchard Gaining Ground iii. 34 I had worn myself down with an endless string of seven-day workweeks.
C4. Chiefly British compounds with the first element in plural (in sense 21).
a. General attributive.Earliest in works manager n. at Compounds 4b.
ΚΠ
1872 Manch. Guardian 18 June 4/1 The Company have..secured the continued services of the works manager.
1901 Scotsman 11 Mar. 8/7 The position of the directors.., of their consulting chemist, and of their works chemist.
1908 Mod. Business Aug. 69/1 Another valuable outlet for its energies is the management of a Works Kitchen.
1939 C. H. Madge & T. H. Harrisson Brit. by Mass-observ. (2009) vii. 203 Having placed a notice on the works clock to the effect that the signal would be given for the commencement of the two minute silence by the blowing of the Works hooter, [etc.]
1990 J. Williams in R. Holt Sport & Working Class in Mod. Brit. vi. 106 The numbers of works clubs playing recreational cricket in the Bolton area rose from four in 1927 to seventeen in 1939.
2007 Northern Echo 26 Jan. 9 He'd worked for Terry's, the chocolate people, played for the works football team.
b.
works canteen n.
ΚΠ
1916 Manch. Guardian 2 Dec. 8/4 Meals and refreshments may be sold..at works canteens for consumption anywhere in the works.
1978 J. B. Hilton Some run Crooked iii. 19 He ate his midday meal in a works canteen.
2013 R. Taylor Creativity at Work iv. 158 Do as one IT consultant did and install an art gallery in the works canteen.
works manager n.
ΚΠ
1872Works manager [see Compounds 4a].
1918 A. Bennett Pretty Lady xxvii. 177 I used to take their part against the works-manager.
2000 Paper Technol. Feb. 29/2 Whilst these systems meet increasingly stringent environmental standards,..in many cases they no longer satisfy the demands of works managers.
works outing n.
ΚΠ
1908 Electrician 17 July 542/1 On Saturday..Simplex Conduits (Ltd.) held their annual works outing at Matlock Bath.
1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. viii. 47 His bus ride to the factory..took on the air of a works outing.
2001 M. Leapman World for Shilling (2002) xi. 282 Inevitably there was more than a hint of paternalism involved in the ‘works outings’ and the oddly clad villagers shepherded to London by their vicar.
c.
works bus n. a bus provided by a factory, etc., to take employees to and from the workplace.
ΚΠ
1939 P. Francis I worked in Soviet Factory xv. 215 Arriving at Orekhovo Station on a very hot afternoon we waited a little for the works bus.
1947 Brit. Jrnl. Industr. Med. 4 58/1 The advantages of convenient works buses and trains.
1969 R. Blythe Akenfield iv. 80 Works-bus waiting to carry him from door to site.
1980 A. Townsin Blue Triangle iii. 48/1 A second works bus.
works committee n. = works council n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > those involved in labour relations > [noun] > committee of workers
shop committee1808
trade board1835
works council1908
works committee1909
wage board1925
wages council1945
1909 Outlook 13 Mar. 601/1 These ideas being brought first to the works committee for their recommendation as to adoption or rejection.
1966 T. Lupton Managem. & Social Sci. iii. 63 In a small firm, Joint Consultation might take place in a Works Committee.
2008 L. Ortiz & F. Llorente-Galera in J. J. Lawler & G. Hundley Global Diffusion of Human Resource Pract. 75 After the formal request made by the works committee at the 2004 collecting bargaining, a steering committee was set up to supervise the introduction of the change in the whole factory.
works council n. a council consisting of representatives from the workers and management of an industry or business, formed for the discussion of topics of mutual interest.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > those involved in labour relations > [noun] > committee of workers
shop committee1808
trade board1835
works council1908
works committee1909
wage board1925
wages council1945
1908 Financial Times 8 Oct. 4/4 The scheme involves the setting up of a Works Council, to be composed of an equal number of representatives of the employers and of the firm.
1977 Times 22 Sept. 2/8 The need to develop industrial democracy on the shop floor through works councils.
2011 S. Sapulete et al. in K. J. McCarthy et al. Nature of New Firm viii. 187 Organizations with a works council have significantly higher productivity than organizations without one.

Derivatives

ˈwork-like adj. (a) industrious, diligent, businesslike (now chiefly Scottish); (b) resembling work.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adjective] > diligent or industrious
busyOE
swinkfulOE
laboriousa1393
virtuousc1450
eident1529
operose1546
laboursome1552
industrious1591
work-likea1642
work-brittle1647
notable1666
nitle1673
hard-working1682
worksome1830
shirtsleeve1864
workful1875
a1642 W. Bedell in T. Fuller Abel Redevivus (1651) 57 Seaven Cities, no contemptible portion of witty and work-like Greece.
?1790 R. Sandilands Descr. Patent Instrument called Sward-cutter 12 It has a very uncommon and worklike appearance.
1871 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 Sept. 260/2 No more active or worklike troops could possibly be seen.
1875 ‘M. Twain’ Old Times Mississippi ii, in Atlantic Monthly Feb. 218/2 There was something very real and work-like about this new phase.
1954 Banffshire Jrnl. 2 Mar. 4/3 Dyod, ye're warklike the day, noo.
1989 M. A. Selzer et al. Working with Person with Schizophrenia iii. 145 Involvement in a work-like setting as part of treatment.
2011 S. Cornelius & P. Singh in J. A. R. Nafziger & S. F. Ross Handbk. Internat. Sports Law xi. 299 Children who participate in professional sport train in a work-like environment.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

workv.

Brit. /wəːk/, U.S. /wərk/
Inflections: Past tense and past participle worked Brit. /wəːkt/, U.S. /wərkt/, (chiefly archaic) wrought Brit. /rɔːt/, U.S. /rɔt/, /rɑt/;
Forms: 1. Present stem.

α. early Old English vvyrcan, Old English uyrca (Northumbrian), Old English wuirca (Northumbrian), Old English wurcan (rare), Old English wyrcan, Old English wyrcean, Old English wyrcgan (rare), Old English wyrhcan (rare), Old English wyrican (rare), Old English wyricean (rare), Old English wyrycan (rare), late Old English wyrchan (Kentish), late Old English wyrecan, early Middle English wrch (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English wrche, early Middle English wuerche, early Middle English wurce, Middle English wourche (south-western), Middle English (south-western)–1500s wurch, Middle English (chiefly west midlands)–1500s wurche. eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. li. 264 Heræfter sint lungenadla laðlicu tacn..& hu mon læcedomas wiþ þon wyrcean scyle.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xxi. 28 Uade hodie operare in uinea mea : gaa todæge wuirc in wingeard minne.OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 45 Lareow, teonan þu wyrhcst us mid þisse sage.OE Ælfric Homily: De Duodecim Abusivis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 300 On manegum wisum man mæg wyrcan [a1225 Lamb. wurchen] ælmyssan.c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 25 Ane wurcð wundræ ðurh his mihte.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 41 Mid mede man mai ouer water faren, And mid weldede of giue frend wuerche.c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 408 He wile of bore wrchen [a1300 Jesus Oxf. wurche] bareȝ.a1400 (a1325) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Trin. Cambr.) (1887) App. XX. 845 Hi þoute wourche wo.a1475 (?1445) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1911) i. 375 With feyth truly for to wurch.?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature iv. sig. Dviij In Gods seruyce, they honourablye wurche.

β. Old English uirca (Northumbrian), Old English vvircan (rare), Old English wircan, Old English wircean, late Old English wirchan (Kentish), early Middle English wirce, early Middle English wyrcce, early Middle English wyrce, early Middle English wyrlce (transmission error), Middle English whirche, Middle English wirch, Middle English wirche, Middle English wyrch, Middle English–1500s wyrche, late Middle English which (transmission error), 1500s wirtch. eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) xiv. 2 Qui..operatur iustitiam : se..wirceð rehtwisnisse.lOE Canterbury Psalter vi. 9 Discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem : gewitæð from me eælle þæ þe unriht wirchað.c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 67 Him ȝedafenode to wyrccenne his weorc.c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 722 Clerkes ginneþ songes wirche.c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 38 Þat never þai no lan Þe pouer to wirche wo.c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 45 Þe place wher arsenek is putte in, if it wirch perfitely, shal bycome blo & bolned.a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 344 Elburwe þat religyose house let after whirche.1509 H. Watson tr. S. Brant Shyppe of Fooles (de Worde) lxxxxv. sig. Aa.iiiv In good operacyons loke ye wyrche.1577 [implied in: R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande ii. f. 4v/1, in R. Holinshed Chron. I Beyng moderately taken..it [sc. Aqua vitæ] kepeth..the belly from wirtchyng [at working n. 10].].

γ. early Old English werð (Kentish, 3rd singular indicative, perhaps transmission error), Old English weorcan (rare), Old English weorcean (rare), Old English wercan (rare), early Middle English verhs (transmission error), early Middle English weorce, early Middle English weorche (south-western), early Middle English werce, early Middle English wereche (south-western), early Middle English wrec (imperative, perhaps transmission error), Middle English werch, Middle English (1500s in print of lost Middle English MS) werche. OE Blickling Homilies 67 Þu scealt on æghwylce tid Godes willan wercan.OE Monasteriales Indicia (1996) xxxi. 28 Lege þu þine swyðran hand under þin hleor and werc rodetacen on þin heofod foran.OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) xvii. 211 And þonne hi ne þurfon gemæne worc weorcean, wirce ælc sum þing þæs þe his agen neod sy.c1175 ( in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 42 Weorcæð medemæ wæstmæs reowsungæ.a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) vii. 33 We synd ȝelerede be ȝewyrhton, þæt we urne aȝene willan ne weorcean.c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) 6071 Al ich wolle werechen after þine wille.c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. x. l. 75 Werche he wel oþer wrong, þe wyt is his owene.1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Love in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 91 If fyr be in place chafinge thing able to be chafed..the oon may werche, the other shal suffre.

δ. early Middle English wirrkenn ( Ormulum), Middle English wirc, Middle English wirck, Middle English wirkke, Middle English wrick, Middle English wrik, Middle English wryk, Middle English wyrc, Middle English wyrkk- (inflected form), Middle English–1500s wirke, Middle English–1500s wyrcke, Middle English–1500s wyrk, Middle English–1500s wyrke, Middle English–1500s (1800s– English regional (Yorkshire)) wirk, late Middle English wyke (transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 virke, pre-1700 vyrk, pre-1700 wryk (perhaps transmission error), pre-1700 wyirk, pre-1700 wyrk, pre-1700 wyrke, pre-1700 1700s– wirk, pre-1700 1800s virk. In Middle English, chiefly northern and north midlandsc1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10118 To wirrkenn allmess werrkess.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 25251 Þi will to wirc.a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. 5001 Conseiled þem boþe to-gyder How þey schuld wyrke.1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 488 He thoucht to virk with slicht.1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 783/1 I wyrke... Declared in ‘I worke’.1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Bii For to wyrcke.1621 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart 431 That this worme..some wonders may wirk.1724 A. Ramsay Vision in Ever Green I. xxiv Lat them..stryve to wirk my fall.1880 J. E. Watt Poet. Sketches 59 To wirk some orra beast, or drive a milk shilt.?2002 I. W. D. Forde Hale ir Sindries ii. 118 A retoured ti wirkin in ane offish an didna hae mair nor a curn contraks wi Rab Broun.

ε. Middle English wroche, Middle English–1500s worche, Middle English–1500s (1800s– English regional (Shropshire)) worch, late Middle English worsche, late Middle English worthe (transmission error), 1500s woorchen (archaic), 1800s wortch (English regional (Lancashire)). c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15996 Þe king in-to chirche gon wenden Godes werk to worchen. and masse þer iherden.?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 123 Þei wolen not..worsche aftir good conscience.1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Ivj To woorchen all our will.1865 E. Waugh Lancs. Songs 24 When a mon's honestly willin' To wortch.1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. 488 This 'ere tuth worches me above a bit.

ζ. Middle English verke, Middle English werc, Middle English–1500s werke, Middle English–1500s (1800s– English regional (northern)) werk, 1500s weorke; Scottish pre-1700 weirk, pre-1700 werk. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 334 He..freteð hem [emended to him in ed.] al ðan he him iuel werkeð.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14704 Þe werckes þat i werc.c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Tale (Ellesmere) (1875) l. 1477 As for to werken any thyng in contrarie.1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. BBBi It can werke no effect.?1553 Respublica (1952) i. i. 4 Avaryce maie weorke factes.1875 E. Tweddell Rhymes Cleveland Dial. 9 Be up, mon, an' werk whaile te'syabble.

η. Middle English–1600s worke, late Middle English– work, 1500s woork, 1500s (1800s English regional) wurk, 1500s–1600s woorke, 1500s–1600s worcke, 1600s worck; U.S. regional (southern, chiefly in African-American usage) 1800s– wuck, 1800s– wuk, 1800s– wukk; Scottish pre-1700 uoork, pre-1700 uorke, pre-1700 vork, pre-1700 vurk, pre-1700 worke, pre-1700 wourk, pre-1700 wourke, pre-1700 1700s– work, pre-1700 1800s– wurk; Caribbean 1900s– wock, 1900s– wok, 1900s– wuck, 1900s– wuk, 1900s– wukk. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 3069 Me wolde wene þat in þis lond no ston to worke nere.1445–6 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Feb. 1445 §30. m. 8 All the saide wardeyns..have full power to oversee the workemanshipp of the saide craftymen, and that thei make and work well and truely.1551 R. Crowley Pleasure & Payne Ded. sig. Aiiv The lorde work in the hertis of the rych.1581 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xliv. 368 Destroy the block, That vurkis thir Turkis aganis the.1625 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1624–9 (1909) 52 Discharging our broadsides as fast as wee coulde laied them and worck them.1645 in Notes & Queries 12th Ser. 9 223/2 Brick to worke up the wall.1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xxxix. 285 But reflectioning apart, thou seest, Jack, that her plot is beginning to work.1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. vi. 75 The stomach works well and performs its functions with vigour.1994 I. Welsh Sport For All in Acid House 147 Whit's it ye dae, mate, ye wurkin?2006 Independent 4 July 7/3 We find ways of making things work even if they were not meant to work for us.

θ. late Middle English wake (transmission error), late Middle English (1800s– English regional) wark, late Middle English–1500s warke; Scottish pre-1700 warke, pre-1700 1800s– wark (rare); Irish English (northern) 1900s– wark, 2000s– waark. ▸ 1440 [implied in: Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 41 Blunderynge, or blunt warkynge, hebefaccio. (at working n. 1a)].?c1450 Recipe in M. Leach Stud. Medieval Lit. in Honor A. C. Baugh (1961) 291 Ho-sal xal warkyn with gressys to sen, Ful wyse & ware he must been.1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) i. 35 The tonge spekyth, the handes warke.1640 in L. B. Taylor Aberdeen Council Lett. (1950) II. 237 That ye..put your haill shoemakeris to wark the shoes.1880 L. Parr Adam & Eve II. 143 If 'tis to be done, he'll wark the oracle for me.1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 14 She believes the caller air o' Redcleugh 'll wark miracles on him.2009 Tourism Ireland Ann. Rep. 2008 (Ulster Scots version) 12 [She] waarks i the healtht bettherment fiel'.

ι. late Middle English warch. a1500 (?a1425) Antichrist (Peniarth) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mills Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. App. 497 Iff I be Crist, nowe levys ye and warchis after the wyse.?a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 2 Let seþe to þe þrydde part be sodyn a-wey, and take fro þe fuyre aned warch hit [sc. dye] vppon a cloþ.

κ. Chiefly regional and archaic. 1500s wroteth (3rd singular indicative), 1800s– wrought; Scottish pre-1700 wrochtand (present participle), 1800s wroughtin’ (present participle), 1900s– wrocht; Irish English (northern) 2000s– wrocht. 1528 W. Tyndale That Fayth Mother of All Good Workes f. viii Faith wroteth [1547 worketh] her selfe in the hertes of the electe.1599 in R. D. MacEwan Old Glasgow Weavers (1916) 49 That nane..tak..ony..silveir before the hand, except the work be wrochtand the tyme thai tak the said silveir for to help to work the same.1842 A. Rodger Stray Leaves 176 Noo, ta shentlemans will no like to [be] wroughtin' at a'.1940 Mountain Democrat (Placerville, Calif.) 26 Dec. 7/5 Men..are accountable for something like 85 per cent of the damage which fire wroughts in California forests.1991 J. McDonald in T. Hubbard New Makars 89 The laser-licht o consciousness wrochtin a spectrum oot frae the prisom o the makar.2009 Tourism Ireland Ann. Rep. 2008 (Ulster Scots version) 12 [She] wrochts alang wi' community, statutory an' industry tae ansuer healtht an' weill bein' needs.

2. Past tense.

α. early Old English worte, Old English uorhte (Northumbrian), Old English weorhte (rare), Old English weorte (rare), Old English worohte (chiefly Northumbrian), Old English wvorht (perhaps transmission error), Old English–early Middle English worhte, Old English (rare)–early Middle English woruhte, Old English (rare)–Middle English wrohte, Old English (rare)–early Middle English (south-west midlands) wurhte, late Old English worchte, late Old English worhtte, late Old English wuorhte (Kentish), early Middle English worþte (south-western), early Middle English wrohhte ( Ormulum), early Middle English wroukte, Middle English whrohte, Middle English worgh (transmission error), Middle English worouȝte (transmission error), Middle English wrochete (Irish English, perhaps transmission error), Middle English wrocte, Middle English wroȝgth, Middle English wroghte, Middle English wrogt, Middle English wroȝt, Middle English wrogte, Middle English wroȝte, Middle English wroȝth, Middle English wroht, Middle English wroth, Middle English wrouȝht, Middle English wroughte, Middle English wrougth, Middle English wrouȝth, Middle English wrouȝthe, Middle English wrouȝthte, Middle English wrouȝtte, Middle English wrouht, Middle English wrouhte, Middle English wrouth, Middle English wrouthte, Middle English wroutte, Middle English wrouuhtyn (plural), Middle English wrovte, Middle English wrowȝte, Middle English wrowht, Middle English wrowhte, Middle English wrowt, Middle English wrowte, Middle English wrowth, Middle English wroyȝt (northern), Middle English–1500s wrouȝt, Middle English–1500s wrouȝte, Middle English–1500s wrout, Middle English–1500s wroute, Middle English–1500s wrowght, Middle English–1600s wroght, Middle English– wrought (now chiefly archaic), 1900s– wrocht (Irish English (northern)), 1900s– wroucht (Irish English (northern)); Scottish pre-1700 rocht (perhaps transmission error), pre-1700 urocht, pre-1700 vroght, pre-1700 vroycht, pre-1700 worought, pre-1700 wrochte, pre-1700 wroght, pre-1700 wrot (perhaps transmission error), pre-1700 wrowcht, pre-1700 wroycht, pre-1700 wrycht (perhaps transmission error), pre-1700 1700s– wrought (now chiefly archaic), pre-1700 (1800s north-eastern) vroucht, pre-1700 (1800s– northern) vrocht, pre-1700 1800s– wrocht, pre-1700 1800s– wroucht, 1800s vrought (north-eastern), 1900s– wirout (Orkney), 1900s– wirrowcht (Orkney), 1900s– wrowt (Orkney). OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John ix. 6 Expuit in terram et fecit lutum ex sputo : aspeaft uel on eorðu & uorhte lam uel of ðæm spadle.OE (Northumbrian) Rushw. Gospels: John x. 41 Iohannes quidem signum fecit nullum : iohannes wutudlice becon wrohte nan.OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxii. 357 Ða worhte [a1225 Lamb. warhte] god fela tacna on þam folce þurh ðæra apostola handum.OE Inscription on Sundial, Kirkdale Church, Yorks. in E. Okasha Hand-list of Anglo-Saxon non-runic Inscriptions (1971) 88 Hawarð me wrohte.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 5999 He harm worhte [c1300 Otho wrohte].a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 230 It ne wrocte him neuere a del.a1425 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 210 In ȝowthe I wrowth folies fele.1497 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 324 Certeyn Shipwryghtes that wrought of the seid Ship.a1529 J. Skelton Woffully Araid 49 in Wks. (1843) I. 143 Y wrouȝt the, I bowgȝt the frome eternal fyre.1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. Fi The halie spreit vrocht this conceptione.1600 J. Hamilton Facile Traictise 293 Christ wroght this be the vertew of his word vnpreachit.1761 Mod. Part Universal Hist. XXXII. vii. 209 She wrought matters so with Albert of Brunswick.1890 J. Service Thir Notandums ix. 63 He wrocht awa till he was ramfeezled.1976 R. Bulter Shaela 22 Man foo we played, an foo we wrowt.1981 S. McAughtry Belfast Stories iii. 154 Then he wrought in the aircraft factory as a riveter.

β. early Old English warahtæ (runic), late Old English–early Middle English warhte, early Middle English wrachte, early Middle English wrahte, early Middle English wrahtte, early Middle English wrauhte, Middle English wraght, Middle English wraȝte, Middle English wraht, late Middle English warc (East Anglian), 1500s–1800s wraught; Scottish pre-1700 wracht, pre-1700 wraught, pre-1700 wraycht, pre-1700 1900s– wraucht, 1900s– vraucht (eastern (central)). In Middle English, chiefly west midlands and south-westerneOE Runic Inscription on Franks Casket in R. I. Page Introd. Eng. Runes (1999) 162 Good helpe æadan þiiosne ciismeel gewarahtæ.] lOE St. Chad (Hatton) (1953) 166 He warhte eac degulran eardungstowe.lOE Canterbury Psalter: Canticles xvi. 2 Manus meae fecerunt organum : heo[n]dan mine warhten organan.c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Royal) (1981) 496 Þu nult nanesweis witen þet he wrahte þulliche wundres.c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 106 He..of his eyre briddes wraȝte [a1300 Jesus Oxf. wrauhte].c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 56 My wreched wylle in wo ay wraȝte.a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) v. l. 5314 Al þe wilis þat he wraucht [rhyme noucht].1571 in W. Mackay & H. C. Boyd Rec. Inverness (1911) I. 202 For ane serwandis expensis that wraycht the said laubour.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 70 Sin, not Time, first wraught the change.?1750 Ballad Floddon-Field 13 Those that he with Halbert wraught.1800 W. Wilson Sc. Rhymes 26 He..wraught a wee bit glead To light his pipe.1905 J. Lumsden Croonings 56 A stranger bykes i' the fine farm he wraucht sae mony years.

γ. early Middle English wercte (south-eastern). a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 229 Þa wercte [OE Royal worhte] he fele wundra.

δ. Middle English workede, 1500s– work'd, 1500s– worked, 1500s– workt (now nonstandard), 1800s woorkt (Irish English (Wexford)), 1800s– work't (English regional), 1900s– workit (Scottish). 1371 in H. M. Flasdieck Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1926) 103 Th[o]mas borȝde..a nors..þat workede with Thomas atte lynyne.1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. f. ccxxiv/1 Urbayne..wared proude and worked all on heed.1576 F. K. in R. Edwards Paradyse Daynty Deuises sig. Jiiv I hate the wrong and not the wight, that workt my wofull case.1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 200 What Porke might work upon mans body in other Nations, it worked not there.1743 J. Bulkeley & J. Cummins Voy. to South-seas 106 It being smooth water, she work'd very well.1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. xliv. 42 She worked herself to death.1914 Attica (Indiana) Ledger-Press 21 Aug. 12/4 All workt together to see that everything was spic and clean as a dooryard.1976 ‘M. Delving’ China Expert i. 12 He..worked out of the small, comfortable house he had bought.2004 Recorded Interview (BBC Voices Recordings: Hawick) (SCOTS transcript) in www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Ye workit in the tweeds or ye workit in the hosiery.

ε. late Middle English wyrkkyd; Scottish 1800s– wirked, 1900s– wirkid, 1900s– wirkit. a1500 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 170 They þat wyrkkyd soche wooll.1894 A. Reid Sangs Heatherland 28 Until a hairie o' the doug, Was tummilt owre the drouthy craig Syne up the rinnie wirked.1935 M. C. Wilson Souter's Sujaistions ii. 10 I didna ken ye wirkit under onybody. I ei thocht ye were yer ain maister.1996 S. Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 21 At the back o the shoppie far he wirkit.

ζ. Chiefly regional and archaic. 1700s– wroughted, 1900s– wrochted (Irish English (northern)). 1784 R. Boswell Bk. Psalms in Metre xliv The work Thou wroughted'st in their days.1876 W. A. Gunnell Sketches of Hull Celebrities 154 Allbee, hys Maysterie man wroughted yerlie an late toe illyghten ye Ladkyns top partmente, butte hee moughte as wel a usenid hys endevorments toe amayde a Ronde naile fytte a square Hoke.1895 W. Morris & E. Magnússon tr. S. Sturluson Stories Kings of Norway III. v.–vi. 10 And in such wise thou wroughted'st That the king won back his country.

η. 1800s worcht (English regional (Lancashire)), 1800s– worched (English regional (Shropshire)). ?1802 ‘Tim Bobbin the 2nd’ Plebeian Politics 36 Ot brew'd a jorum o' maut, an worcht it in a chambur.1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. 488 'Er worched the poor chap despertly.

3. Past participle.

α. Old English geuorht (Northumbrian), Old English geweorht (rare), Old English geworht, Old English geworulit (transmission error), Old English gewyrht (rare), Old English giworht (Northumbrian), Old English worht (rare), Old English wort (rare), late Old English gewroht, late Old English–Middle English wroht, early Middle English ȝeworuht, early Middle English gewrht (in copy of Old English charter), early Middle English ȝewroht, early Middle English iweorht (south-west midlands), early Middle English iwhorht, early Middle English iworht, early Middle English iworhte, early Middle English iworut (south-west midlands), early Middle English iwroht, early Middle English iwroust, early Middle English wrohht ( Ormulum), early Middle English wrokt, early Middle English wroust, Middle English ewroȝt (north-west midlands), Middle English iwort, Middle English iwrogt, Middle English iwroȝt, Middle English iwroȝte, Middle English iwrought, Middle English iwroughte, Middle English iwrouȝt, Middle English iwrouht, Middle English iwrouhte, Middle English iwrout, Middle English iwroutȝ, Middle English jwrowht, Middle English whrout, Middle English worght, Middle English worȝt, Middle English worought, Middle English woruȝt, Middle English worwt, Middle English wrht, Middle English wrocht, Middle English wrogh, Middle English wroghȝt, Middle English wroghte, Middle English wroghtte, Middle English wrogt, Middle English wroȝt, Middle English wroȝte, Middle English wrogth, Middle English wroȝth, Middle English wrohut, Middle English wroth, Middle English wrothe, Middle English wrotht, Middle English wrothte, Middle English wroþt, Middle English wrouȝg (perhaps transmission error), Middle English wrougt, Middle English wrouȝt, Middle English wrouȝþ, Middle English wrouȝte, Middle English wrougth, Middle English wrouȝth, Middle English wrouȝthe, Middle English wrouht, Middle English wrouhte, Middle English wrout, Middle English wroute, Middle English wroutȝ, Middle English wrouth, Middle English wrovte, Middle English wrowgt, Middle English wrowȝt, Middle English wrowgth, Middle English wrowht, Middle English wrowt, Middle English wrowth, Middle English wroyght (north midlands), Middle English wroyȝt (northern), Middle English wruȝt, Middle English ywort, Middle English ywroght, Middle English ywroȝt, Middle English ywroht, Middle English ywroth, Middle English ywrouȝt, Middle English ywrouȝte, Middle English ywrouȝth, Middle English ywrouht, Middle English ywrout, Middle English ywrouth, Middle English ywrowte, Middle English–1500s wrotte, Middle English–1500s wrowght, Middle English–1600s wroght, Middle English–1600s wroughte, Middle English– wrought (now chiefly archaic), Middle English– ywrought (now archaic), late Middle English worst (transmission error), late Middle English wrofft (perhaps transmission error), late Middle English wrowgh (in a late copy, perhaps transmission error), late Middle English ywoȝt (transmission error), 1500s rought, 1500s wrowte, 1600s wrote; Scottish pre-1700 rocht, pre-1700 vorcht, pre-1700 vorght, pre-1700 vroght, pre-1700 worcht, pre-1700 worought, pre-1700 wroch, pre-1700 wroche, pre-1700 wroght, pre-1700 wroht, pre-1700 wrothte, pre-1700 wrowght, pre-1700 ywrocht, pre-1700 1700s– wrocht, pre-1700 1700s– wrought (now chiefly archaic), pre-1700 (1800s– north-eastern) vrocht, pre-1700 1800s– wroucht, pre-1700 (1900s– northern) vrought, 1900s– wirrowt (Orkney), 1900s– wroacht (southern); also Irish English (northern) 1900s– wrocht, 1900s– wrought. The Older Scots form ywrocht occurs in a text showing influence of southern English.OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xi. 23 Quia si in sodomis factæ fuissent uirtutes quae factae sunt in te : forðon þe þær in sodomingum worht were mægen þa worht werun in ðe.OE Beowulf (2008) 1696 Swa wæs on ðæm scennum..gesæd hwam þæt sweord geworht..ærest wære.OE Homily: Gospel of Nicodemus (Corpus Cambr. 41) in Mod. Philol. (1903–4) 1 612 Ond þonne Godes engelas arædað ælces mannes worc, swa god swa yfel, swa hi ær gewyrht habbað.OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) i. Introd. 26 Her beoð swyþe genihtsume weolocas, of þam bið geweorht se weolocreada tælgh.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 675 On his time þa seonde he to Rome Wilfrid biscop to þam pape..& cydde him..hu his breðre Peada & Wulfhere & se abbot Saxulf heafden wroht an minstre.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 153 Icc hafe hemm wrohht tiss boc. ▸ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1352 Dwelling haueth ofte scaþe wrouth. ▸ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) 2 John 8 See ȝe ȝoure silf, lest ȝe leese the thinges that ȝe han wrought.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 25914 Þerfor haf i worght þis bok.c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 3264 Had he worȝt ay to wees welth.c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 16 Lord, þu hast wrout al our warkis in vs.c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vii. 55 The..figuris that hed bene grauit vrocht and brodrut.1585 S. Daniel in tr. P. Giovio Worthy Tract contayning Disc. Imprese To Rdr. sig. A.vi This [inuention]..which time hath now at length perfited and rought into a more regulare order.1635 Maldon (Essex) Borough Deeds (Bundle 145, No. 2b) The earth being lately by the tide wroughte.1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 128 Water is raised by a machine,..wrought by an horse.1871 Banffshire Jrnl. 4 July Hard an' sair we a' hae vrocht.1998 S. Priest Merleau-Ponty xiii. 211 Matter is wrought into a new form.2000 M. Fitt But n Ben A-go-go xiii. 99 He had wrocht the situation tae be as moger-free as possible.

β. Old English gewarht (rare), early Middle English iwracht, early Middle English iwraht, early Middle English iwrat (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English wraht, Middle English ywraht, Middle English (1500s northern) wrauht, Middle English (northern)–1500s wraght, late Middle English rawt (East Anglian), 1500s– wraught (now rare); Scottish pre-1700 wracht, pre-1700 wraucht, 1700s–1800s wraught. In Middle English, chiefly west midlands and south-westerneOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 37/1 Conderetur, gewarht.eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) v. ii. 114 Giet to dæge mon hæt Corrinthisce fatu ealle þe þærof gewarhte wæron.lOE St. Chad (Hatton) (1953) 182 Heo wes gewarht ufan on huses gelicnesse.c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 378 Ma wundres ich habbe iwraht þene ich mahte munien.a1300 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 90 We habbeþ werkes yeynes þi wille wrauht.a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 49 Þeȝes, legges, fet, ant al ywraht wes of þe beste.?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 5817 Þare was anes a tre arayde...It was in a wayne wraght for to be broght hame.1518 in I. S. Leadam Select Cases Star Chamber (1911) II. 135 To..cawse further myschefe to have byn wraught.1647 H. More Philos. Poems iii. iv. viii So little fruits remain of all my skill hath wraught.1791 J. Learmont Poems Pastoral 57 We are sae dowrly wraught.a1846 J. H. Frere in Wks. (1872) I. 38 Fiercer fray was never wraught.

γ. Middle English wirkede, Middle English wirkid; Scottish pre-1700 wirk (rare), 1900s– wirked, 1900s– wirkid, 1900s– wirkit. a1400 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 37 First, at helle þi thoght shal be, to se how synne is wirkid [a1500 BL Add. wroken] þare; and in purgatorie may þou se how synne is clensyd, with pynes sare.c1440 (?a1349) in G. G. Perry Relig. Pieces in Prose & Verse (1914) 111 This erthely besynes..hase men wirkede waa.a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. iv. 58 Confusyt Chaos, quharof all thing beyn wirk [rhyme dyrk].1995 A. Fenton Craiters i. 42 Ye'd tae haiv up e roon clew..till ye'd wirkit yer wye roon e heid o e ruck.2004 S. Blackhall Minnie 77 He'd covert puckles o shearers and skiffies fa'd come and gaen on the ferms he'd wirked on.

δ. late Middle English worchen. a1425 in R. H. Bowers Three Middle Eng. Relig. Poems (1963) 377 Ye cursed gastes, hens ye wende..Of the develle to take youre mede After that ye af worchen in dede.

ε. late Middle English wrowten, 1500s wrochtin (Scottish). c1425 Serm. (BL Add.) in G. Cigman Lollard Serm. (1989) 82 Olde men in hire laste age, whiche han..neuer wrowten in þe vineȝerd of God.1568 Want of Wyse Men (Bannatyne) in R. Henryson Poems (1908) III. 172 Welth is away, wit is now wrochtin to wrinkis.

ζ. late Middle English worched, 1800s worcht (English regional (Lancashire)). ▸ a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 272 We have worched all maner of sylke workys.1812 ‘Tim Bobbin the 2nd’ Plebeian Politics (new ed.) 21 I'd hah mede 'em t' hah worcht for the'r livink.

η. 1500s workyd, 1500s– worked, 1600s– workt (now nonstandard), 1800s– worrk'd (English regional (Yorkshire)), 1900s– workit (Scottish). a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 115 Our marchantys cary them [sc. lead and tin] out..& then bryng the same in workyd agayn and made vessel therof.1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore sig. G4v Neither hum, hem, nor ha, onely starde me in the face, past along, and made hast in, as if my lookes had workt with him, to giue him a stoole.1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 291/1 Wool is rent and torn and beaten very fine,..before it can be worked into Hats.1733 E. Budgell Bee No. 5. I. 180 In what an hurry a Weekly Pamphlet of three Sheets must be work'd off.1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 212/1 Several mines were worked for this metal.1911 Sat. Press (Attica, Indiana) 20 May 1/5 He..had workt at his bench until within four hours of his death.1991 H. Holton in T. Hubbard New Makars 134 Oo sall gin awe the wild weather ats workit oor wie.2014 Atlantic Apr. 16/1 Two brothers who worked in their father's office-furniture business.

θ. Chiefly regional and archaic. 1800s– wroughted, 1900s– wrochted (Irish English (northern)), 1900s– wrochtit (Scottish, rare). 1867 Benton Tribune (Oxford, Indiana) 8 Aug. 2/2 How shall I ever meet you since this destruction have been wroughted?1886 Railway World 20 Feb. 177/2 Modified..so as to embrace all the privileges, restrictions, and conditions wroughted by this act.1976 Sc. National Dict. X. at Wirk Pa.p...double form wrochtit.2004 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 24 Apr. (Features section) 50 Oor neebors athwart the Foyle attween Magilligan an my roe hev hed mair screevins wrochted I the leid o the ordnar fowk.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: In α. , ε. , and η. forms of the present stem (i) cognate with Old Dutch wurchen , Old Saxon wurkian (Middle Low German wurken ), Old High German wurken (Middle High German wurken , würken , German †würken ), Old Icelandic yrkja , Norwegian (Nynorsk) yrkje , Old Swedish yrkia (Swedish yrka ), Old Danish yrkia , yrke (Danish ørke ), Gothic waurkjan < a suffixed Germanic base with zero grade < the same Indo-European base as Mycenaean Greek wo-ze , Avestan vərəzyeiti he works. In β. and δ. forms of the present stem (ii) originally cognate with Old Frisian wirka , wirtza , Old Dutch wirchen , wirken (Middle Dutch wirken , Dutch wirken ), Old Saxon wirkian (Middle Low German wirken ), Old High German wirken (Middle High German wirken , German wirken , now only ‘to have an effect’ and ‘to do needlework’) < the Germanic base of work n. (ultimately reflecting the e -grade of the same Indo-European base) + a suffix forming verbs; however, some of these forms could also have arisen in other ways (see note). In γ. and ζ. forms (iii) cognate with or formed similarly to Old Frisian werka , Middle Dutch werken (Dutch werken ), Old Saxon werkon (Middle Low German werken ), Old High German werkōn (Middle High German werken , German werken ), Old Icelandic verka , Norwegian (Nynorsk) verke , Old Swedish värka (Swedish verka ), either reflecting early influence of work n. on the stem vowel of the verb (see α. and β. forms at work n.) or re-formed < the noun at a later stage. Some early examples of this type could also have arisen directly from the β. and δ. forms (see note).Further cognate forms. With the α. , ε. , and η. forms of the present stem compare also (without the suffix) Old Icelandic orka , Norwegian orke , Old Swedish orka (Swedish orka ), Old Danish orkæ (Danish orke ). With the β. and δ. forms of the present stem compare also ( < German) Danish virke (already in early modern Danish), also Swedish virka (now chiefly with reference to needlework). Compare also Old Icelandic verkja , virkja to feel pain (see wark v.). With the e -grade of the Indo-European base compare further ancient Greek ἔρδω , ῥέζω I do (perfect ἔοργα ), and perhaps Middle Breton groa he does, Old Welsh guragun let us make, Welsh †gorug he made, did (13th cent.; compare Welsh gwneud to do, make, with some analogical changes to the form). Form history: (i) present stem. In Old English a weak Class I verb. Forms with y in Old English (see Forms 1α. ) show regular i-mutation of the zero-grade stem vowel u in the present stem. Beside these, forms reflecting a different ablaut grade of the present stem are attested in Old English in early Mercian (Vespasian Psalter) as wircan , with i raised from e (see Forms 1β. ). However, later forms showing stem vowel i in the present stem, especially those attested in the east midlands and the north (compare Forms 1δ. ), are more likely to show the reflex of Old English y in those areas. Forms with stem vowel e (see Forms 1γ. and 1ζ. ) apparently chiefly show the influence of work n. (see main etymology), but some may have arisen in other ways, especially in the south-east where e would represent the regular reflex of y in Old English wyrcan (compare Old English (Kentish) werð at Forms 1γ. ). Forms with stem vowel o (see Forms 1ε. and 1η. ) apparently show graphic substitution of wo for wu (compare Forms 1α. ) to avoid minim confusion. In Middle English such forms are widespread and not restricted to western dialects (where u is the expected reflex of Old English y ); they chiefly reflect the special Old English development of wyr- to wur- (see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §§322, 324, and compare worm n., worse adj., wort n.1, etc.). Forms with stem vowel a (see Forms 1θ. and 1ι. ) probably show the regular late Middle English lowering of er (compare Forms 1γ. and 1ζ. ) to ar that is also seen in e.g. star n.1 and clerk n., although some influence from wark v. is also possible. Compare also Middle Dutch warken , Middle Low German warken to work (both uncommon variants of the forms listed in the main etymology). In Old English the stem-final consonant is palatalized and assibilated in the present stem except in the 2nd and 3rd singular indicative; these assibilated forms are continued in Middle English in forms with stem-final affricate, e.g. wurche , wirch , werch , etc. (see Forms 1α. , 1β. , 1γ. , 1ε. , 1ι. ). Forms with stem-final plosive like modern standard English work (see Forms 1δ. , 1ζ. , 1η. , 1θ. ), probably partly show generalization of the unassibilated consonant of the 2nd and 3rd singular indicative, and partly the influence of the Scandinavian cognates and of work n. Occasional present-stem forms of the type wrought (see Forms 1κ. ) are inferred from the past tense and past participle (compare Forms 2α. and 3α. ). Compare the double past tense and past participle forms discussed below. Form history: (ii) past tense and past participle. The past tense worhte and past participle worht (see Forms 2α. and 3α. ) reflect regular Germanic lowering of the zero-grade stem vowel u to o (before the mid to low vowels of the original endings). With the past tense forms at Forms 2α. compare Old Frisian wrocht- , Middle Low German wrochte , Old High German worhta , Early Runic worahto , Old Icelandic orti , Gothic waurhta (all 3rd person singular indicative), also (2nd person singular indicative) Old Dutch worhtus ; with the corresponding past participle forms at Forms 3α. compare Old Frisian -wrocht , Middle Dutch geworcht , gewrocht , Middle Low German gewrocht , geworcht , Old High German giworht , Old Icelandic ort , Old Danish urt . The Old English past tense warhte and past participle warht (see Forms 2β. and 3β. ) show a specifically Anglian development of this form type, with a change of o to a before r . Compare the apparently parallel developments seen for example in Old Dutch warhton (3rd person plural past indicative) and the past participles Middle Dutch gewracht , gewarcht , Old Saxon giwarhta (Middle Low German gewracht ). The forms of the past tense and the past participle show occasional metathesis of r already in Old English, which later becomes the norm; compare Old English (past tense) wrohte , modern English wrought . From the Middle English period onwards, past tense and past participle are re-formed, based on various forms of the present stem with the suffix -ed (see Forms 2γ. , 2δ. , 2ε. , 2η. , and 3γ. , 3ζ. , 3η. ). Compare likewise the formation of a new past participle with the suffix -en (see Forms 3δ. ) by analogy with the past participles of strong verbs. Double past forms are also occasionally attested (see Forms 2ζ. , 3ε. , 3θ. , and compare wroughted adj.), in which the past tense and past participle suffix is added to an existing past tense or past participle form. The current standard form worked first appears in the 14th cent., and is now the usual form of the past tense and past participle except in archaic use or in particular senses, especially relating to craftsmanship, in which the form wrought survives; compare branch IV., especially sense 21, and also wrought adj.. Similar secondary past tense and past participle formations from the most prominent forms of the present stem also occur in other West Germanic languages in the medieval period. These are consistently attested earliest in the past participle (compare Middle Dutch gewerkt , Old Saxon giwerkot , Middle High German gewerket ), and go on to become the standard forms in each language. Prefixed forms. In Old English the prefixed form gewyrcan i-wurche v. is also attested. Compare also awyrcan to make, do, act (compare a- prefix1), bewyrcan bework v., forwyrcan forwork v., inwyrcan inwork v., miswyrcan miswork v., oferwyrcan overwork v., oþwyrcan to harm (compare oth prep.), unwyrcan unwork v., ymbwyrcan to hedge in, to weave (compare umbe- prefix), and also fullwyrcan full-work v., samwyrcan to half do (compare sam- prefix). Notes on specific senses. The semantic range of work v. is not paralleled by any single expression in Latin or the Romance languages, and the English word is used to translate a variety of words and expressions in these languages. In branch VII. influenced by wark v., perhaps as a reinterpretation by association of that word with forms of work v. with stem vowel a (see Forms 1θ. ).
I. To act, do, function, operate.
1.
a. transitive. To do, perform (a task, deed, process, etc.). Frequently with cognate object. Now archaic (frequently in past tense or past participle in form wrought). Sometimes overlapping with sense 9.See also to work a wonder at Phrases 1a, to work a miracle at Phrases 1b; to work magic at Phrases 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > cause to move [verb (transitive)] > put in continuous or effective motion
stirc897
workOE
move?a1425
the world > action or operation > doing > do [verb (transitive)]
i-wurchec888
i-dreeeOE
doeOE
dightc1000
workOE
haveOE
fet1297
takec1380
gara1400
playc1410
practisec1475
bedrive1481
fetch1530
perpetrate1535
act1590
exert1662
OE Blickling Homilies 21 Ac eal swa hwæt swa se gesenelica lichama deþ oþþe wyrceþ, eal þæt deþ seo ungesynelice sawl þurh þone lichoman.
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xlvii. 3 He axode hwæt hy wyrcean cuþon: hi andswarodon..: We synd scephyrdas.
OE Ælfric Homily: De Duodecim Abusivis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 304 Leorniað good to wyrcanne [a1225 Lamb. to wurchenne].
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxvi. 10 God weorc heo worhte on me.
c1175 ( Ælfric's Homily on Nativity of Christ (Bodl. 343) in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 94 Ylc mon is nu eadiȝ & sæliȝ..ȝif he his weorc mid wisdome wurceð [OE Julius gefadað].
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9988 Swillke sinndenn alle þa Þatt wirrkenn gode werrkess.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2218 Ðe breðere ne wisten it nogt Hu ðis dede wurðe wrogt.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 5870 Þai salle..wirk .ij. dayes werk a-pon a day.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 241 Werk alle thyng by conseil.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 50 Oon man..wolde..wirche sumwhile the oon craft and sumwhile the other craft.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 3593 (MED) Ye tournede..Water..in-to good wyn, And also many A-nother thyng Thorgh your wonderful werkyng Ye han ywrouht ageynys kynde.
?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 50 I maid that wif carll to werk all womenis werkis.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. ii. 50 God worketh nothing without cause.
1608 in Assembly Bks. Southampton (1917) I. 97 She worcketh knittinge of stockings.
1618 W. Lawson New Orchard & Garden x. 28 Grafting..is thus wrought.
1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions iv. viii. 473 A Sacrament, conferring Grace by the very worke wrought.
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace Art of Poetry 264 Let not such upon the Stage be brought, Which better should behind the Scenes be wrought.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 557 So God wrought double justice.
1821 J. Baillie W. Wallace xci, in Metrical Legends 70 In Guienne right valiant deeds he wrought.
1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. iii. 64 The twenty years of exile and servitude had wrought their work.
1920 Eng. Hist. Rev. Jan. 25 The special work which he undertook, and the rich ability with which he wrought it.
1994 P. Derow tr. Herodotus in S. Hornblower Greek Historiogr. (1996) ii. 75 That great and wonderful works and deeds—wrought by both Greeks and barbarians—might not be uncelebrated.
b. transitive. To perpetrate (evil, an evil or harmful deed); to commit (a sin or crime). Now somewhat archaic (frequently in past tense or past participle in form wrought).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > do [verb (transitive)] > something bad
workeOE
doOE
commit1445
commisea1475
perpetrec1475
perpetrate1542
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) v. 5 Omnes qui operantur iniquitatem : alle ða ðe wircað unrehtwisnisse.
OE Ælfric Let. to Wulfgeat (Hatton) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 2 And þa halgan englas, þe on heofonum wuniað, ne worhton nane synne, ne hi synnian ne magon.
c1175 ( Ælfric's Homily on Nativity of Christ (Bodl. 343) in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 82 He hatæð soðlice þa ðe unriht wurceæð [OE Julius þa yfelwyrcendan and þa unrihtwisan].
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 397 Sipes ȝe sinkeð & scaðe ðus werkeð.
c1330 (?c1300) Speculum Guy (Auch.) (1898) 759 Anon, so þu hast sinne wrouht,..to shrifte þat þu gange.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 24158 Vn-reufulli yee wirc vnright.
a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 23 Fals treson alway þai wroght.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 342 Tho pseudo Apostilis wrouȝten persecucioun..aȝens the trewe Apostlis.
c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) 688 (MED) Þe hete..Þat enforceþ þe flech folie to wirche.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ezek. xxxiii. 26 Ye worke abhominacions, euery one defyleth his neghbours wife.
1581 J. Merbecke Bk. of Notes 1158 And keepes hir husbands secrets close, when friend worke wily guiles.
1611 Bible (King James) Matt. vii. 23 Depart from me, ye that worke iniquity. View more context for this quotation
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 25 Working that malice on the creatures..which he could not..wrecke on their Creator.
1708 M. Hole Pract. Expos. Church-catechism 514 'Tis a delight in working Evil to another..: which is the Humor of the Devil.
1774 M. Deverell Serm. v. 110 Furious anger throws a man off his guard, and leads him to work unrighteousness.
1829 T. Hood Dream Eugene Aram in Gem 1 112 Methought, last night, I wrought A murder, in a dream!
1894 G. B. Stevens Johannine Theol. vi. 140 Those who habitually work iniquity are morally kindred to the devil.
1923 D. A. Mackenzie Myths China & Japan xix. 363 Susa-no-wo..is associated with Yomi, the habitation of the deities that work evil against mankind.
2011 B. J. Hollars Thirteen Loops 7 The crimes wrought against Michael Donald and Matthew Shepard both qualify as hate crimes.
c.
(a) transitive. To perform or observe (a ceremony, rite, etc.). Now rare and chiefly Freemasonry (cf. sense 1c(b)).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > carrying out > execute, perform, or carry out [verb (transitive)] > formally
workOE
performc1390
execute1450
solemnize1483
enact1846
stage1924
society > faith > worship > observance, ritual > perform rite(s) [verb (transitive)]
workOE
servec1175
usea1250
solemnize1382
exercisea1400
observec1425
solennizec1440
officyc1443
officec1449
execute1450
solemn1483
celebratec1487
solemnizate1538
frequenta1555
to put upa1628
officiate1631
ceremony1635
liturgy1716
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > secret society > [verb (transitive)] > perform or observe ceremony (in freemasonry)
work1852
work1868
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xxii. 11 Hwar ys cumena hus þar ic mine eastron wyrce mid minon leorningcnihtum [L. ubi pascha cum discipulis meis manducem]?
?1316 Short Metrical Chron. (Royal) 311 in J. Ritson Anc. Eng. Metrical Romanceës (1802) II. 283 Eleutherie, the pope of Rome, Stablede suithe sone Godes werkes wurche, Ant singe in holy chirche.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 3685 (MED) He es Goddes minister and haly kirkes, Þat þe sacrament of þe auter wirkes.
?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 325 in N. Davis Non-Cycle Plays & Fragm. (1970) 68 Seyng hys evynsong, As yt hys [read ys] worshepe for to werche.
1852 Freemasons' Q. Mag. & Rev. June 256 Some can work the ceremony of Initiation.
1903 J. T. Lawrence Masonic Jurispr. & Symbolism viii. 74 What generally takes place in a lodge of instruction is that the lectures, or sections of them, are worked, officers to conduct the same being appointed at a previous meeting.
1949 E. M. Butler Ritual Magic ii. ii. 117 Gilles worked the rites, or rather his wizards did so for him.
(b) transitive. Freemasonry. To award ceremonially (a Masonic degree). Cf. degree n. 7b.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > secret society > [verb (transitive)] > perform or observe ceremony (in freemasonry)
work1852
work1868
1868 Freemason's Mag. 22 Aug. 141/2 The speculative degrees mentioned had never been worked in Kilwinning.
1884 W. J. Hughan Origin Eng. Rite Freemasonry i. 5 The fancy that the Craft..and other degrees were worked by our ancient brethren during the seventeenth century.
1954 W. Hannah Christian by Degrees iv. 65 The 26th degree known as Prince of Mercy (not worked in England) also regards Hiram as a type of Christ in His death and resurrection.
1978 Lochaber News 31 Mar. 2/7 An EA Degree was worked and was well received by the Brethren present.
2009 T. Churton Invisible Hist. Rosicrucians xv. 403 From about 1775 the Rose Croix degree was worked in British masonic Knights Templar ‘Encampments’.
†d. transitive. To wage (war, a war); to engage in (battle, hostile action). Obsolete (archaic and rare after 17th cent.).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > war > wage (war) [verb (transitive)]
workeOE
war1390
levy1471
wagec1485
lead1508
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. v. 47 Se Themestocles gemyndgade Ionas þære ealdan fæhþe þe Xersis him to geworht hæfde.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3220 Ðat folc ebru to werchen wi.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iv. met. vii. l. 4237 Agamenon þat wrouȝt[e] [?c1425 Cambr. Ii.3.21 wrowhte] and continuede þe batailes by ten ȝere.
a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 19 A were es wroght..Ȝowre walles with to wrote.
a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) l. 4056 Where this Geant were procured and wrought.
1657 T. Stanley Psalterium Carolinum sig. Ff The war our sins have wrought, With Peace, which Christ hath bought.
1683 Romulus & Hersilia iv. iv. 42 You love the fair Hersilia; And as a means to gain her wrought this war, And got my Fort by Treason.
1813 J. Montgomery World before Flood x. 195 When war in heaven was wrought, Michael against the Prince of Darkness fought.
†2. transitive. To perform duly, carry out, execute (something commanded, recommended, or imposed as an obligation). Also: to carry out (one's own desire or intention). Obsolete.Later evidence of, for example, to work God's will, is interpreted as belonging at sense 9 ‘to bring about’ (see e.g. quot. 1950 at sense 9). See also to work one's will at Phrases 2.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > carrying out > execute, perform, or carry out [verb (transitive)]
lasteOE
ylastc888
wieldeOE
doeOE
dreeOE
forthOE
fremeOE
workOE
affordOE
full-bringc1175
fulfila1225
perfurnisha1325
complishc1374
performc1384
achievea1393
chevisea1400
practic?a1425
exploitc1425
execute1477
furnish1477
through1498
practa1513
enure1549
chare1570
enact1597
act1602
to carry out1608
outcarry1611
celebrate1615
complya1616
peract1621
tide1631
implement1837
OE Blickling Homilies 67 Þu scealt on æghwylce tid Godes willan wercan.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 64 Ac ðe þe his beȝenga bið & his willæn wyrcæð, þonne wille ihyran þe heofenlicæ Wældend.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 81 (MED) Moyses..sette imong monkunne laȝe and lare hu me sulde godalmihti serue and his wille wurche in orðe.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 318 (MED) Wurch eleusius wil, for ich þe ȝeoue leaue.
c1390 (?c1350) Joseph of Arimathie (1871) l. 491 His riche men..þat his red wrouȝten.
a1450 ( in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 43 How darst þou byd me, for shame, To bowe to þe or worche þy wille?
c1475 Wisdom (Folger) (1969) l. 923 (MED) Why werkyst þou hys consell?
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 109 Lat Fortoun wirk furthe hir rage.
1614 S. Jerome Moses his Sight of Canaan 234 If thou wilt not fall downe and worship him, and worke his will, [etc.].
3. intransitive. Of a person or (now only) God, the Holy Spirit, etc.: to do something; to operate, act. Also: (of God, the Holy Spirit, etc.) to operate through or be active in a person. See also to work in mysterious ways at mysterious adj. and n. Phrases.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > act or do [verb (intransitive)]
workeOE
i-do971
doOE
to shift one's handa1300
performa1382
practisec1475
skift?a1534
handle1535
act1583
enact1593
actuate1620
the world > action or operation > behaviour > behave, conduct, or bear oneself [verb (intransitive)]
i-bereeOE
workeOE
makeOE
fere1154
walka1200
steera1250
to take onc1275
fare1340
to fare with oneself1340
containa1375
to let latesa1400
usea1400
dealc1400
rulea1425
act1593
comport1616
carry1650
deport1667
demean1678
behave1721
conduct1754
to carry on1828
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > proceed or carry on an action [verb (intransitive)]
workeOE
doOE
proceedc1390
movec1400
precedec1425
deal1470
plough furrow1597
walka1653
process1835
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) lv. 429 Se ðegn, se ðe..nyle wyrcean æfter his hlafordes willan [L. non fecit secundum uoluntatem eius], he bið manigra wita wyrðe.
OE Soul & Body I 64 Þe þin sawl sceal minum unwillu[m] oft gesecan, wemman þe mid wordum, swa ðu worhtest to me.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 27 Crist..wille alle sennes forȝiuen hem ðe on him belieueð and ðar after wercheð.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 121 Ne þearf þu bute wilnin, & leote godd wurchen.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 5819 Wisemen he drou to him, & after hom he wroȝte.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 88 Þus workeþ þe holy gost ine þe herten of guode men be grace and be uirtue.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 7 Þey schulleþ fonge her mede of hym þat rewardeþ..al þat wel worcheþ.
c1390 (?c1350) Joseph of Arimathie (1871) l. 49 (MED) Louse þi lippes a-twynne & let þe gost worche.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 499 This noble ensample to his sheep he yaf That firste he wroghte, and afterward that he taughte.
a1450 (?c1405) in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 22 Gostly blynd..Þat leueþ wit, and worchiþ by wille.
c1503 Beuys of Southhamptowne (Pynson) sig. k.iiv Iosyan..trauayled of chylde... She sayde..‘go hens away,..And late me worke and our lady’.
?1528 J. Skelton Dyuers Balettys & Dyties x Aduertysyng you..to warke more secretly.
1546 in State Papers Henry VIII (1852) XI. 225 I will do what I can..then must Godd worcke.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 63 He, because that he could not otherwise speake vnto him, wrought by signes.
1583 J. Stockwood in tr. J. von Ewich Duetie Magistrate in Time of Plague Ep. Ded. sig. **8 We wil therfore vse no meanes at all to saue our selues, but let God work.
c1600 (c1350) Alisaunder (Greaves) (1929) 517 In battail or bolde stede bigly too wirch.
1655 E. Hide Naked Mans Peace is Obed. 12 All are to stand still, let God work in them by the power of his will.
1703 G. Garden tr. A. Bourignon Light risen in Darkness iii. xxiii. 102 Say nothing to them of it. Let God work.
1726 E. Bird Fate & Destiny i. 14 But we may as well..walk without Legs, speak when we were born dumb; as chuse, if God works in us irresistibly.
1831 Calvinistic Mag. Feb. 46 Satan works in the soul, and man freely disobeys. God works in the soul, and man as freely obeys.
1889 J. E. Ryland tr. A. Neander Memorials Christian Life in Early & Middle Ages ii. vii. 256 Man, they said, can do and effect nothing, but must only let God work in him.
1919 Lutheran Compan. 18 Jan. 34/3 If we do not let Jesus work, everything will be one miserable failure in His eyes.
1968 D. C. Steinmetz Misericordia Dei v. iv. 148 The Spirit will work in and through him.
2007 W. A. Wiersbe Bible Comm.: Old Test. 508/1 One of Saul's greatest failures as a leader was his inability to take his hands off situations and let God work.
4.
a. intransitive. Of a thing, system, etc.: to perform a function, operate, esp. in a specified manner. Of a plan, scheme, etc.: to have a specified outcome.In early use sometimes with connotations of influence, and so overlapping with sense 38.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > be efficacious [verb (intransitive)]
workOE
availa1400
makea1400
prevaila1400
to hit the nail upon (or on) the headc1450
effect1592
serve1593
to tickle it1601
take1611
executea1627
to have force (to do)1713
answer1721
to take place1789
to do the trick1819
to hit (also go to, touch, etc.) the spot1836
produce1881
to press (also push) the button1890
to come through1906
to turn the trick1933
to make a (also the) point1991
OE Ælfric Interrogationes Sigewulfi in Genesin (Corpus Cambr. 162) xxvii, in Anglia (1884) 7 20 Seo [sc. the soul] hæfð on hire þreo þing on annysse æfre wyrcende, þæt is gemynd & andgit & willa.
1379 MS Gloucester Cathedral 19 No. 1. i. iii. f. 3v As the sonne wirkyth in all creaturis her beneathe.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 3137 Þe fire..wirkes on wonderful manere,..Thurgh wilk þe saule most clensed be In purgatory.
c1480 (a1400) St. Justina 593 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 169 Þi strinth sal nocht wyrke agane þe treutht of haly kirke.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 71 Whanne þe wyt werketh and þe wyl ys trauaylled.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rom. viii. 28 All thynges worke for the best [1611 worke together for good] vnto them that love god.
1598 H. Roberts Honours Conquest sig. N2v This plotte working effectually, Alinda orderly as she was accustomed, went to visite the children.
1651 J. French Art Distillation i. 40 This Oil taken inwardly worketh upward and downward.
a1655 T. Armitage Tryall of Faith (1661) 124 That you may see the greatness of the love of parents to their children, consider how it works.
1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 6 Also to River or Sea Sand, if you put a third part of Powder of Tiles.., it works the better.
1784 J. Twamley Dairying Exemplified 30 This [salt] will..cause the Rennet to Work quick.
1832 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 245 How will the Reform Bill work in the return of members to Parliament?
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. vi. 75 The stomach works well and performs its functions with vigour.
1862 E. Davies Let. 3 Dec. (2004) 7 I think too the Co-Editorship worked badly. Miss Gimingham says she sent in a paper of which she heard nothing for a year & a half.
1910 Outlook 12 Mar. 590/2 How would it work to have on the school committee teachers who..would have power to vote for the discharge of the superintendent?
1977 M. Allen Spence in Petal Park xxxi. 146 All that rubbish they learnt on the rugger field about giving the other fellow a sporting chance... The world just doesn't work like that.
2010 Independent 4 Aug. 16/3 Used lightly chilli can work in the same way as any other seasoning.
b. intransitive. To have the desired outcome or effect; to be effective or successful; (also) to satisfy one's requirements or conditions.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > succeed or be a success [verb (intransitive)]
speedc1175
fayc1300
provec1300
flourishc1400
passc1425
prosper1434
succeedc1450
to take placea1464
to come well to (our) pass1481
shift?1533
hitc1540
walka1556
fadge1573
thrive1587
work1599
to come (good) speedc1600
to go off1608
sort1613
go1699
answer1721
to get along1768
to turn up trumps1785
to come off1854
pan1865
scour1871
arrive1889
to work out1899
to ring the bell1900
to go over1907
click1916
happen1949
1599 G. Chapman Humerous Dayes Myrth sig. Dv King. Wherefore bring you this apparell, that picture, and that sword? Lau. To put him by the sight of them in mind of..the true vse they should be put vnto. King... Though these obiects do not worke, yet it is very probable..we shal discerne his humor of them.
1625 W. Crashaw Londons Lament. sig. D2 As thou wouldst haue this Medicine worke, and become powerfull for thy preseruation, forget not to take a taste of this continually, the first thing in the Morning, and the last at Night.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xxxix. 285 But reflectioning apart, thou seest, Jack, that her plot is beginning to work.
1849 T. Arnold Let. 28 Aug. in N.Z. Lett. (1966) 135 Nothing is easier than to make a beautiful scheme of education on paper, but to make it work is ‘quite another pair of shoes’.
1861 A. Trollope Framley Parsonage II. xiii. 267 Lady Lufton was beginning to fear that her plan would not work.
1892 L. Clifford Aunt Anne I. ii. 40 Walter had tried sending Florence and the children and going down every week himself; but he found ‘it didn't work’.
1957 Life 18 Feb. 57/1 If it works, early retirement can produce the blissful by-product shown on the next page.
1969 F. O'Connor Let. 4 Feb. in Habit of Being (1980) 373 I felt better about the book, knowing you think it works.
1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 31 Oct. Diarrhoea..can stop the oral contraceptive pill from working.
1990 J. Eberts & T. Ilott My Indecision is Final xxxv. 350 Quite frankly I can't believe in their relationship, and the only thing that works for me is the father and son.
2001 Business Week 4 June (e.biz section) 34 They had a bunch of crazy ideas that would never work.
c. intransitive. Of a machine, device, etc.: to function, run, operate, esp. properly or effectively, or in a specified manner; (also) to be in a functional condition.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > operate [verb (intransitive)] > of a piece of mechanism
ganglOE
goc1450
movec1450
run1546
workc1610
c1610 in G. C. Bond Early Hist. Mining (1924) 15 Smale modles often fayle..when they cume to worcke upon heavye..weightes.
1702 Post Man 21 Feb. 2/2 (advt.) There is a small Engine, that Raises Water..now set up at the Engine-House..in Dorset Garden, which will Work every Saturday and Wednesday.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture II. 11 Cranes or Skrews, or any other Engine, working either by Leavers or Pullies.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. ii. 46 Telegraphs working; flags hoisted.
1867 tr. R. Clausius Mech. Theory Heat 198 A machine which works with expansion.
1889 A. C. Gunter That Frenchman! iv. 37 Maurice..closes the door..trying it to be sure the spring lock has worked.
1917 M. T. Jackson Museum ii. 67 Like all mechanical devices it [sc. the thermostat] does not always work.
1936 N.Y. Woman 23 Sept. 37/1 The [sewing] machine is light..and there's not the slightest tremor of vibration as it works.
1978 H. Wouk War & Remembrance xxiv. 238 There's a fridge, but it doesn't work.
2012 Scuba Apr. 44/3 Your compass works by using a magnetic north-seeking needle that orientates itself with the earth's magnetic field.
5.
a. intransitive. To perform a calculation; to proceed in a particular way in calculation; to go through the process of solving an arithmetical or mathematical problem.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > mathematize [verb (intransitive)] > calculate or solve mathematical problem
reckon1340
calk1398
workc1400
compute1634
supputate1680
prove1862
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §5. 19 Whan þat the degree of thy sonne falleth by-twixe two Almykanteras.., thow Most werken in this wise.
?c1425 Crafte Nombrynge in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 23 Here he teches how þou schalt wyrch in þis craft. Þou schalt multiplye þe last figure [etc.].
1610 A. Hopton Baculum Geodæticum ii. xv. 35 For the distance of sides of Triangles, worke thus.
1614 R. Handson tr. B. Pitiscus Trigonom. ii. 20 If you worke by the table of latitudes..the difference of longitude will be 68 deg.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Surveying If instead of squaring the half feet, you square the half yards.., and work with them, you will attain the same end without any regardable difference.
1823 J. Guy Tutor's Assist. 79 Work for the tare and trett as before.
1964 B. G. Neal Struct. Theorems & their Applic. iv. 59 It is..more convenient to work with force variables.
2009 U. McGovern & P. Jenner Lost Lore 74 When working with pre-decimal currency, some of the key numbers to remember are that there were 20 shillings in a pound.
†b. transitive. To solve or address by means of arithmetic; = to work out 7a at Phrasal verbs 1. Cf. worked adj. 5. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > calculate or solve [verb (transitive)]
rimeeOE
calcule1377
numbera1382
accounta1387
casta1400
calk1401
computate1449
suppute?a1475
reckona1513
to cast up1539
yield1542
supputate1555
practise?a1560
calculate1570
compute1579
work1582
quantulate1610
resolve1613
find1714
to work out1719
solve1737
to figure out1854
1582 J. Mellis in Record's Grounde of Artes (rev. ed.) iii. iii. sig. Ooiiiiv To worke the question I bring 3 the Denominator of the Fraction in the second place.
1593 T. Fale Horologiographia f. 25 I worke this altogether like to the South reclining 45.d…untill I have found out the Elevation of the Meridian.
1623 J. Johnson Arithmatick i. ii. 137 A second way more briefly to worke this question.
1667 J. Taylor Semicircle on Sector i. vi. 45 (heading) How to work proportions in Numbers, Sines, or Tangents, by the Artificial Lines thereof on the outward ledge.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Practice Certain compendious ways of working the Rule of Proportion.
1803 T. Beddoes Hygëia III. ix. 72 To sit a horse and to work figures by head at the same time.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond II. v. 89 The sum comes to the same figures, worked either way.
1885 S. Laing Mod. Sci. & Thought 5 To calculate the distance..with as much ease..as if we were working a simple sum of rule of three.
1920 Jrnl. Exper. Pedagogy 5 216 These sums were worked by girls on the board.
6.
a. intransitive. Of liquor: to undergo fermentation. Also figurative.With figurative use cf. sense 44c.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [verb (intransitive)] > ferment
barmc1440
spurgec1440
work1570
spurge1634
ferment1667
1570 T. Tymme tr. A. Marlorat Catholike & Eccles. Expos. Mathewe (ix. 17) 185/1 When the newe wyne worketh or spourgeth [L. effervescente], the vessels breake.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 183v The Hony is..suffered to stand vncouered a fewe dayes tyll it haue wrought, and cast vp a loft all his drags.
1606 Returne from Pernassus i. ii. sig. B Such barmy heads wil alwaies be working.
1673 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 8 6021 About 7 or 8 dayes after the Must hath been thus boyled it begins to work.
a1719 J. Addison Misc. Wks. (1746) I. 30 Meanwhile the tainted juice ferments within And quickens as it works.
c1720 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture II. xiii. 21 The tubs wherein the wine is working.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. ix. 178 Men's brains are working like yeast.
1857 W. A. Miller Elements Chem. III. ii. §5. 103 The liquid becomes turbid, and small bubbles rise to the surface; or in popular language, it begins to work or to ferment.
1951 R. Postgate Plain Man's Guide to Wine iv. 87 Pétillance occurs when the wine in bottle is still working, and produces some natural gas.
1996 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 15 Oct. c12 Her approach to wine making is to keep it simple, letting the wine work within the normal time required for fermentation.
b. transitive. To subject (liquor) to fermentation; to cause to ferment. Somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [verb (transitive)] > ferment
work1594
barm1615
ferment1673
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 70 An English trauayler..aduised me to make the same [sc. Malmesey] alwaies about the middest of Maie, that it might haue 3. hot moneths togither to work it to his ful perfection.
a1665 K. Digby Closet Opened (1669) 14 If you would have it sooner ready to drink, you may work it with a little yeast.
1743 E. Moxon Eng. Housewifry (new ed.) 105 To make Balm Wine... When it is cold put a little new yeast upon it, and beat it in every two hours,..so work it for two days.
1865 Art & Myst. making Brit. Wines i. 4 Cover the bung-hole lightly with the bung, so as to admit the air for the better security of working the wine successfully.
2004 C. Coates Wines of Bordeaux i. 327 There is..malolactic fermentation in barrel and the wine is worked on its lees.
7.
a. transitive. To operate (a machine, apparatus, tool, etc.); to control the operation or functioning of. Also: to provide operating power for; to actuate.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > cause to operate [verb (transitive)]
work1591
act1597
to put onc1842
operate1847
trip1897
the world > action or operation > cause to operate [verb (transitive)] > put in effective operation
yieldc1315
underbear1382
to put forthc1390
showa1398
apply?c1400
to put outc1400
exercisec1405
to put toc1410
employ?1473
enforce1490
exerce1535
adhibit?1538
addict1562
endeavour?1575
work1591
address1598
to give stream to?1611
to lay out1651
exsert1665
exert1682
1591 M. Drayton Harmonie of Church sig. D1v Her left hand to the naile she put, her right the hammer wrought.
1699 J. Drake Antient & Mod. Stages Survey'd 147 Men..are suppos'd to be acted, and workt like Machines by an invisible, irresistible Agent, which winds 'em up like Watches.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 128 Water is raised by a machine,..wrought by an horse.
1791 R. Mylne 2nd Rep. Navigation Thames 15 The Power of the Millers in working their Heads of Water.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere v, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 28 The Marineres all 'gan work the ropes.
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia I. xiii. 261 They are..dead dolls, wooden, worked with wires.
1893 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Jan. 4/3 The lamps are worked by Lithanode batteries from the stage.
a1923 W. P. Ker Tasso in Ess. (1925) I. 339 The best way of working figures on their stage.
1970 R. Thorp & R. Blake Music of their Laughter 73/1 The guys..were working the closed-circuit TV system.
1999 L. Ramsey Ratcatcher 96 Aw, fur fuck's sake, kin ye no even work a bloody instamatic camera?
2001 Times 7 Mar. ii. 5/1 The key to a good espresso lies in the barista—the man or woman working the machine.
b. transitive. To manage or administer (an institution, system, etc.); to direct or be responsible for the operation of; to run. Also: to manage (money). Now rare. Sometimes coloured by sense 10a.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [verb (transitive)] > have charge of
redeOE
steer13..
agyea1450
rulea1500
tend?1521
to have, take, give (the) charge of1611
work1841
society > authority > control > [verb (transitive)] > manage or administer
steerc888
leadc1175
guyc1330
guidec1374
governa1382
ministera1382
treat1387
administer1395
dispose1398
skift?a1400
warda1400
solicit1429
to deal with1469
handlea1470
execute1483
convoy?a1513
conveyc1515
mayne1520
to bear (a person or thing) in (also an, a, on) handa1522
keepa1535
administrate1538
solicitate1547
to dispose of1573
manure1583
carry1600
manage1609
negotiate1619
conduct1632
to carry on1638
mesnage1654
nurse1745
work1841
operate1850
run1857
stage-manage1906
ramrod1920
society > trade and finance > management of money > manage money [verb (transitive)]
financier1840
work1885
1841 30th Ann. Rep. National Soc. for promoting Educ. of Poor 344 I..could easily pass from one class to another.., and much more effectually work the school on this plan.
1849 Morning Post 26 May 3/3 M. Léon Faucher had not recourse..to a thousand agents to work the elections.
1861 J. S. Mill Considerations Representative Govt. i. 3 No one believes that every people is capable of working every sort of institutions.
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay ix. 147 Always working her money and my own very cautiously.
1922 G. M. Trevelyan Brit. Hist. 19th Cent. ix. 154 Great noblemen who were also great coalowners, working their own mines.
2004 E. J. Poza Family Business ix. 190 After all, I have been the one working the business for more than 20 years now.
†8. intransitive. Malting. Of grain: to germinate; = come v. 20b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > malting > [verb (intransitive)] > germinate
comec1430
work1691
1691 T. Tryon New Art Brewing (ed. 2) 49 So soon as it [sc. your Corn] begins to come, or as some calls it Work.
1735 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer I. ii. 9 As soon as it [sc. Corn] begins to come or spire, then turn it.., and as it comes or works more, so must the Heap be spreaded and thinned larger.
1755 Abridgm. Public Statutes Scotl. sig. A7 If any corn..be found working or growing upon the floor before it is put upon the kiln, [etc.].
1835 15th Rep. Commissioners of Inq. Excise Establishm. 14 in Parl. Papers XXXI. 345 To go..quite through the malt-house.., to see how many floors there are; carefully to examine each parcel of corn working on the floors.
II. To bring about or act to bring about.
9. transitive. To cause, bring about, produce as a result; to accomplish, achieve, attain.Sometimes overlapping with sense 1.See also to work out 1a at Phrasal verbs 1, to work up 3b at Phrasal verbs 1, to work havoc at Phrases 8.Also with direct and indirect object. In Old English also with genitive.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)]
wieldeOE
timberc897
letc900
rearOE
doOE
i-wendeOE
workOE
makeOE
bringc1175
raisec1175
shapec1315
to owe (also have) a wold (also on wield)a1325
procurec1330
purchasec1330
causec1340
conform1377
performa1382
excite1398
induce1413
occasionate?c1450
occasionc1454
to bring about1480
gara1500
to bring to passc1513
encause1527
to work out1534
inferc1540
excitate?1549
import1550
ycause1563
frame1576
effect1581
to bring in1584
effectuatea1586
apport?1591
introduce1605
create1607
generate1607
cast1633
efficiate1639
conciliate1646
impetrate1647
state1654
accompass1668
to bring to bear1668
to bring on1671
effectivate1717
makee1719
superinduce1837
birth1913
OE Beowulf (2008) 1387 Wyrce se þe mote domes ær deaþe.
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 994 Hi..worhton þa mæstan yfel þe æfre ænig here don meahte on bærnette & hergunge.
lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 97 Eallinge seo costnunge wyreceð geðyld, & þæt geðyld wyreceð fullfremod weorc.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 3 Hie is icleped sarinesse, tristicia mortem operante, ‘sarinesse deað wurchende.’
c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 28 (MED) Þeȝ he hyȝt cast op, hyt bylefþ Sauuacion to werche Ryȝt þere.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1173 Forto wirch me no wrong.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1696 Fful longe lay the sege & lytil wroughten.
?a1475 Lessons of Dirige (Douce) l. 32 in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 122 So moche woo hit [sc. sin] hath vs wrought.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 86 He wirkis sorrow to him sell.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xv. 107 Tariand quhil the tyme virk ane bettir chance.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Sulpicius in Panoplie Epist. 39 Whose daggers dinte wrought his dolefull death.
c1600 (c1350) Alisaunder (Greaves) (1929) 412 With his ferefull folke to Phocus hee rides, And is wilfull in werk to wirchen hem care.
a1626 F. Bacon Elements Common Lawes (1630) 18 Words are so to bee vnderstood, that they worke somewhat, and bee not idle and frivolous.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 200 He replyed, that what Porke might work upon mans body in other Nations, it worked not there.
1724 A. Ramsay Vision in Ever Green I. xxiv Lat them..stryve to wirk my fall.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 87. ⁋2 Though good advice was given, it has wrought no reformation.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xxvi. 239 The beer had wrought no bad effect upon his appetite.
1842 T. B. Macaulay Virginia in Lays Anc. Rome 154 Let him who works the client wrong beware the patron's ire!
1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography 183 The destruction wrought by the sea.
1912 Ld. Halsbury Laws Eng. XXIV. 250 An alienation by tenant in tail..worked a discontinuance.
1950 G. Sherburn Restoration & 18th Cent. in A. C. Baugh Literary Hist. Eng. ii. viii. 928 He does not deny the existence of evil, but asserts that ultimately evil works God's will.
1990 Sunday Express 11 Feb. (Mag.) 45/3 The ravages wrought upon all living organisms by ‘free radicals’.
2008 Weekly Standard (Nexis) 14 Apr. Experience in the Israeli army and time in America had worked a change on both.
10.
a. transitive. To act in order to bring (something) about; to make (an outcome) happen; to plan, devise, contrive. Also: to manage or contrive (a matter or situation) so as to achieve a particular result. Now chiefly (colloquial) with it as object.In quot. eOE with that-clause as object.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)] > bring to a particular effect or end
workeOE
sort1591
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > have effect on [verb (transitive)] > exert effect or influence
workeOE
exercise1862
the world > action or operation > carrying out > execute, perform, or carry out [verb (transitive)] > achieve or effect
helpc1410
obtain?a1425
procurec1425
practise?a1439
upholdc1450
furnish1477
to bring about1480
to bring to passc1513
conduce1518
contrive1530
to make good1535
moyen1560
effect1581
effectuatea1586
to level out1606
operate1637
to carry offa1640
efficiate1639
work1761
engineer1831
the mind > will > intention > planning > plan [verb (transitive)] > arrange
beteec1275
tailc1315
castc1320
ordaina1325
setc1330
tightc1330
accord1388
tailyec1480
assign1558
raise1652
settle1694
work1761
arrange1786
engineer1831
the world > existence and causation > causation > [phrase] > work it
work1836
eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) xx. 87 Is þæt wundorlic..þæt ðu mid geþeahte þinum wyrcest þæt ðu þæm gesceaftum swa gesceadlice mearce gesettest, and hi ne mengdest [read hi gemengdest] eac.
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Laud) (1901) 288 (MED) Wat reymnyld wroute Mikel wonder him þoute.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. ii. l. 85 Such Weddyng to worche to [wraþþe] with truþe.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer ii. sig. M.i He ought to worke the matter wisely.
1621 J. Taylor Unnaturall Father in Wks. (1630) ii. 137/2 He resolued to worke some meanes to take away their..liues.
1630 R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Princesse Elizabeth i. 94 The Conspiratours so wrought the matter, that very many of the Nobility assented to the marriage.
1647 C. Cotterell & W. Aylesbury tr. E. C. Davila Hist. Civill Warres France i. 38 The Cardinal..ardently wrought their destruction..in publike discourse and private meetings.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 646 To work in close design, by fraud or guile What force effected not. View more context for this quotation
1761 Mod. Part Universal Hist. XXXII. vii. 209 She wrought matters so with Albert of Brunswick, that he interested himself in her release.
1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker xxxi. 201 As soon as he can work it, he marries the richest gall in all his flock.
1884 R. Hart Let. 4 June in J. K. Fairbank et al. I. G. in Peking (1975) 551 He struck in at an opportune moment and worked the matter well.
1889 E. Dowson Let. 1 Mar. (1967) 42 If you can possibly work it meet me somewhere to-morrow.
1914 Bookseller 1 Jan. 10/2 This one gets the trade and for awhile works the situation to his advantage.
1961 P. G. Wodehouse Service with Smile xi. 200 Uncle Fred, did you work this?
1986 Toronto Star (Nexis) 26 Dec. c10 Woody..always managed to work things so that he won the girl.
1992 A. J. Lewis Love Story in Shakespearean Comedy vi. 169 He..works matters so that it is he who is incarcerated.
2000 J. J. Connolly Layer Cake 208 They work it so James thought he'd brought off a coup de grâce.
†b. intransitive. To act for a specified purpose, or so as to achieve a specified end; to plan, plot; to contrive, manage. Chiefly with to-infinitive or that-clause. Obsolete (archaic in later use).Sometimes passing into sense 12.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > planning > plan [verb (intransitive)]
purveyc1300
propose1340
castc1380
worka1393
purposea1400
devisec1400
becast1563
plot1607
factitate1616
project1631
to cast, lay a scheme1704
plan1776
to plan on1914
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 626 How he can werche Among tho wyde furred hodes, To geten hem the worldes goodes.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 417 God..may so for yow werche That..Ye may repente of wedded mannes lyf.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ii. l. 242 Thai wyrk ay to wayt ws with supprys.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxxix Se how politikely the French kyng wrought for his aduantage.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. ii. 312 Without the Kings assent or knowledge, You wrought to be a Legate. View more context for this quotation
a1674 J. Milton Brief Hist. Moscovia (1682) v. 91 The Chancellor, with others of the great ones..so wrought, that a creature of their own was sent to meet Sir Jerom.
1887 W. Morris tr. Homer Odyssey I. xii. 230 So wrought the Father of Gods and of Men that I was not seen.
11. Chiefly with to-infinitive or for.
a. intransitive. To strive or endeavour strenuously to accomplish something or achieve some end. Cf. labour v. 4a.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > make an attempt or endeavour [verb (intransitive)]
fanda1225
procurea1325
assay1370
workc1384
to put oneself in pressc1390
purchasec1400
buskc1450
study1483
fend15..
try1534
enterprise1547
to make an attempt?c1550
to give the venture1589
prove1612
nixuriate1623
to lay out1659
essay1715
to bring (also carry, drive, etc.) one's pigs to market1771
to have (or take or give) a crack1836
to make an out1843
to go to market1870
to give it a burl1917
to have a bash (at)1950
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. Prol. 1 To vs forsothe it was to stodye of preuynge, bothe to take the feith of thing do, and not to be stille to men sechynge bisiliche the ordynance of God worchynge to be vndirstonde.
a1475 in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 134 (MED) Furst when I yowe chese, To wyn youre loue euer I have wroȝte.
a1500 (a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 352 (MED) He is frend to þe frere þat hatiþ þus his synne & worchiþ to distrie it.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. vii. 27 Your Honors shall perceiue how I will worke, To bring this matter to the wished end. View more context for this quotation
1742 J. Campbell Lives Admirals I. xii. 389 By every Method possible they worked to disappoint him.
1754 New & Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. II. 1237/1 On the breaking out of any fire in London and Westminster, the constables and beadles of parishes shall..assist in extinguishing it, and cause the people to work for that end.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy III. vii. 191 Such a deed might make one forswear kin, clan, country, wife, and bairns! And yet the villain wrought long for it.
1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn I. xvii. 151 That guilty and intriguing minister of Tiberius..had for years worked on with the deliberate intention of clearing every one of them from his path, and climbing to that throne himself.
1917 Catholic World May 205 He has been constantly working for the advance of Catholic educational interests.
2012 Atlantic Mar. 21/3 Popovic was a student activist in Belgrade working to oust Slobodan Milošević.
b. transitive. To employ or exercise (one's strength, wits, efforts, etc.) in order to accomplish something or achieve some end.
Π
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) i. l. 63 The raueshyng to wreken of Eleyne..þei wroughten al hire peyne.
?1567 M. Parker Whole Psalter civ. 293 And he doth make: hys aungels sprites In wyndes and blastes: to worke theyr mightes.
1575 J. Rolland Treat. Court Venus i. f. 15 To mend ye crime yai will wirk all thair mane.
1638 P. Godwin tr. F. de Calvi Hist. Theeves xix. 239 Maillard..whose present wants enforced him to work his wits for a Remedie.
1694 J. Sergeant Hist. Romance Wars Gallieno & Nasonius xviii. 82 The eager Luyslander was working his Brains to compass his design.
1763 J. Spencer tr. L.-C. de Hautefort Surville Mem. Marquis de Hautefort 252 She..had been working her wits all this while, for this very purpose.
1872 Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours 12 426/1 The young chap was working all his might to bowl him out.
1902 R. P. Woodward On Donkey's Hurricane Deck ii. 23 Working my wits in a multitude of ways to keep my ship from stranding and the crew from starving.
2002 N. Minhas Chapatti or Chips? xxxiv. 276 The two worked their brains real hard trying to get real.
III. To labour, toil.
12.
a. intransitive. To perform physical or mental labour; to exert oneself for a definite purpose, esp. in order to produce something or to earn a living; to perform a task or tasks; to toil, labour.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work hard or toil
workeOE
swingc1000
to the boneOE
labourc1390
toilc1400
drevyll?1518
drudge1548
droy1576
droil1591
to tug at the (an) oar1612
to stand to it1632
rudge1676
slave1707
to work like a beaver1741
to hold (also keep, bring, put) one's nose to the grindstone1828
to feague it away1829
to work like a nigger1836
delve1838
slave1852
leather1863
to sweat one's guts out1890
hunker1903
to sweat (also work) one's guts out1932
to eat (also work) like a horse1937
beaver1946
to work like a drover's dog1952
to get one's nose down (to)1962
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > for a definite purpose
workeOE
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xxxii. 536 Hwy sceall þonne ænig mon bion idel ðæt he ne wyrce?
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 28 Ga & wyrce todæg on minum wingerde.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 71 Heom wære bætere þæt heo wrohton alle dæȝ on þam halȝan restandæȝ.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 36 Lokeð..þet ȝe ne beon neauer idel. Ach wurchen oðer reden. oðer beon ibeoden.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 4344 Þer worhten sweines, þer worðten þeines, & þe king mid his honden..wurhte ful swiðe.
c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) 58 (MED) Me lord is olde & may nouȝt werche.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6843 Sex dais sal yee wirc,..And yee sal rest þe seuend dai.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 525 Þay wente in to þe vyne and wroȝte.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 342 Poul..wrouȝte with hise hondis forto haue his lijflode to preche.
a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) ii. x. sig. p.i A woman which..sabbot day dyd violate Unlaufully wurkynge.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Eiiiv As good plai for nought as work for nought.
c1595 Capt. Wyatt in G. F. Warner Voy. R. Dudley to W. Indies (1899) 50 Our men wrought dalie to hoyse aborde all such goodes.
1621 T. Granger Familiar Expos. Eccles. xii. i. 315 We must worke with the Oare while we haue strength, and after sit at the sterne.
a1633 G. Herbert Outlandish Prov. (1640) sig. A7v Thinke of ease, but worke on.
1708 J. Collier Eccl. Hist. Great Brit. I. ii. 113/2 If a Slave is forc'd to work upon the Sunday by his Master's Order, let him be manumiz'd.
1789 J. Woodforde Diary 30 July (1927) III. 126 The latter was..working in his garden in his Shirt Sleeves.
1866 J. Ruskin Crown Wild Olive i. 40 Our third condition of separation, between the men who work with the hand, and those who work with the head.
1879 J. Lubbock Sci. Lect. ii. 34 Ants work not only all day, but in warm weather often all night too.
1946 M. Lowry Let. Nov. in Sursum Corda! (1995) I. 650 We have been working night and day and have nearly finished corrections.
1959 F. Astaire Steps in Time (1960) iii. 22 We..just needed to keep working and practising to become smoother and more professional.
2010 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) Feb. 36/1 I knuckled down, determined to work hard instead of drinking and partying.
b. intransitive. With at, on, upon (formerly occasionally †of), specifying a particular task or object.
Π
OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) xxxii. 237 And æfter underntide hæbbon heora capitul, and æfter þam wyrce on [þam] þæt him gedafenlic sy [L. faciant quod congruum fuerit], oððe on gebedum oððe on rædinge oððe on weorce.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1110 Ðises geares me began ærost to weorcenne on þam niwan mynstre.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Martin abbot..wrohte on þe circe & sette þarto landes & rentes & goded it suythe.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16283 Swa þeȝȝ stodenn..To wirrkenn o þe temmple.
c1400 ( Canticum Creatione l. 1058 in C. Horstmann Sammlung Altengl. Legenden (1878) 137 A temple gan he [sc. Dauid]..And þeron with glade chere Dede worchen foure & twenty ȝere.
1497 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 324 Certeyn Shipwryghtes that wrought of the seid Ship.
1560 Bp. J. Pilkington Aggeus the Prophete (new issue) sig. Dd.iiii The people of God nowe goynge diligently about to buylde the Lordes house, and woorkyng at it now three full monoethes.
1612 J. Davies Muses Sacrifice sig. A3v That proud Pyramed..Whereon, three-hundred-threescore-thousand wrought full twenty Yeeres.
1623 W. Lisle in tr. Ælfric Saxon Treat. Old & New Test. Pref. A sentence of Hesiod so commendable, that..Livie in that [Oration] of Minutius hath it well and diversly wrought-on.
1687 M. Prior & Earl of Halifax Hind & Panther Transvers'd 12 Vulcan working at the Anvil.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 205 Some Basons have been worked upon several times, without being able almost to make them hold Water.
1796 E. Burke Let. Dec. in Corr. (1844) IV. 401 If I had youth and strength, I would go myself over to Ireland to work on that plan.
1840 G. Godwin Last Day i. 5 How hard some folks do work at what they call pleasure.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xviii. 177 The little [church-] porch, where a monotonous ringer was working at the bell.
1893 H. P. Liddon et al. Life E. B. Pusey I. v. 96 Pusey..spent from fourteen to sixteen hours a day working at Arabic.
1947 D. Thomas Let. Jan. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 292 I also worked upon the preliminary roughing-out of the script with Taylor.
1968 Daily Tel. 12 Nov. 16/2 Young people who work at clearing slag heaps, helping meths-drinkers or cleaning canals to make them navigable.
2012 Observer 18 Mar. (New Review section) 11/1 She is currently working on a masters degree in astrophysics.
c. intransitive. With in or with, specifying a particular material.
Π
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 1850 (MED) To worche in latoun and in bras He lerneth for his sustienance.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 26v Than Iupiter began to lerne spynne and to werke in the silke.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. iii. 93 Thise..ben named drapers..for so moche as they werke wyth wolle.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Plasma, the warke of a potter, or of hym that worketh in erthe.
1539 Bible (Great) Isa. xix. 9 They that worke in flaxe.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. vi. 223 The veine of Tinne..is..rough and very painfull to worke in.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Configulate, to play the Potter, to work in clay.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture III. 28 Those that work in wax, stuc or clay.
1759 R. Smith Harmonics (ed. 2) viii. 176 Any man who works true in brass may easily apply it [sc. this mechanism]..to any harpsichord ready made.
1825 J. Smith Mechanic (ed. 7) II. 288 It is simple and easy to cut a good screw. Any one, who works in metal, can make the tool.
1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour ii. 38 The Greeks of that age..were able to temper it [sc. iron], and they had actually commenced working in it.
1979 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 39 516 British prefabricators, whether working with wood, corrugated iron, or cast iron, had established the basic elements of industrialized building.
2002 M. Rendell Kings of Mountains (2003) i. 12 Exquisitely-skilled artisans working in wood, leather and bamboo-like guadua.
13.
a. intransitive. To do one's daily or ordinary business or work; to practise a profession; to pursue a regular occupation; to have a job, be employed.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)]
workOE
occupy1417
practise?1435
exercise1511
lie1546
artize1598
graft1859
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work at a profession
work?1541
professionize1858
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1900) II. 406 Þu eart æþela cræfta and kynegum þu sceoldest wyrcan.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 174 (MED) Þe leche ne may naȝt werche mid þe zike bote-yef he yzi his wonde.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 154 Þai þat wrouȝtten in þe Cee shullen stonden afer whan þai seen þe stede of þe brennyng.
?a1419 in M. Sellers York Memorandum Bk. (1912) I. 181 All boclemakers..to serve and to wyrk to pouer and to riche within this cite.
c1440 (a1350) Sir Isumbras (Thornton) (1844) l. 398 ‘For mete,’ he sayde, ‘I wold wyrke fayne.’
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 17 Be-neth þat hous..was housyng be þe ground, in whech dwelt coynoures of siluyr, and wroute þere ful bisily.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 116 Iupiter..wrought in his science and made his charmes.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxiijv/2 Wan ye mone is..in cankro Leone or Libra it is good [to] wurch in trees that bethe newe sprongen.
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens sig. Aiii And partyculerly Cyrurgery is deuyded in .v. That is to wit to worke in woundes, in appostumes, in sores, and in restoracyons, and in other thynges belongynge to handy operacyon.
1552–3 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 130 Taylours woorking by greate or taske woork.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 10 Rude Mechanicals, That worke for bread, vpon Athenian stalles. View more context for this quotation
1612 S. Rid Art of Iugling sig. C4 The..matters wherevpon Iuglers worke vpon, and shew their feates.
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. I4v Did not St. Paul himself, being a Tent-maker,..work of his trade..to get his living?
1704 D. Defoe Giving Alms no Charity 27 'Tis the Men that wont work, not the Men that can get no work, which makes the numbers of our Poor.
1771 O. Goldsmith Hist. Eng. III. 326 He wrought for some days in the habit of a peasant, cutting faggots in a wood.
1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in Task 456 To work at a vile trade For wages so unlikely to be paid.
1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters ii. 34 The farmers for whom he wrought.
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. xi. 257 He's one of the Company you work under.
1882 Ballou's Monthly Mag. Sept. 225/1 Mr. E. P. Weeks worked in the mines for some months, and then resumed the more congenial occupation of editing.
1931 Charleston (W. Virginia) Daily Mail 15 June 2/1 Of 3,960 persons listed on the welfare rolls as former Ford employees, one-third never worked there.
1977 National Observer (U.S.) 15 Jan. 14/1 Rina..says she has never wanted to do anything but work with children.
1991 Choice Mar. 55/2 They call it..an old person's pension if you have reached pension age and are still working.
2010 Daily Tel. 23 Dec. 17/1 His father works in finance at New Hall prison.
b. intransitive. With adverb or noun phrase denoting the length of time or pattern of work. Frequently in to work late: to do one's work until a late hour or (now usually) after one's normal working hours. Cf. to work days at days adv., to work nights at nights adv., to work overtime at overtime adv.
Π
1622 T. Scott Belgicke Pismire 96 Others..are..provoked..to worke early and late, that they may sell as cheape, and make as good worke as the Stranger.
1643 J. Caryl Expos. 3 First Chaps. Iob i. 36 Oh, they have a great many children, and they must rise early and they must worke late.
1792 European Mag. Feb. 92/2 Every day M. de Foureroy worked fourteen hours in his closet.
1835 J. E. Alexander Sketches in Portugal viii. 179 The admiral..worked late and early himself, and made every body under him work.
1888 Rep. State Board Silk Culture Calif. 10 Many times the work in the Secretary's office was so rushed that it was necessary to work evenings.
1920 E. F. Corbett Puritan & Pagan 184 Roger worked long days, thereby involving long days for her.
1922 Jrnl. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 18 107 An unusual proportion of women who have worked part-time.
1967 Jrnl. Pediatrics 70 642/1 He had a butcher shop and worked long hours.
1985 N.Z. Countryman Nov. 17/1 To keep the pot boiling she worked full-time again.
2010 L. Stepp Tell me about Orchard Hollow 15 All this time, I thought he was always working late. How could I have been so stupid?
c. transitive. To do (a job); to be employed in (a specified type of job or number of jobs).
Π
1872 Reynold's Newspaper 7 Apr. 2/5 He had been out of work for five months, and had only been able to earn a shilling now and then by working odd jobs.
1925 Los Angeles Sunday Times 12 July ii. 2/5 They want girls to be fresh and bright, and you can't be when you're working two jobs.
1946 Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, Indiana) 8 June 2/6 (heading) Disabled veterans object to women working night jobs.
1981 Social Service Rev. 55 479 Those without steady work, those working minimum wage, unskilled jobs.
1987 Soldier of Fortune July 12/1 Countless undercover law enforcement officers, most of them working narcotics, face this special kind of gunfight.
1992 B. Gill Death of Love v. 81 You were jumped over many a good local lad who would have worked this job gladly.
2009 J. Bond South Fork Inn iii. 24 Harley had worked two jobs to bring in money for bills and food.
d. intransitive. With out of. To use a place as a base, office, etc., for work.See also to work out of a suitcase at Phrases 15.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work in other specific ways or conditions
dead horse1640
grub1798
subcontract1827
chare1828
slut1829
to take up one's livery1839
hat1868
to work on tribute1869
freelance1904
work1920
nine-to-five1962
job-share1978
telework1983
1920 Santa Fe Mag. Oct. 84/2 He will work out of Sanson, Texas.
1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? xii. 300 She's turned pro... She's working out of Gladys'.
1976 ‘M. Delving’ China Expert i. 12 He had no shop but worked out of the small, comfortable house he had bought.
1994 R. G. Maier Location Scouting & Managem. Handbk. ii. 29 Working out of a car involves its own routines, many of which might seem pretty strange to most office workers, factory workers, and others based indoors.
2007 New Yorker 26 Mar. 63/3 He worked out of a series of rented rooms..relying on his cell phone and his laptop.
e. intransitive. British. To be responsible to a person as one's immediate superior or supervisor; to report to. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > be subject to [verb (transitive)]
underliec897
undergo1586
underserve1611
to hang upon the beck of1635
ancillate1641
to be at the beck and call of1869
work1950
1950 Rep. Commisioners of Prisons 1949 69 in Parl. Papers Cmd. 8088 XVIII. 379 The duties of these psychologists, who will work to the medical officers at remand and trial prisons in their respective groups, will be [etc.]
1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze xiv. 360 The Forward Officer (Bombardment) working to H.M.S. Roberts was killed with his signaller.
1975 I. Murdoch Word Child 6 I worked to a man called Duncan, now briefly seconded to the Home Office.
2008 E. Hemmingway Into Newsroom v. 109 The staff working to him and to the programme need to share his vision.
14.
a. transitive. To make (a person or animal) do work; to set to or keep at work; to exact labour from; to employ or use in work.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (transitive)] > set (person) to work > exact work from
work1389
1389 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 43 He may werken his broþer.
a1525 ( Coventry Leet Bk. (1907) I. 225 What man that wurchithe ony man of the seide craft in contrarie-wyse he shall forfet..x s. to the Towne walle.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice i. 50 Many good breeders..wil let their Mares after they are quickned, be moderately trauelled or wrought.
a1655 J. Tillinghast Elijah's Mantle (1658) 201 The flesh is like an unruly Beast, which through rest and idleness grows wilde and Masterless, and there is no way to tame him, but by working him hard.
1707 H. Sloane Voy. Islands I. p. clii The Slaves are usually so well wrought in the day,..that they do not easily awake.
1798 J. Naismith Agric. Clydesdale 123 Some gentlemen have again begun to use oxen for all the purposes of draught. The Right Honourable Lord Douglas always works a few.
1841 R. Oastler Fleet Papers I. 267 Whether it was right to work little boys and girls in the mills, longer than from six o'clock in the morning to six o'clock in the evening, [etc.].
1888 Times 13 Oct. 7/6 The manner in which the hounds should be worked.
1912 G. O. Trevelyan George III & Fox I. vii. 243 The occupants of the best-paid places for the most part were not worked at all.
1978 B. D'J. Pancake in Atlantic Monthly Aug. 57/1 Mom worked me all week making apple butter.
2011 N. Kuznezov Reeds in Wind iv. 282 We were not worked hard.
b. transitive. With prepositional phrase or adjective as complement: to bring (a person or animal) into some condition, esp. exhaustion, by hard or intense labour or exertion. Frequently reflexive. to work (a person) to death: to cause (a person) to die through hard work; (hyperbolically) to make (a person) work very hard.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)] > bring (a person or thing) into a state or condition > by talking, working, running, etc.
run1548
work1599
talk1600
look1611
whip1635
speak1684
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [verb (transitive)] > bring into specific condition by
doc1175
labour?c1500
force1551
work1599
mistake1667
worry1727
1599 T. Moffett Silkewormes 58 Working themselues to death both night & day, Not for themselues, but others to array.
1628 W. Folkingham Panala Medica x. 72 As Oxen wrought leane, regaine the flesh of young beefes by good pasturage.
1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies II. li. 246 He..protested that he would not be accessory to the Destruction of so many Innocents, whom he foresaw, would be wrought and starved to Death.
1797 S. James Narr. Voy. 133 As they justly observed, by working themselves to death, they could but die.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. xliv. 42 She worked herself to death.
1875 A. Woodbury 2nd Rhode Island Regiment xvi. 239 It was a time of unwonted suffering and privation, and the surgeons were worked to exhaustion.
1919 E. M. Knox Girl of New Day xi. 112 You can be an ‘effective’ if..you refuse to rack yourself to pieces by night, and then work yourself to pieces by day.
1958 ‘S. Miles’ Lettice Delmer 103 Lettice has an urge To work herself so weary that she sleeps Unpricked by guilty thoughts.
1997 Sunday Times 26 Oct. (Mag.) 16/3 You worked yourself into the ground to pay for your wife, Zelda's, psychiatric treatment.
2013 Tweed Border Mail (New S. Wales) (Nexis) 27 Feb. 19 ‘He worked me to death,’ she says. ‘He's a real slave driver.’
c. transitive. Originally New Zealand. To use (a dog) to control or herd livestock, esp. sheep. Cf. sense 48b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > herd
herdc1475
travel1576
pastor1587
drove1776
flog1793
tail1844
work1878
work1879
trail1906
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > herd > with dog
work1878
1878 E. S. Elwell Boy Colonists 48 Fricker..[was] delighted to shew the ‘new chum’ how to work a cattle dog.
1928 P. T. Kenway Pioneering in Poverty Bay viii. 56 It was said of the Highland shepherd in New Zealand, that he would..work his dogs, getting in stray sheep, every day for a month.
1968 M. M. Johnson Turn of Tide 63 Mr Parkins and Stan were to leave at 3 a.m. for the range, the former working his two dogs and the latter his faithful Pat.
2003 T. Pratchett Wee Free Men iii. 58 Every shepherd on the Chalk went to them, and the very best entered the arena to show how well they could work their dogs.
15. Hunting.
a. transitive. Esp. of a hunting dog: to hunt or track (game or a scent).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunt [verb (transitive)]
huntc1000
chasec1330
teisec1400
work1568
drive1622
call1768
rattle1829
shikar1882
1568 in Archaeologia (1853) 35 207 The Emperore and my Lord wente a hontynge of the hare..and worked xx. hares or theare aboutes.
?1856 F. E. Smedley Harry Coverdale's Courtship iii. 13 He says we've worked them [sc. the rabbits] quite enough.
1888 Times 16 Oct. 10/5 When I tried to work the scent of a deer which had got away.., the hound proved quite useless.
1903 Baily's Mag. Sports & Pastimes Oct. 291/2 A hound that will work a scent in the water is a treasure.
1995 D. M. Warren Small Animal Care & Managem. vii. 103 Although called a spaniel, its method of working game is more like a setter.
2011 J. Ketchum Offspring 54 Some of the dogs would work the scent off the Kaltsas place.
b. intransitive. Of a hunting dog: to hunt; to track a scent, flush out game, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > work done by hounds > action of hounds [verb (intransitive)]
work1828
1828 Sporting Mag. Mar. 339/2 The hounds worked most admirably. No pack of harriers could have hunted closer.
1842 Sportsman Apr. 301 Battue shooting I despise; for..you are deprived of the pleasure of seeing your dogs work.
1874 W. B. Carpenter Princ. Mental Physiol. (1879) i. ii. §3. 104 Young Pointers and Retrievers, when first taken into the field, will often ‘work’ as well as if they had been long well trained.
1907 H. Storey Hunting & Shooting in Ceylon 32 In less than an hour I bagged two hares and a mongoose, the dogs working well and holding the scent without a falter.
2006 M. Rice Swifter than Arrow iii. 90 A pack of hounds would be of greater value in isolating the quarry, than individual hounds working separately.
16. intransitive. To practise as an artist; to paint, draw, sculpt, etc. Also with in: to use a particular artistic medium (cf. sense 12c).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > [verb (intransitive)] > operate as an artist
portrayc1387
worka1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) i. i. 201 How lik'st thou this picture?.. Wrought he not well that painted it?
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 102 Exercising his scholars..in the necessary rudiments..before he would suffer them..to worke in colours.
1706 J. Savage tr. R. de Piles Art of Painting 336 He work'd also in Sculpture.
1733 School of Miniature 42 The Instructions..may be of particular Use when you work after Prints,..and they will not be much more unuseful when you begin to copy after Paint.
1786 J. Strutt Biogr. Dict. Engravers II. 422 This artist worked with the graver only.
1875 C. D. E. Fortnum Maiolica iv. 39 He worked about 1550.
1889 R. Beydall Art in Scotl. vii. 125 The students wrought in the academy daily at painting.
1908 F. Simmonds & G. W. Chrystal tr. J. Meier-Graefe Mod. Art I. 178 Corot worked without so many glances at the model.
1999 P. Curtis Sculpture 1900–45 iv. 115 Painters working in the late nineteenth century such as Manet, Degas, and Monet.
17. Of a train or other public service vehicle.
a. intransitive. To make regular journeys from place to place, esp. between points of a scheduled route; to ply. Chiefly with between.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > [verb (intransitive)] > specific railway operations
work1810
to pull the pin1860
highball1911
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > travel on (public vehicle) [verb (intransitive)] > ply on a certain route (of vehicle) > between specific points
work1810
1810 Derby Mercury 27 Dec. 1/3 Wm. Judd & Sons Take this Opportunity of returning Thanks to their Friends and the Public in general for the very great encouragement Given to their Boats working between Birmingham and Derby every other Day.
1868 Birmingham Daily Post 2 Oct. 8/3 The train to which the casualty occurred was a ‘local’ train, working between Rugby and Leamington.
1914 Railway Mag. 34 19/1 Some of these [trains], though ranking as expresses and taken by express engines, work to and fro in the manner usually associated with suburban traffic.
1980 K. Warren Fifty Yrs. Green Line i. 12/1 (caption) This coach was based at Alpha Street, Slough, and worked between Charing Cross and Windsor.
1986 Rail Enthusiast May (Suppl.) p. v/2 It worked down to Edinburgh and that evening headed back towards Newcastle.
2011 Blackmore Vale Mag. (Nexis) 4 Mar. 40 The last steam trains which worked between Yeovil Town and Yeovil Junction Stations.
b. transitive. To operate along (a specified route). Also of a railway company: to hold a lease to operate on (a particular line); cf. worked adj. 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > [verb (transitive)] > direct or manage a railway engine > specific operations
work1835
shunt1845
flag1856
slip1866
whistle1869
sidetrack1872
signal1888
switch1891
target1893
highball1905
plunge1923
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > travel on (public vehicle) [verb (transitive)] > operate along specific route
work1835
1835 Mechanics' Mag. 19 Sept. 484 Comparative View of the Great Western and Basing lines... Total mechanical power necessary to work the line both ways.
1869 Bradshaw's Railway Man. 21 86 The Midland..ought not to work the main line.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 143/2 A line on this system is worked between Barmen and Elberfeld.
1936 Railway Mag. 78 43/1 The line was worked by the L.M.S.R. and L.N.E.R., having been built..from Kilsyth junction..to Bonny Water junction.
1976 P. R. White Planning for Public Transport viii. 173 The first APTs to enter service will probably work the London–Glasgow run.
1987 Buses Extra Oct. 25/1 During the off-peak season it worked a town route between Swanage Pier and New Swanage, via the railway station.
2007 A. W. Yarsinske Elizabeth River 274 In 1816 the steamboat Powhatan began working the route from Norfolk's harbor to Richmond.
18. intransitive. colloquial. To operate illegally or criminally, esp. as a thief or swindler. In early use also with †upon, specifying a type of criminal activity. Cf. sense 19b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > steal [verb (intransitive)] > be a thief
one's fingers are all thumbs1546
to try it on1811
work1819
scavenge1938
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 225 To work upon any particular game, is to practise generally, that species of fraud or depredation, as, He works upon the crack, he follows housebreaking.
1839 H. Brandon Dict. Flash or Cant Lang. in W. A. Miles Poverty, Mendicity & Crime 166/1 Work, to rob, or act in any way according to the divers occupations of thieves, &c.
1865 Leaves from Diary Celebrated Burglar 55/2 They agreed, upon their discharge, to ‘work’ together.
1882 Sydney Slang Dict. 10/2 We went to the gaff that night and tried to work.
1950 J. Lait & L. Mortimer Chicago Confidential ii. xxx. 256 Criminals work openly and brazenly in Chicago.
1963 T. Tullett Inside Interpol x. 150 Huffman ‘worked’ for a short time in Rome, where he defrauded several shopkeepers.
2011 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 6 Nov. (Baylife section) 1 When shopping at outdoor markets, keep track of your wallet, as these are areas where pickpockets commonly work.
19. Chiefly colloquial.
a. transitive. To go through or about (a place or area) for the purposes of one's business; to undertake work or do a job in. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (transitive)] > work in a place
work1834
1834 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 68 I gave up my bitch..to Joe, to work the enclosures, and he got 5 brace and 1 hare.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 79/1 I've worked both town and country on gold fish.
1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 117 To work a street or neighbourhood, trying at each house to sell all one can.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn xii Frank Maberly [i.e. a parson] had been..as he expressed it, ‘working the slums’ at Exeter.
1883 Cent. Mag. 26 393 He ‘worked’ the hunting-field largely. It constantly reappears in his novels.
1919 Printers' Ink 28 Aug. 113/1 This stuff was fired in broadsides ahead of the salesman—starting about three weeks before he was due to start working the town.
1965 P. Nichols Patchwork of Death (1967) viii. 41 Do you know how many taxi drivers there are in Paris? And seventy-five per cent of them work the Aerogare.
2000 A. Bourdain Kitchen Confid. (2001) 4 I graduated CIA, knocked around Europe, worked some famous two-star joints in the city.
b. transitive. To operate illegally or criminally, esp. as a thief, in (a place or area). Cf. sense 18.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > steal [verb (transitive)] > work as a thief in
work1867
1867 Galaxy Nov. 428 The gangs are organized to ‘work’ particular neighbourhoods.
1882 J. D. McCabe New York 520 Even vessels lying at anchor in the harbor, are busily worked by [thieves].
1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xvi. 181 They [sc. pickpockets] used to go off in busloads..to ‘work’ various districts of London.
1951 W. C. Williams Autobiogr. xlv. 299 He had been a fur thief working the big department stores.
1990 N.Y. Times 25 Dec. 33/2 Crack dealers work the corners: 103d Street and Manhattan Avenue, 104th and Columbus.
2006 Straits Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 8 Aug. Other pickpockets work the trains and buses.
c. transitive. Originally U.S. To operate as a prostitute in (a place or area). Esp. in to work the streets: (of a prostitute) to work on the streets, rather than in a brothel, etc.; (hence simply) to be a prostitute.
ΚΠ
1939 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 44 547 She may work in a ‘call house’... Or, in a city where the racket is unorganized, she may ‘work the streets’.
1945 Moorhead (Minnesota) Daily News 29 Sept. 1/1 Typical is an 18-year-old blonde known as ‘China Doll’. She has been working the bars since she was 13 to support herself and her mother.
1974 D. Goines Daddy Cool x. 143 Every time she hit the streets, one or the other of the officers would be harassing her... She wouldn't be able to work the streets here any longer.
1995 Daily Mail (Nexis) 3 July 32 A blond rent-boy who worked the red-light area of Kings Cross.
2004 Hope July 21/1 She hadn't spent time in juvenile hall, been homeless, worked the streets, or sold drugs.
20. transitive. To exercise (a part of the body), esp. so as to build or tone muscle.
Π
1959 Muscle Power Nov. 40/3 When you work your muscles extra hard and break down an extra large number of cells, your body does more than repair and replace these... This is known as overcompensation in physiological circles and is actually the secret of muscular growth.
1983 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 12 Jan. b8/6 You should use exercises that work your biceps.
1990 Amer. Health Nov. 84 (advt.) With NordicRow TBX, you don't just work your legs.., but you tone and strengthen all the major muscles in your upper and lower body.
2005 Men's Health (U.K. ed.) June 33/2 Josh Beck..suggests working your abs and obliques with crunches and side raises.
IV. To make, create, produce.
21.
a. transitive. To produce (a material thing) by, or as by, labour or exertion; to make, construct, manufacture; to form, fashion. In later use somewhat archaic (usually in past tense or past participle in form wrought).Usually with reference to the creation of man-made objects, but sometimes with reference to an animal, natural process, etc.Sometimes with implications of artistic or ornamental workmanship, and passing into sense 26.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > construct
workOE
dighta1175
to set upc1275
graitha1300
formc1300
pitchc1330
compoundc1374
to put togethera1387
performc1395
bigc1400
elementc1400
complexion1413
erect1417
framea1450
edifya1464
compose1481
construe1490
to lay together1530
perstruct1547
to piece together1572
condite1578
conflate1583
compile1590
to put together1591
to set together1603
draw1604
build1605
fabric1623
complicate1624
composit1640
constitute1646
compaginate1648
upa1658
complex1659
construct1663
structurate1664
structure1664
confect1677
to put up1699
rig1754
effect1791
structuralize1913
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacture or production > manufacture or produce [verb (transitive)]
i-wurchec888
makeeOE
workOE
dighta1175
outworka1325
forge1382
tiffa1400
fabricate1598
elaborate1611
produce1612
manufacture1648
to work off1653
output1858
productionize1939
OE Beowulf (2008) 1452 Swa hine [sc. the helmet] fyrndagum worhte wæpna smið, wundrum teode, besette swinlicum.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 22 Ða het he wurcean ænne sealfrene hop of þrittiȝæ pundon.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11433 Ich þe wulle wurche [c1300 Otho wirche] a bord..þat þer maȝen sitten to sixtene hundred & ma.
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 39 Hit is wonder wel ywroht.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Num. viii. 4 Moises..worouȝte [read wrouȝte] þe candelstyk.
a1475 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 271 A bok..Þat men callyt an abece, Pratylych I-wrout.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid xii. Prol. 138 Quharof the beis wrocht thar hunny sweit.
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 6v Some of them, whych..worke ye kinges Artillarie for war.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 266 To ane preuie Chalmer..thay him led, Quhair ane burely bed was wrocht.
1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health lxxxiii. 77 The liuer..is the place where all the humors of the bodie are first wrought.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 196 This by-word..Hengston downe well ywrought,..Is worth London deere ybought.
1698 A. Fletcher Two Disc. Affairs Scotl. 22 The furniture of their houses..was for the most part wrought by their Slaves.
1742 D. Hume Ess. Moral & Polit. II. ii. 13 A hundred Cabinet-makers in London can work a Table or a Chair equally well.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xvi. 272 A goblet exquisitely wrought.
1817 J. Evans Excursion to Windsor 258 A public road, beneath which is worked a path conducting to a fine lawn.
1850 H. T. Cheever Whale & his Captors i. 24 Whether the first..whaling harpoon used in America was wrought there.
1864 J. Hunt tr. C. Vogt Lect. on Man x. 269 The [flint] instruments of oval shape have been mostly worked by gentle blows.
1911 Arts & Decoration Mar. 221/3 The utility of the graceful and pliable willow furniture wrought by hand.
2007 1000 Events that shaped World (Nat. Geogr. Soc.) 17/1 The earliest known recognizable stone tools wrought by the hand of hominins date back to about 2.6 m.y.a. [= million years ago].
b. transitive. Of God: to create (a person, the world, etc.). Also in passive with the agent unspecified. Now rare (in later use archaic and usually in past tense or past participle in form wrought).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > of God
workOE
rearOE
shapeOE
makeOE
raisec1384
to set (something) on (also upon) sevenc1390
spire1435
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xix. 4 Qui fecit ab initio masculum et feminam fecit eos : seðe worohte from fruma woepenmonn & wifmonn geworhte hia [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus he worhte wæpmann & wifmann].
OE Beowulf (2008) 92 Se Ælmihtiga eorðan worh [te] .
OE Exodus 22 He him gesægde..hu þas woruld worhte witig drihten, eorðan ymbhwyrft and uprodor.
c1175 ( Ælfric's Homily on Nativity of Christ (Bodl. 343) in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 80 Gif nu sum sot wæneð þat he [sc. God] wrohte [OE Julius geworhte] hine sylfne, þenne axie we him hu þe heofenlice God hine sylfen wrohte.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) 134 Nis buten an Godd,..þet al þe world wrahte.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 373 He wroght apon þe toþer day þe firmament.
c1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess (Fairf. 16) (1871) l. 90 Alas (quoth shee) that I was wrought.
a1550 (c1441) Lament Duchess of Gloucester (Balliol) in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 205 Alle women that in this world be wrowght.
1568 (a1500) Freiris Berwik 343 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 271 Quhat sall I do allace þat I wes wrocht.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme cxlv. 29 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 246 All creatures thou hast wrought..shall their creator sound.
c1639 W. Mure Psalmes viii. 3 in Wks. (1898) II. 66 The moone, the twinckling starrs..Works, by thy finger wroght.
1648 Bp. J. Hall Breathings Devout Soul xix. 29 The less I can satisfie my self with marvailing at thy works, the more let me adore the majesty and omnipotence of thee that wroughtest them.
1859 Freewill Baptist Q. Apr. 148 The better we understand the formation of the earth,..the more will the conclusion be forced upon us that there is no chance about it, but that God has wrought it all.
1988 E. J. Bickerman Jews in Greek Age iii. xxv. 292 Nothing exists unless it was wrought by God.
c. transitive. To construct, build (a building or other structure). Now rare (in later use archaic and usually in past tense or past participle in form wrought).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > build or construct [verb (transitive)]
timbera900
workOE
betimberOE
craftOE
buildc1275
lifta1300
stagec1330
upraise1338
wright1338
edifya1340
to make outa1382
to make upa1382
biga1400
housea1400
risea1400
telda1400–50
to work upa1450
redress1481
levy1495
upmake1507
upbuild1513
exstruct?c1550
construct1663
to run up1686
practise1739
to lay up1788
elevate1798
to put up1818
to lay down1851
practicate1851
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 185 Ða cwædon hi betwux him þæt hi woldon wircan ane burh.
OE Genesis A (1931) 1302 Ongyn þe scip wyrcan, merehus micel.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 22 Ða wæs ðam wurhtan ðe ðæt weorc wrohtæn wone anes beames.
c1330 Gregorius (Auch.) (1914) 218 Chirches chapels boþe y same Werche sche dede þurch Godes wille.
a1500 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Chetham) l. 3685 Beues dyd wyrke Abbeys, mynesters, and meny a kirke.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. aiiv Weill wroght wes the wall And payntit with pride.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 300 They..the Mole immense wraught on Over the foaming deep high Archt. View more context for this quotation
a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 18 An old Bridge..exceeding well wrought.
1735 J. Price Some Considerations Stone-bridge Thames 7 Scaffolds for working the said Piers from Bottom to Top.
1747 W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 12 Their [sc. ants'] double Saw, by means whereof they work their Apartments.
1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd i. 1 Earls were the wrights that wrought it [sc. a house].
1910 F. Ferrero Valley of Aosta iii. iii. 264 Those walls, wrought by hands of men unknown.
d. transitive. With of, out of, in, specifying the material used or the component parts. Now archaic (usually in passive in form wrought).
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 181 God..cwæð þæt he wolde wyrcan mannan of eorðan.
OE Blickling Homilies 127 Swylce eac syndon on þære myclan cirican..ehta eagþyrelu swiþe mycele of glæse geworht.
OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) ii. 15 He worhte swipan of strengon.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15182 Nollde nohht te laferrd crist..Hemm wirrkenn win inoh off nohht...Acc wollde off waterr wirrkenn win.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 408 Ȝif he isiþ þat þu nart areȝ, He wile of bore wrchen bareȝ.
c1390 (?c1350) Joseph of Arimathie (1871) l. 204 A newe chaumbre-wouh wrouȝt al of bordes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22804 (MED) He þat dos flexs worth in to lame, O lam mai wirc flessli licam.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 21048 Ion..dude miracles as he wel mouȝt; Of treen ȝerdes golde he wrouȝt.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 141 In the myddes of this palays is the mountour for the grete Cane þat is all wrought of gold & precyous stones.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 131 O Lord, quhilk wrocht all thingis of nocht.
1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. E2v Their streaming Ensignes wrought of coulloured silke. View more context for this quotation
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 681 Good milstones are wrought out of the rocke.
1709 A. Philips To Earl of Dorset 34 Every shrub, and every blade of grass, And every pointed thorn, seem'd wrought in glass.
1796 Archaeologia 12 170 The mouldings are worked in stone, and are in good preservation.
1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xl. 312 Various ornaments..wrought in the purest gold.
1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography 206 Forty-six noble columns, some wrought in granite and some in marble.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Two Towers iv. ix. 327 They walked as it were in a black vapour wrought of veritable darkness itself.
2013 Hull Daily Mail (Nexis) 4 May 16 A Corkscrew-esque roller coaster wrought out of gerberas and hydrangeas.
22. transitive. To make, produce, create (an immaterial thing). Now archaic and rare except as passing into sense 9.
ΚΠ
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xii. 14 Þa sundorhalgan eodun þa ut soþlice & worhton [L. faciebant] geþeaht ongen hyne hu hi hyne forspildon.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xxxviii. 350 Ða ongunnon lease men wyrcan spell and sædon þæt hio sceolde mid hire drycræft[um] þa men forbredan.
c1300 St. Dominic (Laud) l. 152 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 282 Huy weren, ase god wolde, in o consent i-brouȝt, And eiþur dude bi oþeres rede, and þeos tweie ordres wrouȝte, Of frere prechours and of frere Menores.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 29326 All þaa þat wirkes Laus gain right of hali kirkes.
1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Norbert (1977) l. 1918 Here and þere himselue he gan to seche, With lesinggis among, as his maistir him tawt; Ȝet wondir termes to him hatȝ he rawt.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. N8v What's gnawing conscience from impietie By highest parts of humane soul ywrought?
1643 R. Baker Chron. Kings of Eng. i. 53 Gratefulnesse and naturall affection, meeting together, must needes worke something in the minde of a Brother.
1721 M. Prior Predestination in Wks. (1907) II. 351 Are not the Texture of our Actions wrought By something inward that directs our thought?
a1771 T. Gray Stanzas to Mr. R. Bentley in Mem. (1775) 227 Each dream, in fancy's airy colouring wrought.
1912 Pop. Mech. Oct. 557/1 We listen to the sublime music wrought by a master touch on violin or piano.
†23. transitive. With adjective, adverbial phrase, or prepositional phrase as complement: to make or cause to be or become what is expressed by the complement. Obsolete.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)] > cause to be or become
seta1000
workOE
makeOE
puta1382
turna1393
yieldc1430
breedc1460
rendera1522
devolve1533
cause1576
infer1667
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > transform [verb (transitive)]
wendOE
forshapeOE
workOE
awendOE
makec1175
turna1200
forwenda1325
change1340
shape1362
transmewc1374
transposec1380
puta1382
convertc1384
exchangea1400
remue?a1400
makea1425
reduce?a1425
removec1425
resolvea1450
transvertc1450
overchangec1480
mew1512
transmutea1513
wring1524
reduct1548
transform1556
innovate1561
metamorphose1576
transume1579
metamorphize1587
transmove1590
transchangea1599
transfashion1601
deflect1613
fordo1624
entail1628
transmutate1632
distila1637
to make much (also little, something, nothing, etc.) of1637
transqualify1652
unconvert1654
simulate1658
spend1668
transverse1687
hocus-pocus1774
mutate1796
fancy1801
to change around1871
metamorphosize1888
catalyse1944
morph1996
OE Wulfstan Sermo ad Anglos (Nero) (1957) 271 And oft þræl þæne þegen þe ær wæs his hlaford cnyt swyþe fæste & wyrcð him to þræle þurh Godes yrre.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 13 Min hus ys gebedhus, witodlice ge worhtun þæt to þeofa cote.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxxxviii. 27 Ic to widan feore wyrce syððan þin heahsetl hror and weorðlic swa heofones dagas her mid mannum.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9350 His lond þu forbernest & hine blæð wurchest.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 24088 Þat wroht me out of wite.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 13824 He þat me hal has wroght.
a1500 (a1400) Sir Cleges (Adv.) (1930) l. 342 Thys sawe i neuer.., Syn i was man wrowȝt.
a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Passioun in Poems (1998) I. 37 Ordane for him ane resting place, That is so werie wrocht for the.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 138 Mony woundet þat worthy & wroght vnto dethe.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. ii. 47 We had need pray..for our deliuerance; Or this imperious man will worke vs all From Princes into Pages. View more context for this quotation
1639 J. Saltmarsh Pract. Policie 43 If you suspect the performance of a promise, worke them obliged by some speciall engagement and pawne.
†24. transitive. To make (a friend or enemy). Obsolete.In Old English also with genitive.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > make friends with [verb (transitive)]
workOE
friend1483
to make friends (with, of, to)1561
to take up with1570
to pal up (also around, out, etc.)1889
to get next to1896
OE Ælfric Homily (Trin. Cambr. B.15.34) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 548 Wyrcað eow freonda of ðam unrihtan welan, þæt hy underfon eow on eowrum forðsiþe to him on ðam ecum eardungstowum eft.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xxiv. 291 Mid þissum woruldgesælðum and mid þis andweardan welan mon wyrcð oftor feond þonne freond.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 41 (MED) Mid mede man mai ouer water faren, And mid weldede of giue frend wuerche.
25.
a. transitive. To make (a fabric, garment, etc.); to weave, spin, sew, knit, etc. Now chiefly: to embroider (a garment, tapestry, etc.). Also in figurative contexts. Cf. work n. 17.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > [verb (transitive)]
workeOE
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. xxvi. 354 Hio smaelo hrægel weofað & wyrcað [L. texendis subtilioribus indumentis], mid ðæm hio..hio siolfe frætwað in bryda onlicnesse.
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 224 Æteowigende him þa reaf and þa gerenodan tunecan, þe Thabitas him worhte ær þan þe heo gewite.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 377 Two pilches weren ðurg engeles wrogt.
a1400 in K. W. Engeroff Untersuchung ‘Usages of Winchester’ (1914) 50 Non of þe Citee ne shal don werche qwyltes ne chalouns by-þoute þe walles.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1721 Softe wolle..she wroughte.
a1500 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 170 (MED) When such cloth ys all ywrowte, To the maker it waylyth lytyll or nowȝtte.
1558 R. Gray Let. 19 Feb. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1599) II. i. 303 All our olde hempe is spunne and wrought in tenne cables..and thirteene Hausers.
1594 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis (new ed.) sig. Gv Now she vnweaues [printed veweaues] the web that she hath wrought.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. i. 43 My hand-kercher..(The best I had, a Princesse wrought it me). View more context for this quotation
1651 W. Davenant Gondibert ii. xxviii These belts (wrought with their ladies' care).
1676 G. Carew Fraud & Oppress. detected & Arraigned 65 A quantity of Wool..was wrought into Cloath fit for Exportation.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. ii. 135 To unlay a cable to work into running rigging.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 162 She was working a pair of ruffles.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 33 A splendid cover..of tapestry richly wrought.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 654 In the weaving of ribbed hosiery, the plain rib courses are wrought alternately.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 174 The princess, who had been educated only to work embroidery, to play on the spinet, [etc.].
1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women I. vi. 93 I'm going to work Mr. Laurence a pair of slippers.
1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iv. 94 The firm also sold ready traced materials and supplied the threads for working them.
1973 E. Wilson Embroidery Bk. (1975) ii. 142 When you are working a large rug, a square frame..is a tremendous help.
1997 I can't believe I'm Knitting! 25/1 When working a striped ribbing, little ‘nubs’ of color appear on the right side.
2009 M. Stewart Punchneedle ii. 34 (caption) A pillow worked with a #6 punchneedle.
b. transitive. In passive. Of a garment, piece of fabric, etc.: to be embroidered with a particular design, figure, pattern, etc. Formerly also with †upon, †about.
Π
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 445 He fenge a scherte, som þerof was i-wrouȝt wiþ gold [?a1475 anon. tr. over gilte, L. deaurata].
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 897 His garnement was euerydell Portreied and wrought with floures.
1480 Wardrobe Accts. Edward IV in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 115 An hoby harneis..enbrowdered and wroght with ageletts of silver and gilt.
1539 Bible (Great) Psalms xlv. 10 A vesture of gold (wrought about with dyuerse colours).
1575 in Archaeologia (1844) 30 12 Sixe quyshions, wrought withe my L. [= Lord's] armes.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xxii. sig. Cc8v Her apparrell of white, wrought upon with broken knots.
1590 in Archaeologia (1884) 48 154 One dammaske table clothe wrought with ye Spreed Egle.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 56 They wear this Cap..with a Handkerchief of fine stuff, wrought with flowers of Gold and Silk.
1792 Northampton Merc. 20 Dec. The ladies now wear the lappets to their gauze heads worked with aces of spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Audley Court in Poems (new ed.) II. 43 A damask napkin wrought with horse and hound.
1893 Churchman 18 Feb. 233/1 In the first Christian era, altar cloths, church curtains and all priestly vestments were wrought with holy images.
1916 Home Needlework Mag. Aug. 15/1 The pieces shown are all worked with the same daisy motif.
1993 B. Harvey Living & Dying in Eng., 1100–1540 v. 167 The abbot's house..boasted a feather bed and a coverlet worked with flowers.
2001 L. T. Ulrich Age of Homespun iii. 116 The earliest samplers were..elongated pieces of linen worked with a succession of motifs.
c. transitive. To embroider (a design, figure, or pattern). Cf. sense 26.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > sew or ornament textile fabric [verb (transitive)]
worka1425
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 895 Nought clad in silk was he But all in floures and in flourettes And with losynges and scochouns With briddes lybardes and lyouns And other beestis wrought ful well.
1588 T. Deloney Queenes visiting Tilsburie (single sheet) The famous Armes of England, wrought with rich imbroidered gold.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xvi. v. 63 Dragons, wrought with woufe of purple thred,..leaving their winding tailes to wift in the wind.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 207 The Danes bare in their Ensigne a Raven wrought..in needle-worke.
1781 London Mag. Oct. 487/2 The number may be neatly wrought on silk buttons.
1841 Mrs R. Hart Fancy-work Bk. 18 To work patterns drawn on canvas.
1859 J. Brown Horæ Subs. (1861) 1st Ser. 286 Working her name on the blankets.
1883 D. C. Murray Hearts (1885) ix. 65 The maxims you cherish would have served..for your grandmother to work on samplers.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. 313 A dainty motif of plume rose being worked into the pleats in a pinstripe.
1961 Embroidery Autumn 82/1 Her design of a sun was freely worked in gold thread.
2001 Ashmolean Spring 13 The embroideries are usually worked on an undyed linen ground fabric.
26. transitive. To create (a work of art); to paint, draw, engrave, carve, etc. Also: to represent in a work of art; to portray. Cf. to work up 3b at Phrasal verbs 1. Now somewhat archaic (usually in past tense or past participle in form wrought).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > [verb (transitive)] > make a work of art
workOE
portraya1398
portrait1552
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > representation in art > represent in art [verb (transitive)]
workOE
shapea1375
express1382
marka1393
resemblea1393
portraya1398
devisea1400
makea1400
represent?a1425
counterfeitc1440
to set on write1486
porturea1500
emporturea1529
story1532
portrait1548
show1565
decipher1567
portraiture1581
to set forth1585
emblazea1592
stell1598
defigure1599
infigure1606
effigiate1608
deportract1611
deportray1611
rendera1616
image1624
configure1630
exiconize1641
effigies1652
to take off1680
mimic1770
paraphrase1961
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Exod. (Claud.) xxxii. 35 Hi worhton þæt gyldene cealf & wurþodon hit for god.
OE Ælfric Homily: De Falsis Diis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 687 Hi worhtan eac anlicnyssa þam arwurþum godum..and þa asmeadan mid cræfte.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 23216 Painted fire..þat apon awagh war wroght.
J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 60 Lettyrrys off gold, that gay were wrowght to the ye.
c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) l. 1882 Euery creature On boothe sydes beyng drawyn in small space; So curyously..in so lytell a compace, In all thys world was neuer thyng wrought.
1597 W. Barlow Navigator's Supply sig. H If these diuisions be wrought vpon Latten plates, [etc.].
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xii. 206 I shall proceed to the working a Pattern or two in Soft Wood.
1692 M. Prior in Gentleman's Jrnl. Feb. 5 Fancies and Notions we pursue, Which ne'er had Being but in thought; And like the doting Artist woo, The Image we our selves have wrought.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis v, in tr. Virgil Wks. 337 There, Ganymede is wrought with living Art.
1778 J. Reynolds 7 Disc. Royal Acad. 19 The pictures, thus wrought with such pain, now appear like the effect of enchantment.
1780 Mirror No. 103 A large iron gate, at the top of which the family arms are worked.
1874 J. H. Pollen Anc. & Mod. Furnit. S. Kensington Mus. 129 The ornamental tooling is worked on leather by the bookbinder.
1907 J. Burns Chtist Face in Art x. 141 Portraits wrought with great fidelity but with no attempt at producing an ideal conception.
2011 C. Kittredge Iron Thorn (2012) 147 Each numeral [on the clock] was actually a tiny painting, wrought in delicate ink.
†27.
a. transitive. To compose, write (a book, text, etc.). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > be the author of or write (a work) [verb (transitive)]
setc888
adighteOE
awriteeOE
writeeOE
dightc1000
workOE
makelOE
brevea1225
ditea1300
aditec1330
indite1340
betravail1387
compone1393
saya1475
compile1477
compose1483
comprise1485
recite1523
pen1530
contex1542
invent1576
author1597
context1628
to make up1630
spawn1631
OE Blickling Homilies 169 Hwæt sceal ic ðonne ma secgean fram Sancte Iohanne, cwæð se ðe þas boc worhte.
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Corpus Oxf.) iii. xiv. 206 Swa ic on þære bec, þe ic worhte de temporibus, swiþe sweotole gecyðde.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 14269 Þatt boc þatt Moysæs. & tatt profetess wrohhtenn.
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 68 (MED) A Mayde cristes me bit yorne þat ich hire wurche a luue-ron.
?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 156 Sikirlich he was a clerk Þat wrochete þis craftilich werk.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 14216 Of Inge sauh I neuer nouht in boke writen ne wrouht.
a1450 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Tanner) (1879) Prol. l. 372 And thogh þat he of malice wolde enditen Despite of loue and had hym-self it wroght.
1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) vii. sig. Y.ij So Plato..thought, And so haue many Poets erst, in pleasaunt verses wrought.
1639 J. Woodall Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) Pref. sig. B5 Who likes, approves, and usefull deemes This work, for him 'tis wrought.
1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires i. iv. 60 Some therefore ask, can comedy be thought A real poem, since it may be wrought In style and subject without fire or force.
b. transitive. To utter (words). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speak, say, or utter [verb (transitive)]
speakc825
queatheOE
forthdoc900
i-seggenc900
sayeOE
speak971
meleOE
quidOE
spella1000
forthbringc1000
givec1175
warpa1225
mootc1225
i-schirea1250
upbringa1250
outsay?c1250
spilec1275
talec1275
wisea1300
crackc1315
nevena1325
cast1330
rehearsec1330
roundc1330
spend1362
carpa1375
sermona1382
to speak outc1384
usea1387
minc1390
pronouncea1393
lancec1400
mellc1400
nurnc1400
slingc1400
tellc1400
wordc1400
yelpc1400
worka1425
utterc1444
outspeakc1449
yielda1450
arecchec1460
roose?a1475
cutc1525
to come forth with1532
bubble1536
prolate1542
report1548
prolocute1570
bespeak1579
wield1581
upbraid1587
up with (also mid) ——1594
name1595
upbrayc1600
discoursea1616
tonguea1616
to bring out1665
voice1665
emit1753
lip1789
to out with1802
pitch1811
go1836
to open one's head1843
vocabulize1861
shoot1915
verbal1920
be1982
a1425 N. Homily Legendary (Harl. suppl.) in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 30 Þai ditted þaire eris, for þai suld noght Here þir wurdes þat þus war wroght.
a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 3 (MED) Philip Valays wordes wroght And said he suld þaire enmys sla.
c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) l. 15639 Ser, for certayn, now thynke me selcowth of þi saw, And þi wordes thynke me wroyȝt in vayn.
28. transitive. To inflict (a wound). Now rare (in later use archaic and poetic, and usually in past tense or past participle in form wrought).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > wound > inflict wound
workeOE
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xi. 71 Se wielm ðæs innoðes ut abiersð & wierð to sceabbe, & moniga wunda utane wyrcð [L. foris iam corpus sauciat] mid ðæm won weorcum.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) xc. 130 Wiþ wunda þe mid iserne syn geworhte genim þas..wyrte.
c1450 (?a1400) Sege Melayne (1880) l. 1522 (MED) We sall wirke þam wondis full wyde.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxvi. 347 For to anoyntt his woundys sere That Iues hym wroght.
1565 A. Golding tr. Ovid Fyrst Fower Bks. Metamorphosis iv. f. 3 My loue no lesse than thyne Shall geue me force too woorke my wound.
1669 Hist. Sir Eger 11 It was as sicker and sound, As never weapon had wrought me wound.
1837 J. M. Kemble tr. Beowulf xl. 117 He could not by any means work a wound upon the wretch.
1865 New Monthly Mag. Nov. 298 Gerard [was] feverish from a flesh-wound (wrought by the paw of a bear).
1904 L. Binyon Death of Adam 78 To pardon the dear hand that wrought that wound.
1964 K. Kavanaugh & O. Rodriguez tr. St. John of Cross Living Flame of Love in Coll. Wks. 598 O happy wound, wrought by one who knows only how to heal!
29.
a. transitive. To form (a hole, groove, etc.) by constant friction or pressure; = wear v.1 12. Also figurative.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > cause to waste away > wear away or down > form or produce by
work1585
fret1597
wear1597
1585 J. Banister Wecker's Compend. Chyrurg. i. xxi. 142 Be diligent to spie out the suppuration, lest it being, er you be aware, the matter worke a hollowe.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. xv. 418 Some mens souls are not strong enough, but that a weighty secret will work a hole through them.
1693 W. Wake tr. Shepherd. St. Hermas ii, in Genuine Epist. ii. 404 The little Drops falling upon the Earth, work a Hollow in the Stones.
1795 Observant Pedestrian I. 37 The weight of eleven half-pence..working a hole perhaps in the pocket of my kerseymere waistcoat.
1836 C. Wordsworth Athens & Attica xxvi. 203 The wheels have worked deep grooves in the rock.
1856 W. G. Simms Eutaw xliv. 545 The cypress-log has..worked a little hollow into the body of the log [upon which it rests].
1901 E. A. Sandeman Notes Manuf. Earthenware ii. 22 Care should be taken that the runners in the mill do not always run in the same circle, or they will work grooves in the lower stones.
2011 J. Winspear Lesson in Secrets 163 A wedding ring that seemed to have worked a groove into her finger.
b. transitive. To erode (something) by friction; = wear v.1 9a. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > cause to waste away > wear away or down
afrayc1330
wear1382
contrive?a1475
to wear to rags or tattersa1529
wear1538
(to wear) to the stumps1563
work1853
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xlix. 465 The berg ahead..is an amorphous mass, so worn that it must have been sorely wrought before its release from the glacier.
1993 R. Fortey Hidden Landscape viii. 109 The onslaught of the sea is without remission, and joint planes have been worked and eroded until sea stacks have eventually become isolated from the main outcrop.
V. To bestow labour on, do work on; to shape, craft, manipulate.
30.
a. transitive. To farm, cultivate, till (land, soil, etc.); = labour v. 1b. Also: to cultivate (a plant or crop). to work the land: (originally) to till the land; (now also more generally) to engage in agriculture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivate or till [verb (transitive)]
begoc890
workOE
tillc1200
exercise1382
dightc1400
labourc1400
manure1416
cultive?1483
tilth1496
culture1510
trim1517
dress1526
subdue1535
toil1552
use1558
farm1570
cultivate1588
tame1601
husbandize1625
culturate1631
to take in1845
OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) iii. 23 Adræfde hine ða of neorxnawange, ðæt he ða eorðan worhte & him ðæron tilode [L. ut operaretur terram].
OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) ix. 20 Noe..began to wyrcenne ðæt land.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. ii. 5 The lord god..had not rayned [altered from yrayned] vpon þe erþe, & was no man þat miȝte wirch þe erþ.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. l. 589 Faat lond, ydonged, moyst, & well ywroght O[y]nons desire.
a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) ii. f. xlixv God dyd..set hym in paradyse..for that entent that he sholde worke and kepe it.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 51v Chuse soile for the hop, of the rottenest mould, well donged & wrought.
1622 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 107 The earth is soft and sandy, esy to bee wrought.
1681 T. Delaune & B. Keach Τροπολογία ii. 14 (margin) A husbandman is..one that works the earth.
1744 in 6th Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. App. ii. 121 in Parl. Papers (1845) XLVIII. 351 For the..raising, planting, and working a vegetable (called Sesamo) extraordinary productive of oyl.
1771 Encycl. Brit. II. 603/1 Never work the land when wet.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 263 The common of Rattry..is indeed very barren; but if it were wrought, it would produce turnips and then grass.
1821 Sat. Mag. 15 Sept. 254 The soil shall be wrought without raising into ridge drills in the usual way.
1898 A. Brown First Republic in Amer. 288 Virginia tobacco would pay enormous profits if suitable labor for working the crop in the sickly summer season could be procured.
1921 D. H. Lawrence Sea & Sardinia v. 204 They will do the artificial Government navvy-work at a miserable five francs a day..—anything, anything rather than work the land.
1959 Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Dec. (Suppl.) 7/2 The art of good farming will remain—the art of knowing when and how to work the soil.
1989 T. Parker Place called Bird xxiv. 295 I've four of my children living here in Demus working the land.
2002 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 20 Jan. 57/5 We were working the ground, I was going east on my tractor and a worker who was with me was going west.
b. transitive. To obtain or extract (ore, coal, stone, etc.) by mining or quarrying. Also: to extract materials from (a mine, quarry, etc.). Cf. working n. 15.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > quarrying > quarry (stone, etc.) [verb (transitive)]
workOE
win1447
quarry1690
society > occupation and work > industry > quarrying > quarry (stone, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > form quarry
quarry1744
work1778
OE Ælfric Homily (Vitell. C.v) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 207 [Oft m]an wyrcð nu isen of eorðan gold & seol[for ac hi ne mi]hte nan mann macian to wecgum gyf God ne geworhte þa oran to þam.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 3069 (MED) Me wolde wene þat in þis lond no ston to worke nere.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. at Metallici They which do dygge and warke mettall out of the mynes.
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 178 There is an other maner of woorkyng the mynes in riuers or brookes of runnynge waters.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. vii. 226 The silver that hath beene wrought in the country.
a1618 W. Raleigh Apol. Voy. Guiana 54 in Judicious & Sel. Ess. (1650) It had been no lesse a breach of Peace to have wrought any Myne of his,..then it is now cald'd..a breach of peace to take a towne of his.
1709 T. Robinson Ess. Nat. Hist. Westmorland & Cumberland x. 62 We found the Vein wrought three Yards wide, and twenty Fathom deep.
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 21 Several parts of the Lode..have been indiscreetly hulked and worked.
1791 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse §99 I..went to view the quarries where the flat paving and steps were wrought.
1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall iv. 124 Roofing~slates and flagstones have been worked in some places.
1844 J. Dunn Hist. Oregon Terr. 241 The natives were anxious that we should employ them to work the coal.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 212/1 Several mines were worked for this metal.
1900 Engin. Mag. 19 717 In days gone by thin seams were worked by special thin coal miners.
1967 Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) viii. 8 Buttock,..a short step in the line of face,..from which coal can be more conveniently worked.
2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 13 Mar. viii. 6/5 Thirty-eight men in eastern Kentucky, working a wretched little nonunion mine (derisively called a dog hole), were blown up.
31.
a. transitive. To shape or manipulate (a soft or malleable substance); esp. to knead, press, or stir (into another substance); to mix or incorporate together or with another substance; to spread on or on to a surface.Also with into or to, expressing the form or object resulting from this process (cf. sense 33); in Old English also with adjectival complement (cf. quot. OE1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > do [verb (transitive)] > perform practical operations upon
workeOE
manurea1450
handle1483
subact1614
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > manipulate into required condition
workeOE
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > mix or incorporate substances
workeOE
mastera1398
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > mix or blend [verb (transitive)] > by kneading, stirring, etc.
workeOE
welka1400
confrayc1420
to work upc1425
tamper1573
to mill up1747
braid1851
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > art of colouring > colour [verb (transitive)] > lay on a colour
limn1548
lay1574
work1885
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xlviii. 122 Mintan wel getrifulade meng wiþ hunig, wyrc to lytlum cliwene.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) i. 32 Genim þonne swa mycel swa [þ]u mæge mid twam fingrum genima[n], wyrc hit sinewealt & do on þa næsþyrlu.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) iii. 44 Mencg eall tosomne, wyrc to clyðan [?a1200 Harl. 6258B wyrc to cliðam] & lege ðonne on þa wunde.
1417 in M. Sellers York Memorandum Bk. (1912) I. 183 (MED) That he wyrk na lede amanges any other metall..bot if it be in souldur.
a1425 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Wellcome 225) 447 Þe sperm is traveld & swynkyn as buttur in þe kyrne, & swongyn & wroght & knodyn in þe ballok stanys of þam bath as past or dawgh in a vessell.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 115 Our marchantys cary them [sc. lead and tin] out..& then bryng the same in workyd agayn and made vessel therof.
1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. f. 34v, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Mingle them togyther, and sturre them continually in a pot.., vntill the Quicksyluer be so wrought with the rest, as you shall perceyue no Quicksyluer therin.
1575 G. Gascoigne Glasse of Gouernem. ii. iii. sig. E You shall see..how I will worke this geare lyke wax.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler viii. 172 Mix with it [sc. paste] Virgins-wax and clarified honey, and work them together with your hands before the fire. View more context for this quotation
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. i. 9 When you joyn several Bars of Iron together..and work them into one Bar.
1717 M. Prior Alma iii. 461 I..melted down my Plate, On Modern Models to be wrought.
1756 Mrs. Calderwood's Journey in Coltness Coll. (1842) ii. 147 This salt they work into the butter.
1767 H. Glasse Art of Cookery (new ed.) App. 362 When they are wrought to paste, roll them with the ends of your fingers.
1852 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 13 i. 41 After the butter is taken from the churn it must first be well squeezed or ‘worked’ by the hand.
1853 A. Soyer Pantropheon 285 Some cooks..worked sesame flour..with honey and oil.
1885 C. Wallis Dict. Water-colour Technique 14 The first tone should be decidedly grey..; and on this may be worked Raw Sienna and Brown Madder.
1913 National Baker Jan. 66/2 A prettier, though more troublesome, method is to work the paste into rolls and cut off two-inch lengths.
1914 E. Oberg Machinery's Handbk. 1189 Put down the concrete in layers..and work it onto the form with a shovel.
1932 T. E. Lawrence tr. Homer Odyssey xii You must work bees-wax till it is plastic.
1985 N.Y. Times 27 June c4/1 It requires lots of scrubbing and forceful back-and-forth stroking to work the paint into all the crevices.
2004 W. Szykitka Big Bk. Self-reliant Living v. 359/3 Work the butter with a paddle until the salt is evenly distributed.
b. transitive. To shape (stone, metal, wood, or some other hard substance) by cutting, filing, etc. Also: to shape or beat out (metal) by hammering (cf. wrought adj. 10). Also figurative.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > types of shaping process
worka1325
strike1485
sink1526
print1530
cut1600
to work out1600
strain1674
scribe1679
stamp1798
slab1868
squirt1881
tablet1891
extrude1913
fabricate1926
a1325 (?c1300) Northern Passion (Cambr. Gg.1.1) l. 1261 Þei wrothin hit [sc. a tree] wit maistrie.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. vii. 833 [Silver] may wel be wrouȝt by hamour but nought so wel as gold.
1444 in C. Welch Hist. Pewterers of London (1902) I. 14 (MED) Grete damages..daily growen and encrecen..to alle the Kinges lieges bying, myltyng, and wirkyng the same tynne.
1556 M. Huggarde Displaying of Protestantes (new ed.) f. 82 They folowed the ensample of a Mason when he worketh stones to build a house. For firste he doeth rough hewe them.
1679 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ix. 157 A greater number of Boards to work to a Level.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World vii. 127 The Goldsmiths are commonly strangers, yet some of the Achinese themselves know how to work Metals.
1703 Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) ix. 37 Till you have wrought [1677 filed] the Spindle from end to end.
1717 G. Berkeley Jrnls. Trav. Italy 27 May in Wks. (1955) VII. 283 Stone easily wrought.
1781 W. Cowper Flatting Mill 2 When a bar of pure silver or ingot of gold Is sent to be flatted or wrought into length.
1844 E. B. Barrett Lady Geraldine's Courtship in Poems I. 229 Little thinking if we work our souls as nobly as our iron.
1855 ‘S. A. Bard’ Waikna ix. 185 The trunk of the ceiba..is invaluable to the natives. The wood is easily worked.
1885 Athenæum 21 Mar. 382/1 The facility of working it [sc. limestone] would lead one to expect that an arcuated architecture would have sprung up in Assyria.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 39/2 Power presses for working sheet-metal articles.
2007 Young Archaeologist Summer 6/1 I could be..working in the banker workshop (actually working the stone with chisels and a mallet).
c. intransitive. With adverb as complement: (of a substance) to behave in the specified way while being shaped, manipulated, etc.; to admit well, easily, etc., of shaping or manipulation. See also to work up 1b at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > types of material generally > [verb (intransitive)] > behave in a particular way while being worked
work1490
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) vi. 136 Whan the yron is well hoote, hit werketh the better.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 24 Portland Stone works well.
1676 J. Smith Art of Painting in Oyl ii. 16 Vermillion... If it be ground fine..no Colour works better.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Cottum In making Hats, To Cotton well, is when the Wooll and other Materials work well and imbody together.
1764 Museum Rusticum (1765) 3 xlviii. 205 Whilst in the quarry, it works better than after it has been exposed to the sun.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 732 Yellow ochre..is..much used [sc. in painting], as it works very freely.
1877 C. H. Savory Paper Hanger 68 Distemper mixed with jellied size will lay on better..than when the size is used hot. Colour mixed on the former plan works cool and floats nicely, while the latter works dry, and drags and gathers.
1932 R. P. A. Johnson & M. I. Bradner Properties of Western Larch (U.S. Dept. Agric. Techn. Bull. No. 285) 33 The moisture content has a pronounced influence on the ease with which a wood works.
2011 A. J. Hamler Box Builder's Handbk. xvii. 126 Cedar works easily with both hand and power tools.
32. transitive. In passive (chiefly in form wrought). To be ornamented or inlaid with (also †mid) a colour, material, design, etc. Cf. inwrought adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > fashion with artistic skill or decoration [verb (transitive)] > decorate artistically
workeOE
to art up1929
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. iv. 391 Ne me no ne lyst mid glase geworhtra waga.
1438–42 in J. Stratford Bedford Inventories (1993) 168 A spiceplate gild, wrought with the armes of Alençon.
1527 in J. S. Brewer Lett. & Papers Reign Henry VIII (1872) IV. ii. 1667 Antique works..wrought with byste and gold.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 61 Two Pillars..couered and wrought with blue and Gold.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 83 Glasse wrought with good lead,..Glass wrought with an Arch well leaded.
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Piedouche, in Architecture, is a little Square Base smoothed, and wrought with Mouldings, which serves to support a Bust.
1763 Beauties Nature & Art Displayed VII. iv. 16 The doors of the church, which are said to be of Corinthian brass, are curiously wrought with bass-reliefs.
1814 R. Southey Roderick xviii. 222 The crosier richly wrought With silver foliature.
1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur iv. xii. 246 A cornice wrought with arabesques exceedingly intricate in form.
1914 H. C. Gordon Woman in Sahara 271 The little Turkish cap..was richly wrought with gold and gems.
2004 Indianapolis Monthly June 127/1 Bracelets worked with delicate filigree.
33.
a. transitive. To transform, convert, or turn (something) into or (now less usually) to something else.Cf. sense 23, from which this sense differs in that the object undergoes an actual change of form or nature (in later use esp. through the application of work or effort) rather than remaining essentially the same thing in a changed state or condition.
ΘΠ
the world > time > change > change [verb (transitive)] > turn or bring to a condition
workOE
cast1711
file1889
OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxxxiv. 7 He fram þysse eorðan ende lædeð wolcen wræclicu, wind and liget, and þa to regne recene wyrceð.
c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 100 Næs Criste nan earfoðnesse þæt he þa stanes mid his worde to lafes wrohte.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. vii. 10 (MED) That sorwe that is aftir God worchith penaunce in to stedefast heelthe.
a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 56v (MED) The substaunce of an egg by nature is wrought Into a chicke.
1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions ii. iii. f. 108v Naturall Phlegme..is through heate conuerted and wrought into Bloud and redde colour.
1664 Duchess of Newcastle Philos. Lett. ii. xxv. 207 If another soul should enter into the body, and work it to another figure.
1753 Gentleman's Mag. May 231/2 I regulated my story by the rules of the drama, and with great application and labour wrought it into a tragedy.
1820 Q. Musical Mag. 2 17 The subject of the Fugata..is a very good one. It were to be wished that it had been worked into a regular Fugue.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Miller's Daughter (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 114 God..who wrought Two spirits to one equal mind.
1904 Speaker 15 Oct. 51/2 He [sc. Keats] was not content with a vague image, but worked it into something more definite.
1998 S. Priest Merleau-Ponty xiii. 211 A painting is a manipulation of matter and changing of the spatio-temporal location of innumerable physical items. Matter is wrought into a new form.
b. transitive. reflexive. With adjectival complement: to go through some process so as to reach the state or condition expressed by the complement.
Π
a1628 J. Preston Law out Lawed (1631) sig. Bv The Godly mans heart..is like a troubled fountaine, which though it be muddy, yet because their is a spring of grace in his heart, it worketh it selfe pure againe.
1657 T. Manton Pract. Comm. Jude 146 The fountain never ceaseth till it work it self clean again.
1713 J. Addison Cato i. 16 So the pure limpid Stream, when foul with Stains..Work's it self clear, and as it runs, refines.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xv. 160 His estate would..work itself clear.
1880 Preachers' Analyst May 40/1 You may work yourself clean with holy water.
1884 Manch. Examiner 20 Feb. 4/6 It would take some time for the trade to work itself right.
1907 J. A. B. Cook Sunny Singapore xvi. 101 The present misunderstanding will work itself right, but it may take some time to do so.
2009 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 8 Oct. 39/1 Philosophy thought it could work itself pure through ‘anti-psychologism’.
34. transitive. gen. To perform an action or process of a particular type on (a material, commodity, etc.), esp. in order to prepare it for sale or some specific subsequent use.Used chiefly as a general term covering a range of processes which might be individually expressed by more specific verbs.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare [verb (transitive)] > for use > material
tawa900
defyc1380
work1440
suborn1541
to work up1591
1440 in W. H. Black Hist. & Antiq. Worshipful Company of Leathersellers (1871) 24 (MED) Also that no Whitetawier tawe, wirke, nor array..ony maner Shepeslether..or any other weyke, untrewe, or unsuffisant lethir.
1466 in J. T. Gilbert Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 326 That no tanner, ne glover..wyrche harr leddyr at the ryver.
1602 E. Hayes in J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discouerie Virginia 19 England shall affoord vs people..which may very happily be spared from hence to work those commodities [i.e. Fish, Whale and Seale oils, Soape ashes and Soape] there.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xii. 65 Gun-powder of a..Russet colour..may be judged to have all its Receipts well wrought.
1700 T. Tryon Lett. 208 Muscovado Sugar..has the first place; the next is that which tends towards an Ash Colour.., and is a good Sugar for Refiners.., and therefore Refiners generally work the second.
1770 P. Luckombe Conc. Hist. Printing 360 When he worked White Paper, he caught the sheet by the upper further corner.
1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home x. 60 The road had been but little ‘worked’..and in some parts was almost in a state of nature.
1883 Chambers's Jrnl. 15 Dec. 791 Produce of value, such as tea, coffee, indigo, drugs, etc., have to be ‘worked’ for sale purposes; and this term embraces the opening of the package, examination for sea-damage, sorting into qualities, and a host of other operations.
1903 H. R. Procter Princ. Leather Manuf. 180 After bating, the hides are usually ‘worked’ (‘scudded’, ‘fine-haired’) on the beam, to remove dirt and grease.
1908 Japan Chron. 1 July 4/6 It [sc. a kind of paper] is said to be capable of being worked into all sorts of patterns, to be insect-proof and damp-proof.
2005 Preferential Trading Arrangem. in Agric. & Food Markets (OECD) i. 38 The more a product has been ‘worked’, the more restrictive the rules of origin are likely to be.
35.
a. transitive. To insert or incorporate (something material or immaterial) into something else, esp. in the process of construction or composition. Also with between, through, etc. Cf. to work in 1 at Phrasal verbs 1. In later use sometimes with implications of resistance, and coloured by sense 45a. For use in embroidery see sense 25c.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > incorporation or inclusion > incorporate or include [verb (transitive)] > cause to be included
incorporate1495
contain1548
couch1548
embodya1616
work1711
c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 32 Sum excellence or worþines or goodnes of god..wrouȝt bi him into hise seintis or into enye of hise creaturis.
1582 A. Munday Eng. Romayne Lyfe 54 One of them [sc. the three nails] he caused to be fastened in the bridle of his Horse..: an other he made to be wrought into his Helmet.
1649 W. Blith Eng. Improver 49 A paire of Iron joynts curiously wrought into the very middest of my Barrell, on the neather side of it.
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 262 We..work into the Aperture, the Colours we would give the Flower.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 226. ⁋1 Those occasional Dissertations, which he has wrought into the Body of his History.
1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 48 To..work 3 whole Plank between 2 Buts.
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. i. 31 Getting the Word of Life wrought in your Heart.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. vii. 42 The love of pleasure..was wrought into his habit. He was a slave to it.
1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 254 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV Such a hedge may be repaired by thrusting..brush..into the holes..and..working saplings through it obliquely.
1888 Iron 25 May 465 Heavy coils of iron..have been wrought round the..fore part of each gun.
1965 Analog Sci. Fiction/Sci. Fact Apr. 22/2 If it hadn't been for the countergravity materials worked into its structure, the Cloudsplitter would have plunged to the ground like a rock.
1997 J. Hatfield & G. Burt Unauthorized X-Cycl. 260 If you have a good enough story to tell, Chris will try to figure out a way to work it into the mythology.
b. transitive. Horticulture. To graft on or upon a stock. Formerly also with †into. In early use chiefly in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > propagate [verb (transitive)] > a cutting: graft > a stock: graft upon
stock1528
graff1564
work1606
graft1624
engrafta1677
1606 T. Dekker Double PP sig. E Hee's a rich stone stuck in the Diadem: A graft so wrought into the Royall Stem.
1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriotaphia: Urne-buriall ii. 26 The Romanes early wrought so much civility upon the Brittish stock.
1779 J. Abercrombie Brit. Fruit-gardener 282 The approved varieties are with certainty continued by this method; worked either upon their own seedling stocks,..or upon Pear stocks.
1837 T. Rivers Rose Amateur's Guide 72 A collection of Chinese Roses worked on short stems.
1859 R. Thompson Gardener's Assistant 387 The..portion cut off, is termed the scion, or graft, and the rooted plant, on which it is placed or worked, is called the stock.
1929 U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 1567. 26 A stock..should be at least as hardy and vigorous as the variety worked on it.
2005 P. M. Browse Heligan iv. 66 The [apricot] varieties cited have been worked on St. Julien A rootstocks in order to constrain vigour.
†36. transitive. slang. To obtain or dispose of (something) illegally or fraudulently (cf. sense 18). Also: to sell or hawk (goods). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (transitive)] > sell as itinerant vendor
cadge1607
bajulate1609
truck1681
peddle1786
work1826
1826 Examiner 26 Mar. 205/2 The smugglers..succeeded in working the goods, excepting two tubs and their eleven-oared galley, which were seized.
1839 H. Brandon Dict. Flash or Cant Lang. in W. A. Miles Poverty, Mendicity & Crime 166/1 Work the Bulls, get rid of bad 5s. pieces.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 84/2 They made more money ‘working’ these [sc. pine-apples] than any other article.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer I. x. 151 Somebody might claim the colt without this [receipt]—say you'd worked him on the cross.
37. transitive. To investigate or study systematically; to do research on. Cf. to work out 9 at Phrasal verbs 1, to work up 4d at Phrasal verbs 1. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > find out by investigation [verb (transitive)] > by study or observation
findOE
to find outc1405
investigate?1495
to find forth?a1500
spell1587
research1588
rifle1614
excudate1831
work1840
approfound1885
society > education > learning > study > [verb (transitive)] > study diligently or hard
to make a study ofa1591
nit1596
to sit over ——1606
to mouse over1808
to work out1830
bone1832
work1840
to work up1852
mug1868
swot1901
1840 W. Atkinson Princ. Polit. Econ. Pref. p. ix I felt desirous of working the subject in conjunction with other persons, so that I might..derive assistance and advantage from any comments.
1900 J. Shephard & W. Strickland in Handbk. Austral. Assoc., Melbourne 74 The aquatic worms are an untouched group. There are very many forms and when worked they will doubtless yield interesting results.
VI. To influence or affect a person, the body, mind, etc.
38. Chiefly with on, upon (formerly also †in, †into, †of, †to, †with).
a. intransitive. To influence or have an effect on a person mentally, morally, or emotionally; to prevail on, persuade; (now often) to strive or seek to influence in this way. In quot. c1400: to exert an astrological influence; cf. reign v. 5b.In quot. 1658: to make an entreaty to; = labour v. 5b.
ΘΠ
the mind > will > motivation > persuasion > persuade [verb (intransitive)]
workOE
tilla1400
persuadea1500
persuade?c1550
persuade1558
to come over1741
OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) lvii. 340 Doce filium tuum et operare in illo ne in turpitudine illius confundaris : lær sunu þinne & wyrc on him þæt þu na on fylþe his þu beo gescynd.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Royal) (1934) 43 (MED) Ne mahtu, ne þin unwiht, nawiht wurchen on me, meiden an as ich am.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 463 That ilke unsely maladie..Jelousie..worcheth on a man.
c1400 Treat. Astron. (Bodl. Add. B. 17) f. 3 Ther be also .vij. planetis that meuyn and werkyn in the .vij. heuenes.
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. ii. 48 Which wrought so on the Swains, they could not smother Their sighes.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iv. 140 Sir Thomas..seriously wrought with the Grand Signior and his Counsell, to haue had him restored againe to his Lands.
1647 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) I. 435 Shee cries and tackes on..but all we can doo will not worke of her.
1658 G. Atwell Faithfull Surveyour i. 4 He works to the Lady [owner] to send another to measure it [sc. the farm]... He prevails with her, she sends another.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 507 Nature her self..Wrought in her so, that seeing me, she turn'd. View more context for this quotation
1669 S. Pepys Diary 10 May (1976) IX. 551 The King may yet be wrought upon..to bring changes in our office.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 850 It was not gold..That wrought with me. View more context for this quotation
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 196 But he would not be wrought on.
1799 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1893) XIV. 184 He was not to be worked upon by Intriguers.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward III. v. 129 Sweetest Lady, work with thy child, that he will pardon all past sins.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 72 She..worked on his feelings by pretending to be ill.
1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest III. xiii. 266 He had many minds to work upon and to win over to his cause.
1953 S. J. Perelman Let. 23 June in Don't tread on Me (1987) 138 His muzzler has been working on me to play the perspiration circuit.
1976 W. Katiyo Son of Soil iii. 130 Take him downstairs and work on him until he is ready to write and sign a statement!
1989 V. Singh In Search of River Goddess 20 The prospect of off-season employment started to work on the porter and he became thoughtful.
2010 M. Cunningham By Nightfall 60 ‘I'm just saying. She won't do it.’ ‘Let me work on her.’
b. intransitive. To have a physical (esp. physiological) effect or influence on a person or thing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > have effect on [verb (transitive)]
rineOE
takec1300
concern1446
redound1460
work1487
touch1491
solicit1601
salutea1616
enact1616
affect1630
reach1637
attinge1640
act1655
influence1661
irradiate1668
vibrate1845
involve1847
inwork1855
to cut ice (with someone)1894
dent1931
impact1935
to make (also put) a dent in1942
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)] > bring something upon
send971
drivea1400
inrun1471
work1487
to draw down1595
invite1599
derive1611
superinduce1615
incur1627
to bring down1662
induce1857
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) iv. 700 Of the hevyn..How that the disposicioune Suld apon thingis virk heir doune.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 219 He toke poison..but..it would not worke vpon hym.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) 18 As for a weddow, wirk weill on hir wame, I knaw no craft sall cause hir lufe ȝow bettir.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. xi. 91 b Opium..doth so worke with them.., that they loose both their wits and vnderstanding.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xvii. 314 This fault cannot bee..imputed to any infection receiued first from the body; for the Soule could not be wrought into by the body.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 167 I know my Physicke will worke with him. View more context for this quotation
1630 G. Hakewill Apologie (ed. 2) iv. xiv. 514 The same [sun-] beams exhale both stinking vapours out of the dunghills & sweete savours out of flowres, the beame is every way the same which workes vpon them, only the difference of the subjects..is it that..diversifies the effects.
1730 W. Burdon Gentleman's Pocket-farrier 75 When a Purge works..too strong upon him..give him an Ounce of Venice Treacle.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iv. 72 Then, Did Cyril with whom the bell-mouth'd glass had wrought,..begin To troll a..tavern-catch.
1856 H. P. Leland Grey-bay Mare 49 In five minutes I could see the whiskey beginning to work on him.
1958 Generation 10 28/1 The wine was working on him, and after a while he became relaxed on the couch.
1996 A. Ghosh Calcutta Chromosome (1997) xxxvii. 247 Malaria works on the brain too, in different ways.
2012 L. Hechtman Clin. Naturopathic Med. (rev. ed.) vi. 143/2 Analgesics generally work on either the peripheral or central nervous systems.
39.
a. transitive. To act on the mind or will of; to influence, prevail on, induce, persuade; (also) to strive or seek to influence in this way; to urge. Chiefly with to, into.In early use frequently with connotations of cunning or deceit.
ΘΠ
the mind > will > motivation > persuasion > persuade (a person) [verb (transitive)]
leada1225
accoya1375
form1399
persuadec1450
persuadec1487
practise1524
temper1525
work1532
suade1548
perduce1563
to draw on1567
overdraw1603
possess1607
bring1611
sway1625
tickle1677
tamper1687
to touch up1796
to put the comether on someone1818
the mind > language > statement > pressure or urgency > press or urge [verb (transitive)]
strain1380
pressa1382
art?1406
enforcec1449
to stand for ——1531
work1532
urge1560
force1580
instance1606
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndales Answere Pref. sig. Bivv He shall by laysore worke her and wynne her to his owne heresye.
1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres v. lxxvii. sig. Dd2 For frends, opinion, & succeeding chaunce, Which wrought the weak to yeld, the strong to loue.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Rr2 In Negotiation with others; men are wrought by cunning, by Importunitie, and by vehemencie. View more context for this quotation
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 532 Yet could hee not bee wrought..to disclose his complices.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 45 What doth the Lord? workes Peters heart from that objection, and so from unwillingnesse.
1701 T. Morer Κυριακη Ὴμερα 573 To work him to a persuasion, that whatever is done, is for the best.
1713 J. Addison Cato ii. i Are your Hearts subdu'd..and wrought By Time and ill Success to a Submission?
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. vi. 151 I have been working him even now to abandon her.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. iii. 74 He was constantly working the Squire to send him..to a public school.
1880 R. D. Blackmore Mary Anerley III. xviii. 263 Sooner, or later, he must come round; and the only way to do it, is to work him slowly.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. v. [Lotus Eaters] 77 Sorry I didn't work him about getting Molly into the choir.
2006 K. James Can u get Away? 73 When he tracked her down.., she worked him into letting her stay.
b. transitive. To act on the feelings of; to agitate, excite; to move, rouse into or to a specified emotional state, esp. excitement. Also reflexive and (occasionally) intransitive with reflexive meaning.Now more usually expressed by to work up 5b at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > quality of affecting the emotions > affect with emotion [verb (transitive)]
rineOE
afaite?c1225
stir?c1225
movea1325
amovec1380
inspire1390
commove1393
informa1398
toucha1400
embracec1430
rore1481
alter1529
to carry away?1529
raise1533
removea1540
heavec1540
affect?1548
carry1570
inmove1583
infecta1586
worka1616
unthaw1699
emove1835
emotionize1855
emotion1875
the mind > emotion > excitement > exciting > excite [verb (transitive)]
astirc1000
stir?c1225
araisec1374
entalentc1374
flamec1380
reara1382
raisec1384
commove1393
kindlea1400
fluster1422
esmove1474
talent1486
heavec1540
erect?1555
inflame1560
to set on gog1560
yark1565
tickle1567
flesh1573
concitate1574
rouse1574
warmc1580
agitate1587
spirit1598
suscitate1598
fermentate1599
nettle1599
startle1602
worka1616
exagitate1621
foment1621
flush1633
exacuatea1637
ferment1667
to work up1681
pique1697
electrify1748
rattle1781
pump1791
to touch up1796
excite1821
to key up1835
to steam up1909
jazz1916
steam1922
volt1930
whee1949
to fire up1976
geek1984
the mind > emotion > excitement > be or become excited [verb (reflexive)]
movec1300
to fire up1654
work1732
pique1749
hyped1938
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > quality of affecting the emotions > affect with emotion [verb (reflexive)]
amove1530
work1732
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. iii. 148 My dull Braine was wrought with things forgotten. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 144 Your fathers in some passion That workes him strongly. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis x, in tr. Virgil Wks. 535 Love, Anguish, Wrath, and Grief, to Madness wrought,..his lab'ring Soul oppress'd.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. i. iv. 15 Sometimes they work themselves into high passions.
1810 W. Combe Schoolmaster's Tour in Poet. Mag. Nov. 39 The well-dress'd man now stopp'd, to know What work'd the angry Doctor so.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist I. iv. 57 Grasping his cane tightly, as was his wont when working into a passion.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xxxiv. 327 ‘Who has?’ demanded Ralph, wrought by the intelligence.., and his clerk's provoking coolness, to an intense pitch of irritation.
1855 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity IV. ix. ii. 36 Philip..wrought by indignation from his constitutional mildness.
1920 Boys' Life June 10/3 By the time half an hour had passed he had worked himself into a state of nerves as unpleasant as it was unusual.
1987 R. Shilts And Band Played On vi. xxvii. 265 By the time Koch arrived, Larry was worked into a lather and shouted at the mayor.
2002 Imperial Oil Rev. Winter 28/2 The game works C.J. into a frenzy of excitement.
c. transitive. U.S. colloquial. To hoax, cheat, con.Quots. 1884, 1892 may instead be examples of sense 19b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle
defraud1362
deceivec1380
plucka1500
lurch1530
defeata1538
souse1545
lick1548
wipe1549
fraud1563
use1564
cozen1573
nick1576
verse1591
rooka1595
trim1600
skelder1602
firk1604
dry-shave1620
fiddle1630
nose1637
foista1640
doa1642
sharka1650
chouse1654
burn1655
bilk1672
under-enter1692
sharp1699
stick1699
finger1709
roguea1714
fling1749
swindle1773
jink1777
queer1778
to do over1781
jump1789
mace1790
chisel1808
slang1812
bucket1819
to clean out1819
give it1819
to put in the hole1819
ramp1819
sting1819
victimize1839
financier1840
gum1840
snakea1861
to take down1865
verneuk1871
bunco1875
rush1875
gyp1879
salt1882
daddle1883
work1884
to have (one) on toast1886
slip1890
to do (a person) in the eye1891
sugar1892
flay1893
to give (someone) the rinky-dink1895
con1896
pad1897
screw1900
short-change1903
to do in1906
window dress1913
ream1914
twist1914
clean1915
rim1918
tweedle1925
hype1926
clip1927
take1927
gazump1928
yentz1930
promote1931
to take (someone) to the cleaners1932
to carve up1933
chizz1948
stiff1950
scam1963
to rip off1969
to stitch up1970
skunk1971
to steal (someone) blind1974
diddle-
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xix. 162 Preachin's my line, too; and workin' camp-meetin's.
1892 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 21 Sept. 6/1 (heading) Waltham officers looking for a horse dealer who has been working that town.
1894 W. D. Howells Traveller from Altruria 122 I couldn't believe there was any such place as Altruria, and if it were not for Mr. Twelvemough here..I might really suspect him and Mr. Homos of—well, working us, as my husband calls it.
1970 J. D. Douglas Youth in Turmoil 210 The interviewer..knows a great deal about the subculture,..enough, certainly, to know when he is being ‘managed’ (or ‘worked’ or ‘conned’).
2011 J. Munton & J. McLeod Con ii. 23 Casual questions about my retirement, my mortgage, the money my mother had left me... In hindsight, I think he was working me all the time.
d. transitive. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). Of a performer, politician, etc.: to attempt to engage the interest, attention, or support of (a person or group of people), esp. by using persuasion, charm, or charisma; to manipulate, captivate, or enthral.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > attention > attracting attention > engage the attention [verb (transitive)]
exercisea1538
entertainc1540
replenish1548
rouse1583
catcha1586
amuse1586
detainc1595
attract1599
grope1602
concerna1616
take1634
stay1639
engage1642
meet1645
nudge1675
strike1697
hitcha1764
seize1772
interest1780
acuminate1806
arrest1835
grip1891
intrigue1894
grab1966
work1969
1969 Life Feb. 61/2 Our encounters soon assumed the form of spontaneous staging sessions with Roth out in the spotlight working the room like a stand-up comic.
1976 N.Y. Times 15 May 14/3 The lead singer..prancing from one end of the stage to the other and tirelessly working the audience.
1987 Times 2 June 11/3 Mrs Mary Baker points out the headlines to her husband as he works the crowd from his ‘battlewagon’.
1990 Independent (Nexis) 2 Oct. 16 He works his queue of admirers.., here a nudged ‘Ah reet lass,’ there a clipped ‘You're looking good for yer age’.
2009 J. Ballentine Murder for Hire 31 Tommy continued working the room all night, and every chance he had, he would bend the ear of one or more people standing around him.
†40. transitive. Of a purgative: to stimulate the bowels of (a person). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > cleansing or expelling medicines > cause excretion of [verb (transitive)] > cleanse or purge
laxa1398
scour1577
laxate1623
work1713
flux1756
1713 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 25 Mar. (1948) II. 645 I..went to Court, and did some little Business there; but was forced to go home; for..I take a little Physick over night, wch works me next day... Tis Hiera picra 2 spoonfull, devilish Stuff.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. 84 Mistress said, if I didn't go, I should take a dose of bum-taffy; and so remembering how it worked Mrs. Gwyllim a pennorth, I chose rather to go again with her into the Bath.
VII. Senses influenced by wark v.
41.
a. transitive. Originally: to cause pain to (a person). Later chiefly: to trouble, harass, annoy; (also) to tease. Now rare (Scottish and English regional in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > harass [verb (transitive)]
tawc893
ermec897
swencheOE
besetOE
bestandc1000
teenOE
baitc1175
grieve?c1225
war?c1225
noyc1300
pursuec1300
travailc1300
to work (also do) annoyc1300
tribula1325
worka1325
to hold wakenc1330
chase1340
twistc1374
wrap1380
cumbera1400
harrya1400
vexc1410
encumber1413
inquiet1413
molest?a1425
course1466
persecutec1475
trouble1489
sturt1513
hare1523
hag1525
hale1530
exercise1531
to grate on or upon1532
to hold or keep waking1533
infest1533
scourge1540
molestate1543
pinch1548
trounce1551
to shake upa1556
tire1558
moila1560
pester1566
importune1578
hunt1583
moider1587
bebait1589
commacerate1596
bepester1600
ferret1600
harsell1603
hurry1611
gall1614
betoil1622
weary1633
tribulatea1637
harass1656
dun1659
overharry1665
worry1671
haul1678
to plague the life out of1746
badger1782
hatchel1800
worry1811
bedevil1823
devil1823
victimize1830
frab1848
mither1848
to pester the life out of1848
haik1855
beplague1870
chevy1872
obsede1876
to get on ——1880
to load up with1880
tail-twist1898
hassle1901
heckle1920
snooter1923
hassle1945
to breathe down (the back of) (someone's) neck1946
to bust (a person's) chops1953
noodge1960
monster1967
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 230 Ut of his side he toc a rib, And made a wimman him ful sib, And heled him ðat side wel, Ðat it ne wrocte him neuere a del.
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess i. 29 A fever..Which wrought him sae, that..He was full ready for his hindmost dress.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. 488 ‘This 'ere tuth worches me above a bit.’..‘'Er worched the poor chap despertly.’
1887 J. Service Life Dr. Duguid 218 Onybody she took an ill will at,—dod! she wrocht them dreedfully.
a1895 T. Holderness MS Note in F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness (Eng. Dial. Dict copy, 1877) in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1905) VI. 542/2 Ah'll work Jack aboot his sweetheart.
1921 V. Jacob Bonnie Joann 30 The Elder's twisted mou' That wrocht him a' the journey through [i.e. in trying to conceal his mirth].
b. intransitive. To ache, hurt; = wark v. Now rare (English regional in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > suffer or cause type of pain [verb (intransitive)] > ache
acheeOE
warka1000
worka1425
pang1729
nag1836
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 1814 I lefte [perh. read felte] sich woo my wounde ay wrought.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) III. 1238 I may nat stonde, my hede worchys so.
1662 I. T. Haughton's Grim the Collier v. 66 in Gratiæ Theatrales Hark, my Braynes beat, my head works, and my mind giveth me.
1673 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 51 Warch, or Wark, to ake, to work.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) (at cited word) In violent head-ache, the head ‘works like a clock’.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. 168 Oh, how my head works.
VIII. To move, direct.
42.
a. intransitive. With adverb or prepositional phrase as complement: to move slowly or with effort through something; to dig or burrow down, or in or under something; to penetrate. Cf. to work out 5 at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [verb (intransitive)] > through > slowly or with difficulty
work?a1425
work1474
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 132 (MED) So lang sall þis fox wirk in þe erthe þat at þe last he schall comme oute amang þis folk.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 181 All the cite..þai set vppon fyre..Wroght vnder wallez walt hom to ground.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 47 Sum says it is a mater that wirkes out of the stanes.
1691 in Archaeologia 12 189 Sometimes the coneys work under the wall into the garden.
1708 J. Kersey Dict. Anglo-Britannicum Coe, (among Miners) the little Lodgment they make for themselves, under Ground, as they work lower and lower.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Walk The bottom of the walks should be laid with rubbish, coarse gravel, &c.,..and beaten down close, to prevent the worms from working through it.
1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxi. 238 They [sc. eels] work down into the soft mud, far beyond the reach of eel-picks and darts.
1950 Pop. Mech. Jan. 221/1 A bar is placed along the bottom of each rubber loop to keep the heads of the fasteners from working through the foam rubber.
2003 Guardian 2 Oct. (Life section) 9/5 Dig a deep hole there and you should first have to work through a layer of soft snow.
b. intransitive. To go or move in a specified direction or course; to make one's way, go along; (now chiefly) to make one's way slowly, laboriously, or in an indirect course. Chiefly with adverb or prepositional phrase as complement (see also to work in 2 at Phrasal verbs 1, to work out 5 at Phrasal verbs 1).
ΘΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > move or go slowly [verb (intransitive)] > slowly or with difficulty
labourc1438
work1474
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [verb (intransitive)] > through > slowly or with difficulty
work?a1425
work1474
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. ii. 87 Fortune hath of no thinge so grete playsir, as for to torne & werke all way [no exact equivalent in Fr. original].
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis v, in tr. Virgil Wks. 354 The raging Fires..lurking in the Seams,..Work on their way, amid the smouldring Tow.
1759 T. Wallis Farrier's & Horseman's Compl. Dict. at In As he [sc. the horse] works along by a wall, hedge, or some such thing.
1802 G. Colman Broad Grins 116 Being Bacchi plenus,—full of wine,—..He work'd, with sinuosities, along.
1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son l. 500 [The dog] worked round and round him, as if..undecided at what particular point to go in for the assault.
1898 G. A. B. Dewar In Pursuit of Trout 26 The trout was working up stream, always keeping under the bank.
1912 Times 19 Oct. 7/3 The Russians..worked round to the rear of the Turkish army.
1993 ‘A. McNab’ Bravo Two Zero (1994) vii. 173 We could hear the follow-ups from the opposite bank, working towards us with torches and shouting to one another.
c. intransitive. With adverb or prepositional phrase as complement: to proceed in a specified direction in some operation or activity.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > move in a certain direction [verb (intransitive)]
goeOE
wendOE
makeOE
aim?a1400
to make one's waya1425
reflect1547
work1566
to make up1596
path1597
sway1600
tend1648
vergea1661
steer1693
1566 T. Blundeville Arte of Rydynge (rev. ed.) iii. f. 77v, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Holding the stones in your handes in such maner, worke downe the gut into the body of the horse.
1655 Natura Exenterata 417 In the top it [sc. a Hose] must be six score and twelve stitches wide, so work downward.
1730 J. P. Let. 24 July in Pract. Husbandman & Planter (1733) I. 119 Take the Bud in your Left Hand, and the Dibber in your Right, make the Depth of the Hole the full Length of your Dibber... And so working towards the Left Hand, it will go on apace.
1777 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 67 325 In the beginning of the polish,..I worked round and round.
1825 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Agric. v. i. 459 The mower now advances to the front,..always working towards the standing corn and not from it.
1877 C. H. Savory Paper Hanger 26 The paper hanger generally works from left to right.
1910 in Folk-lore (1912) 23 39 He is given several sharp blows on the ribs, beginning under the armpit and working downwards.
1955 Househ. Guide & Almanac (News of World) 198/1 The golden rule to remember regarding the cutlery is that you start on the outside and work inwards.
1996 D. W. Brown Aromatherapy (Teach Yourself Ser.) viii. 118 To complete your colon massage work down the descending colon to the left-hand side of the abdomen.
2008 DogSport Mar. 32/1 If we were doing a free search..of a building, we would start to the left of the door we went in and work from left to right.
d. intransitive. figurative and in extended use. With adverb or prepositional phrase as complement: to proceed, make progress; (now) esp. to advance towards (or toward) a particular end, aim, or conclusion. Also: to seek to make progress in this way. Cf. to work up 4a at Phrasal verbs 1. Sometimes, when with connotations of active striving, coloured by sense 11a.In quot. 1864 in to work round: to recover from an illness.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > progress or advance in an action [verb (intransitive)] > make progress or advance (of action or operation)
fremec1000
furtherc1200
profit1340
to go onc1449
grow1487
to commence to, intoa1500
framea1529
to get ground?1529
movec1540
work1566
promove1570
advance1577
devolve1579
to come on1584
progress1612
to gain ground1625
germinate1640
proceed1670
to gather ground1697
march1702
to make its way1711
to come forward1722
develop1744
to turn a wheel1864
shape1865
come1899
1566 J. Rastell Third Bk. beware of M. Iewel f. 162v No surely, the Effect can not worke vpward towardes the cause, or worke so excellently douneward, as the cause.
1725 T. Sherlock Use & Intent Prophecy v. 123 A Method of Providence working towards the great End always in view.
1753 H. Jones Mem. Earl of Essex ii. 17 I see she muses deep; her Mind works upwards, And paints it's struggling Efforts in her Face.
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold II. ix. iii. 314 A silent war between the two for mastery was working on.
1857 E. C. Gaskell Life C. Brontë I. ii. 27 Their religion did not work down into their lives.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. ii. ix. 246 Hoping as Our Johnny would work round.
1887 Phrenol. Jrnl. Aug. 71/2 A standard of taste that is higher than our own..serves as something to work towards, a goal in the distance.
1895 P. Hemingway Out of Egypt ii. 158 A new conversation starts up every hour, and..there is never time to work to a conclusion.
1927 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 90 146 This paper represents an attempt at placing the laws of political economy on a numerical basis and at working towards ‘econometry’—a synthesis of mathematics, economics and statistics.
1961 J. A. C. Brown Freud & Post-Freudians ii. 27 The Death instinct is a force which is constantly working towards death.
2011 M. Kranacher et al. Forensic Accounting & Fraud Exam. i. 28 Gradually, as the process is repeated and the hypotheses continue to be revised, you work toward what is the most likely and supportable conclusion.
e. intransitive. Nautical. Of a sailing vessel: to sail in a particular course or direction, to make sail; esp. to sail against the wind, to tack. Also of a person: to sail a vessel in this way. Now esp. in to work to windward. Cf. to work up 4a at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > direct or manage ship [verb (intransitive)] > head in a certain course or direction
steer1340
stem1487
capea1522
lie1574
put1578
bear1587
rut1588
haul1589
fetch1590
standa1594
to stand along1600
to bear away1614
work1621
to lay up1832
1621 F. Cartwright Life, Confession & Heartie Repentance sig. C2 The Sea was exceeding high, nor could the ship worke, being euer foule of one Ship or another.
1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia ii. xii. 204 The shipping..had direction to worke about to another Creake.
1704 London Gaz. No. 4054/1 Perceiving..that they wrought from us, we followed them..with all the Sail we could make.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. viii. 223 She had sprung her fore-top-mast, which had disabled her from working to windward.
1771 Philos. Trans. 1770 (Royal Soc.) 60 116 A little before noon we weighed, and worked up the river.
1790 W. Bligh Narr. Mutiny on Bounty 78 I endeavoured to work to windward, but we were obliged to take to our oars again.
1819 H. M. Brackenridge Voy. S. Amer. I. i. 113 A light breeze springing up from the land, we worked in towards the shore.
1823 W. Scoresby Jrnl. Voy. Northern Whale-fishery 2 We reached down the river, and, on the ebb, worked out of the Rock Channel.
1836 F. Marryat Pirate xvi, in Pirate & Three Cutters 184 The Comus..worked, in short tacks, outside the reef.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xxiii. 184 We are working, i.e., beating our way in the narrow leads..between the main ice and the drift.
1914 Cent. Mag. June 178/2 The yacht worked northward.
1936 Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Nov. 899/3 He wanted a chance of seeing a palari working to windward in bad conditions.
1993 E. A. Proulx Shipping News xiii. 115 You got a shoal draft boat, my boy, she has to work to windward.
f. transitive. To direct or manage the movement of; to guide or drive in a particular course; (Nautical) to direct or steer (a vessel). Also (of a railway engine): to pull (a train).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > cause to move in a direction [verb (transitive)]
steerc888
righteOE
wisec1330
guy1362
makea1425
guide?a1505
to make forth1508
direct1526
to make out1560
bend1582
incline1597
work1667
usher1668
head1826
humour1847
vector1966
target1974
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > direct or manage ship [verb (transitive)]
governa1387
sail1566
manure1569
manage1600
carry1613
navigate1652
work1667
skipper1883
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > drive a vehicle [verb (transitive)] > drive a team of animals
tandem1828
work1857
society > travel > rail travel > [verb (transitive)] > direct or manage a railway engine
work1912
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [verb (transitive)] > provide locomotive for > pull train (of locomotive)
work1982
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 513 A Ship by skilful Stearsman wrought Nigh Rivers mouth or Foreland. View more context for this quotation
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 28 Having no Sails to work the Ship with.
1762 J. Mills New Syst. Pract. Husbandry I. 160 Make a dam..and a sluice, and work the water upon it through the winter.
1806 P. Gass Jrnl. 30 Mar. (1807) 193 Making the finest canoes,..and..expert in working them when made.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. v. 98 Getting on the box, and working the team down street.
1883 Forest & Stream 14 June 896/2 A jury was promptly got out, and with the skilful trimming of sails, she was worked home.
1912 Standard 20 Sept. 7/2 Special trains..will be worked over the systems of the Great Northern..railways.
1982 Railway Mag. Nov. 508/1 A replacement..powered the train as far as Carnforth where another ‘47’ was later provided to work it forward.
1996 G. Cook Bleak Seasons lxxxiii. 268 Blade's soldiers had transported it [sc. a boat] overland after having failed to work it along the canal.
g. intransitive. Cricket. Of a ball: to move into or away from the batter after pitching; esp. to break, to spin. Cf. work n. 2c. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > bowl [verb (intransitive)] > motion of ball
to make haste?a1475
twist?1801
cut1816
shoot1816
curl1833
hang1838
work1838
break1847
spin1851
turn1851
bump1856
bite1867
pop1871
swerve1894
to kick up1895
nip1899
swing1900
google1907
move1938
seam1960
to play (hit, etc.) across the line1961
1838 Bell's Life 8 July The dead state of the ground which prevented the balls from working.
1853 F. Gale Public School Matches 29 As he played really well to a ball which would have taken the off stump, it is quite a pity that the ball worked from the on to the leg stump.
1862 J. Pycroft Cricket Tutor 57 A ball working away only a little way to the leg.
1907 Irish Times 3 Sept. 7/4 On a wicket at Lord's considerably affected by rain, and one on which the bowlers were able to make the ball work a lot.
1931 Christian Sci. Monitor 9 July 10/6 The Oxford bowlers..found they could make the ball ‘work’ on a pitch that had been worn appreciably.
1939 Observer 26 Apr. 25/5 He makes the ball work in and away from the batsman.
43. transitive (reflexive). With adverb or prepositional phrase as complement: to progress, advance, proceed, esp. gradually or with difficulty; to make one's way (literal and figurative). Also: to get or bring oneself into a particular position. Cf. to work one's way at Phrases 6a.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > move forward [verb (reflexive)]
vaunce1303
advancec1425
repair1509
work1528
1528 W. Tyndale That Fayth Mother of All Good Workes f. viii Faith wroteth [1547 worketh] her selfe in the hertes of the electe.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxxii. 196 [The vermin] will..worke themselues further in, so that your Terriers shall not be able to find them.
1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 99 Octavian..wrought himselfe into her good will.
1663 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Names & Scantlings Inventions §15 How to make a Boat work it self against both Wind and Tide.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 121. ¶5 [The Mole] so swiftly working her self under Ground, and making her way so fast in the Earth.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist III. xlviii. 245 The women worked themselves into the centre of the crowd.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. iv. 81 Tom..worked himself into his shoes and his great-coat.
1871 S. Smiles Character i. 21 The solitary thought of a great thinker will dwell in the minds of men for centuries, until at length it works itself into their daily life.
1952 J. Thompson Killer inside Me xvii. 111 He'd..edged into psychiatry. Out on the West Coast, he'd worked himself into some staff job with the police.
1998 N.Y. Times 18 Jan. ii. 26/2 Begun in 1981 as a video company called Vidmark, it has moved into the theatrical market and worked itself along, movie by movie.
2001 Chicago Tribune 7 Sept. i. 11/6 The administration has worked itself into a position of having to choose between just saying no..or having to accept the obviously unacceptable.
44.
a. intransitive. Of the sea: to be turbulent or stormy; to toss, seethe, rage. Also of any liquid: †to swirl, churn (obsolete). Now rare (chiefly literary in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > move irregularly or be agitated [verb (intransitive)]
whirlc1290
boilc1300
balterc1400
worka1535
turmoil1547
jumble1568
swash1583
commotion1599
stimmer1616
belk1648
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > state of sea > have or be in specific kind of motion [verb (intransitive)] > be rough
ragea1475
worka1535
ruffiana1616
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. sig. N.iii Before a greate storme the sea begynneth some tyme to worke and roare in it selfe ere euer the wynde waxe boysteous.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jonah i. 13 The see wrought [Hebrew hōwlêḵ] so, & was so troublous agaynst them.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xi. 48 The sea workes hie. View more context for this quotation
1653 J. Taylor Short Relation Long Journey 11 The Well..doth continually work and bubble with extream violence.
a1718 T. Parnell Poems Several Occasions (1721) 49 There Parent Ocean work'd with heaving Throes.
1815 C. Hutton Philos. & Math. Dict. II. 427/1 It is commonly said, the water works and rises in a column, before the tube comes to touch it.
1900 W. Alexander Finding of Bk. 54 Sleep sweetly while the ocean works and stirs.
1982 A. Grossman Of Great House 7 Beautiful Poems—like webs, like seas working, like Wind webbing black water blown flat with gray.
b. intransitive. Chiefly Nautical. Of a ship or its parts: to strain, pitch, or roll, esp. so that the fastenings become slack (cf. sense 45b). Also occasionally of other types of vehicle.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > be strained (of timbers or hull)
watch1633
work1689
trip1869
1689 H. Pitman Relation Great Sufferings 16 Our little Vessel..wrought so exceedingly, by reason of the great motion of the Sea, that we could not possibly make her tight.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine (at cited word) A ship is..said to work, when she strains and labours heavily in a tempestuous sea, so as to loosen her joints or timbers.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xi. 85 Everything was working, and cracking, strained to the utmost.
1886 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. May 50/2 As soon as the frames began to ‘work’ or move, it was practically impossible to keep the roofs tight.
1949 L. C. Hunter Steamboats on Western Rivers v. 261 The engines and boilers..rested on a floating foundation that worked and strained under the buffeting it received.
2003 W. H. Flayhart Perils of Atlantic xii. 162 Quite a swell was moving against the Old Head of Kinsale, and the ship was working and grating against the rocks.
c. intransitive. Of a thought or feeling: to be or become active or intense. In early use frequently as a figurative use of sense 44a; later also as an extended use of sense 47. Sometimes also with allusion to sense 6a.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > [verb (intransitive)] > become active (of emotions)
kindlea1400
quickena1400
move1483
rouse1671
work1814
1814 Ld. Byron Corsair i. ix. 12 As if within that murkiness of mind Work'd feelings fearful, and yet undefined.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 215 While thoughts like these were working in the minds of many Dissenters.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 215 Sea was her wrath, yet working after storm.
1865 C. Stanford Symbols Christ vi. 167 Tempests of feeling often work beneath an unchanged face.
1920 C. M. Doughty Mansoul iv. 115 Dark fantasy, inflaming his presumptuous youth; And working ever since, in his recreant thought.
2004 M. Lydon Ray Charles iv. xv. 191 ‘Hell, now all these guys are gonna hear me play, I'm gonna blow.’ The other fellows could see the emotions working in his face.
45.
a. transitive. To move (something) gradually, carefully, or laboriously into or out of some position or state, typically by exerting force against resistance or impediment; (also) to move (something) to and fro. Chiefly with adjective, adverb, or prepositional phrase as complement. Also figurative.In reflexive quots. with an inanimate subject, distinguished from sense 43 in lacking any implication of volitional movement.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > move to and fro or up and down [verb (transitive)]
work1617
reciprocate1653
pump1803
gig1815
dodge1820
pumphandle1851
trombone1879
yo-yo1973
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 115 This little ditch is not alwaies in one place but in time workes it selfe from one place to another.
1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 49 Her Rudder wrought it self out of the Irons, hanging only by the uppermost Pintell.
1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 176 The Rage of the Floods..works down a great deal of Gold out of the Hills.
1831 W. Scott Castle Dangerous xiii, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. IV. 326 That secret charm, which, once impressed upon the human heart, is rarely wrought out of the remembrance by a long train of subsequent events.
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 327 Water is poured into it, and soil stirred in till the pit is half full of mud... The roots of the tree are then inserted, and worked about.
1858 B. Taylor Northern Trav. xii. 127 In vain I shifted my aching legs and worked my benumbed hands.
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling v. 135 Some people work their flies.
1889 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 25 62 The tube..can be ‘worked down’ through the hyaline cap.
1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Apr. 878 Loose body felt at inner side of knee and by working the knee he can make it evident to the touch.
1918 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 July 325/4 A neighbouring battery of guns..were being worked into position with a heaving-song.
1921 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 88/2 Even a tight nut if subject to vibration will work itself loose.
1953 J. L. B. Smith Sea Fishes S. Afr. (rev. ed.) 222 The Leervis always seizes a fish across the middle and then works it about in the jaws until head-on for easy swallowing.
2012 R. D. Taylor Mingming & Tonic of Wildness xviii. 89 The lifting of a well-loaded bucket above head height to work it through the narrow hatch.
b. intransitive. With adjective or prepositional phrase as complement: to move gradually into a different position; esp. to move irregularly or unsteadily so as to become out of the correct or usual position. Frequently in to work loose (also free).
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > move unsteadily [verb (intransitive)] > so as to become out of gear
work1683
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 273 He will..hinder the Press from working into a twisting position.
1734 Builder's Dict. II. at Nails Scupper Nails, are much us'd in fastening Leather and Canvas to Wood, and therefore require a broad Head, that neither may work loose.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxv. 276 The anchor on the lee bow had worked loose, and was thumping the side.
1860 T. W. Ashby & T. Yorke Patent 12 Mar. in Newton's London Jrnl. Arts & Sci. (1861) 13 11 To prevent the pinions from working out of gear, the tine barrels or cylinders are mounted on sliding tubes.
1874 J. D. Heath Compl. Croquet-player 26 If the handle [of the mallet] be properly wedged into the head, it ought never to work loose.
1908 Wide World Mag. July 315/1 Some rivets had worked free, allowing the stern-post to become loose.
1920 R. D. Paine Corsair in War Zone vii. 156 The safety pins had worked out of position during the buffeting of the heavy seas.
1994 M. Gee Crime Story (1996) ii. 34 Her pale hair..had worked free at the back.
1997 D. F. Wallace Supposedly Fun Thing I'll never do Again 98 The operator and colleague (whose jeans have worked down his hips to the point where the top of his butt-crack is clearly visible) watch studiously.
2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 22 Aug. (Sports section) 12/5 A wire worked loose and fried on hot metal.
c. transitive. Sport. To move, steer, or pass (a ball or puck) in a given direction; (also occasionally) to have or retain control or possession of (a ball, etc.). Frequently with adverb or prepositional phrase as complement.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > characteristics of team ball games > play team ball games [verb (transitive)] > actions or manoeuvres
pass1865
to throw in1867
work1868
centre1877
shoot1882
field1883
tackle1884
chip1889
feed1889
screen1906
fake1907
slap1912
to turn over1921
tip-in1958
to lay off1965
spill1975
1868 Football Ann. 1 ‘Dribbling’, as the science of working the ball along the ground by means of the feet is technically termed.
1897 Illustr. Amer. 6 Feb. 215/2 The clever way in which they worked the puck down the field.
1929 Boys' Life 52/3 It is very discouraging to the opponents to work the ball down the field and when they lose possession to see it go sailing through the air to the point where they started.
1977 N.Y. Times 24 Jan. 32/6 ‘We really worked the ball well today,’ the Jazz coach..said. The Jazz shot 51 percent from the floor.
1987 Golf Monthly July 31/2 The purists will probably..[argue] that a player's ability to ‘work’ the ball is nothing less than a basic practical demonstration of a proper development of skills.
1991 Chicago Tribune 7 Apr. 1 We haven't responded to their pressure defense by being patient and working the ball.
2013 Fraser Coast (Queensland) Chron. (Nexis) 10 Apr. 36 The Capras worked it downfield then across the backline and scored in the corner to take a 4-0 lead.
46. intransitive. With preposition. Of a part of a mechanism: to make regular motions in relation to another part with which it is in contact or close proximity.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > operate [verb (intransitive)] > of a piece of mechanism > in relation to another part
work1701
1701 Moxon's Mech. Exercises (ed. 3) 180 Some Turners that Turn altogether Small Work, have the Fore-end of the Treddle placed just under their work; so that their String works between the Cheeks of the Lathe.
1766 T. H. Croker et al. Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. III. at Water At the end of which [sc. levers] are jointed four rods with their forcing plugs working into four cast iron cylinders.
1770 P. Luckombe Conc. Hist. Printing 324 [He] besmears..so much of the Cheeks as the ends of the Head works against.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 130 The four bevelled nuts work into the bevelled wheels..and so turn them.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 172 An index working over a scale.
1946 J. H. Du Bois & W. I. Pribble Plastics Mold Engin. ix. 371 The knockout pins may be made as sleeve knockouts working over a core pin.
1994 Progressive Dies (Soc. of Manufacturing Engineers) (ed. 2) 318 The use of die sets with ball sleeves working between pins and bushings.
47. intransitive. Of the face, features, or a part of the body: to move energetically or convulsively, esp. with strong emotion; (of a person) to move a part of the body in this way. Also: †to struggle, twitch (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > face with expression or expression > face with expression [verb (intransitive)] > distort
fleer?a1400
mowc1450
snowrec1450
to make (also pull) a facec1522
to throw one's facea1525
pot1549
mop1567
murgeonc1586
to cut facesa1616
wrimple1657
work1753
grimace1762
mowl1837
wrinkle1843
mug1856
girn1900
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison IV. xxvii. 197 Soon after, in whipt my indiscreet Lord, his colour heightened, his features working.
1770 J. Wesley Jrnl. 4 July (1870) III. 383 She..wrought (like one strangled) in her breast and throat.
1816 J. Austen Emma I. xiii. 235 With men he can be..unaffected, but when he has ladies to please every feature works . View more context for this quotation
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. lviii. 127 Shaking his head, and working with both his hands as if he were clearing away ten thousand cobwebs.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped i. 5 With his face all working with sorrow.
1914 S. Taber Jewel of their Souls xxvi. 280 He began to pace the floor again, his hands twisted nervously together behind his back and his features working convulsively.
1983 E. Welty Coll. Stories (new ed.) 29 Her face worked and broke into strained, hardening lines, as if there had been a death.
1991 S. Cisneros Woman Hollering Creek 156 The dog was eating something, jaws working in spasmodic gulps.
2000 N.Y. Times 5 May e5/1 His manner [is] overcaffeinated, his large hands working in front of him imploringly.
48.
a. transitive. Angling. To make (a fish) exhaust itself by pulling against a line; = play v. 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (transitive)] > bring to bank
landa1609
play1740
work1825
bank1837
creel1844
grass1856
to bring (a hooked fish) to gaff1886
to play along1921
1825 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxiii, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 758 He worked a salmon to a miracle.
1892 Amer. Angler Nov. 37/2 Many fishermen think it is their inexperience in properly working the fish; but that is not so.
1985 M. R. Sakamoto Pacific Shore Fishing 49 A lot of the rods are too soft to really work a fish in a long battle.
2006 H. Raines One that got Away 214 I fetched my rod from the boat and walked downstream to work the fish.
b. transitive. Originally and chiefly Australian and New Zealand. Esp. of a dog: to herd (sheep, cattle, etc.). Also occasionally intransitive: (of sheep, cattle, etc.) to be herded. Cf. sense 14c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > herd
herdc1475
travel1576
pastor1587
drove1776
flog1793
tail1844
work1878
work1879
trail1906
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (intransitive)] > be herded
work1950
1879 Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania) 17 Jan. 3/3 One of these dogs was..quite blind, and could not work sheep.
1891 G. Chamier Philosopher Dick II. 335 What do you want a dog for? You need not be driving the sheep about... Work them in circles, my man.
1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 1st Ser. i. 5 The practice was for a shepherd to go round the boundary once or twice a day, and at night work the sheep below one of the river terraces to camp.
1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. July 5/2 Sheep work and draft best on a slight up-grade.
1976 Evening Post (Bristol) 23 Apr. 24/9 (advt.) Border collie bitch starting to work cattle.
2007 T. Williams Working Sheep Dogs xxxi. 224 A dog's weakness becomes more obvious when working cattle than when working sheep.

Phrases

P1.
a. to work a wonder: to perform a miracle. In later use chiefly (usually in form to work wonders): to do or achieve something remarkable or outstanding; esp. to have a very beneficial effect (on a person or thing).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [verb (intransitive)] > work wonders or miracles
to do wondersc950
to work a wonderOE
miracle1548
wonder1785
thaumaturgize1891
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > be a matter of wonder [verb (intransitive)] > perform wonders
to work a wonderOE
Thamesa1777
to burn the Thames1787
OE Beowulf (2008) 930 A mæg God wyrcan wunder æfter wundre.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9499 Crist..wrohhte wunndre miccle ma Þann icc ȝuw maȝȝ nu tellenn.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Royal) (1981) 487 He..þurh wicchecreftes wurchið summe wundres.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 125 By wycchecraft he schal wirche wondres.
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 785 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 119 He couth wirk wounderis quhat way yat he wald.
1588 C. Lucar tr. N. Tartaglia 3 Bks. Shooting i. i. 5 If you can make me to see this which I do not beleeue, you shal work a wonder.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Theomagical, pertaining to the wisdome of God, or that works wonders by his help.
1681 Heraclitus Ridens 22 Nov. 2/1 Such kind of Pamphlets work Wonders with the credulous multitude.
1704 T. Gale Serm. Holy-days 51 Others of them think they can work Wonders in Chronology.
1781 tr. Comtesse de Genlis Theatre of Educ. I. 36 The short conversation you have just had with Sabina, has worked wonders.
1844 Foreign Missionary Chron. Aug. 239/1 Love can work wonders.
1867 A. P. Smith Hist. 76th Regiment N.Y. State Volunteers xii. 145 He who can jump astride a hobby, and deem himself able to work a wonder in a day, will..find himself wonderfully mistaken.
1903 Pall Mall Mag. Aug. 516/2 He worked wonders at Ferney. The place bloomed.
1912 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Soc. Sci. 40 180 The open fireplace can work social wonders if people will only give it a chance.
1980 Jrnl. Biblical Lit. 99 56 Yhwh's working a wonder..is, in fact, the revelation of the messenger's divine status.
2011 Guardian 28 May (Weekend Suppl.) 63/1 Smooth a dollop of illuminator underneath your foundation... Works wonders on grey, hungover complexions.
b. to work a miracle: to perform a miracle. In later use also (usually in form to work miracles): to do or achieve something remarkable, outstanding, or seemingly impossible.
Π
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 2569 Seint germayn..prechede as ned was, & vair miracle wroȝte.
a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 2726 (MED) God..Gret myracules for hurre he wrouȝte.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xiii. sig. I5 Or that she, (goddesse like) would work this miracle in her selfe.
1593 B. Barnes Parthenophil & Parthenophe iii. 119 I might work miracles to change again The hard to soft!
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre v. x. 247 I know it will non-plus his power to work a true miracle.
1651 J. F. tr. H. C. Agrippa Three Bks. Occult Philos. 563 There be a certain art to foretell, and work miracles.
1705 W. Nicolson London Diaries 19 Nov. (1985) 305 He took notice of Her Majesty's working Miracles by Her Speech, in bringing all men to be zealous for the Hannover-Succession.
1759 Mod. Part Universal Hist. XIII. 308 A band of enthusiastick shepherds, who pretended to work miracles.
1872 W. H. Dixon W. Penn (rev. ed.) ii. 12 The miracles wrought by Spanish saints.
1892 Harper's Mag. Feb. 455/2 In parts in which he can call in the aid of make-up, he works miracles of metamorphosis.
1929 Travel Jan. 21/1 Magnesia drinking water..works miracles for dyspeptics.
1994 S. Sonnett Restraint ii. 20 I get paid to do my best, not to work miracles.
2005 D. Cruickshank Around World in 80 Treasures 117 Siva is reputed to have worked a number of miracles in and around the site of modern Madurai.
c. to work magic: to practise magic; to perform a magical procedure, rite, or trick. In later use also (also in form to work one's magic): to do or achieve something remarkable or outstanding.
Π
1829 J. Sheppard Divine Origin Christianity II. xii. 249 Jannes and Jambres, Egyptians, sacred scribes, were men who had been judged inferior to none in working magic.
1879 S. Baring-Gould Germany I. 392 A prestidigitator can work magic with his nimble fingers.
1904 E. A. T. W. Budge Guide 3rd & 4th Egypt. Rooms Brit. Museum 181 Stone object, with twenty facets,..probably used in working magic.
1998 National Trust Mag. Autumn 37/1 Interior designers, fabric merchants, furnishers, flower arrangers and so on, are invited in to work their magic.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 6 Nov. d14 (advt.) Alouette Light Louvers work magic with light—softening it, filtering it, controlling it to transform the look of a room.
P2. to work one's will.
a. To freely exercise one's will; to have one's own way; to do what one wishes; (later chiefly) to achieve one's purpose. Also in extended use of an abstract quality, power, etc.
Π
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) vii. 26 Ne com ic toþy, þæt ic minne willan worhte, ac þæs þe me hider asænde.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 307 He..graunted him..Forto worchen his wille as lord wiþ his owne.
a1425 (?c1300) Northern Passion (Cambr. Gg.5.31) l. 18 Þai gedird þaime to gedir full styll Of ihesu forto wyrke þare wyll.
1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xlv. f. 245v Let fortune worke her will.
a1633 A. Munday John a Kent f. 2v Leaue the God of heauen to woorke his will.
1684 T. Guidott Gideon's Fleece 30 Let Patience, or Impatience work its will.
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Cock & Fox in Fables 245 The false Loon, who cou'd not work his Will By open Force, employ'd his flatt'ring Skill.
1782 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 134/1 Let them jeer, let libellers work their will.
1838 F. Trollope Romance of Vienna xi. 210 Imla knew Count Alderberg better than his mother did, and worked his will upon him in a different way.
1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) I. v. 368 The enemy wrought his will..without let or hindrance.
1921 W. J. Locke Mountebank xi. 142 She..set a coiffeur to work his will on her hair.
1992 W. Greider Who will tell People i. iv. 108 The steady diffusion of authority has simply multiplied the opportunities for power to work its will.
2001 N.Y. Times 21 Jan. iv. 1/4 [He] campaigned..as Mr. Congeniality, able to..work his will through pure charm.
†b. To achieve one's sexual desires; to have sexual relations (with a person). Also to work (a person) with one's will: to have sexual relations with (a person). Cf. to have one's way with at way n.1 and int.1 Phrases 1b(h). Obsolete.In quot. OE as part of a riddle in which an activity (apparently churning butter) is described using overtly sexual imagery.
Π
OE Riddle 54 6 Hyse..hof his agen hrægl hondum up, [h]rand under gyrdels hyre stondendre stiþes nathwæt, worhte his willan; wagedan buta.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 667 (MED) Wirche wiþ me þi wille, or witterli in hast Mi liif lelly is lorn.
c1450 (c1400) Emaré (1908) l. 227 (MED) Wyth her he þowȝth to worche hys wylle, And wedde her to hys wyfe.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 31v All the souerains..assignet me hir ffor to wirke with my wille & weld as my nowne.
1610 Merrie Iest Ieamie of Woodicock Hill (single sheet) An other did worke his will, and tickled his wiues hei nonnie nonnie.
P3. Proverb. those that will not work shall not eat and variants (now often if you don't work, you don't eat). [Originally in biblical references and allusions, after post-classical Latin si quis non vult operari, nec manducet, lit. ‘if someone does not want to work, he will not eat’ (Vulgate: 2 Thessalonians 3:10) and its model Hellenistic Greek εἴ τις οὐ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι, μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω (New Testament); compare quots. c1384 and 1535, respectively. Compare Middle French qui ne laeure point ne mengue point (1376).]
Π
OE Wulfstan tr. Amalarius De Regula Canonicorum (1957) 193 Se apostol..cwæð: Qui non uult operari nec manducet. Þæt is, se ðe nyt beon nelle, he æniges godes ne abite.]
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Thess. iii. 10 This thing we denounsiden, or warneden, to ȝou, for if ony man wole not worche, nether ete he.
c1450 (?c1425) St. Mary of Oignies i. xii. in Anglia (1885) 8 148 Ententynge þat þe apostel seiþ, ‘whoo so wirkith not, ete he not’.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Thess. iii. B Yf there were eny which wolde not worke, ye same shulde not eate.
1595 W. Burton Rowsing of Sluggard i. 5 The Apostle warneth the Thessalonians, that if any amongst them were able to worke and would not worke, they should not eate; to shew that idle persons are not worthie to liue.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia iii. x. 83 You must obey this now for Law, that he that will not worke shall not eate (except by sicknesse he be disabled).
1684 R. Steele Trades-man's Calling i. 8 The old Canon, 2 Thess. 3. 10. That if any (let them be who, or what they will) will not work, (being capable of it) they should not eat.
1726 W. Mason Duty maintaining Publick Work-Houses 12 It is plain the Managers had Authority, and to such the Apostles had commanded not to permit any, who wou'd not work, to eat.
1798 Weekly Mag. 17 Mar. 197/2 He that will not work should not eat; or, in other words, he that gives nothing for what he receives, is an unprofitable being.
1826 tr. J. B. Massillon Select. from Wks. 171 I ought not to eat, because I do not work, but are you excused from this law?
1881 F. L. Shaw Hector 104 Those who do not work should not eat. Do you suppose that a good dinner would be put upon this table..if others had not worked?
1908 Union Seminary Mag. Feb. 197 Amongst the animals beneath man it seems to be true..that he that will not work shall not eat.
1919 I. Zangwill in Soviet Russia 20 Sept. 16/1 Bolshevism is not the scourge it first seemed... Who can object to a Constitution, one of whose first articles declares that ‘He who will not work shall not eat’?
1993 R. B. Edgerton Cloak of Competence (rev. ed.) iii. 94 We used to bitch about the food in that hospital, but out here, if you don't work you don't eat nothing at all.
2008 P. McGraw Real Life vi. 142 I grew up poor... So I learned real fast that if you don't work, you don't eat.
P4. to work like a ——: to work extremely hard, in a manner likened to a person or animal known for undertaking heavy, arduous, or intense labour.Sometimes with the implication that the work undertaken is degrading or dehumanizing.See also to work like a beaver at beaver n.1 1d, to work like a dog at dog n.1 Phrases 16, to work like a horse at horse n. 25a, to work like a nigger at nigger n. and adj. Phrases 1.
Π
1538 D. Lindsay Complaynte & Test. Popiniay sig. Eiiv But nyght and day, they warke lyke besy bees.
1674–9 Strange Encounter Two Lovers (single sheet) (verso) I was carry'd away for a slave. Then for to work like a beast I was forced.
1738 E. Dower Salopian Esquire 9 I work like a Slave Morning, Noon and Night.
1793 Assoc. Papers (Assoc. for Preserving Liberty & Property) ii. ix. 4 I don't see why we are to work like slaves, while others roll about in their coaches.
1864 D. R. Goodwin Southern Slavery iv. 115 Any person might take this poor man, drive him to the field to work like an ox without wages, [etc.].
1931 M. Moore Let. 24 June in Sel. Lett. (1997) 257 I take my jeroba up there and am working like a demon to complete it.
a1939 C. Porter Compl. Lyrics (1983) 196 Too many men in the U.S.A. work like maniacs, trying to keep their wives and pay for their Cadillacs.
1991 Herald (Folkestone) 27 Dec. 21/3 The whole of the teaching staff..worked like trojans backstage.
2005 B. Keating & S. Keating Blood Sisters (2006) xv. 296 Piet was working like a madman, and they really meant to open the lodge early in the new year.
P5.
a. to work one's brains (also eyes, soul, etc.) out: to work extremely hard.Recorded earliest in to work one's heart out at heart n., int., and adv. Phrases 6c(a). See also to work one's guts out at gut n. 1b.
Π
1578 T. Lupton All for Money sig. B.iv He is not worthie to liue I make god a vowe, That will not worke his hearte out for both you.
1609 W. Symonds Virginia: Serm. 21 .The poore mettall man worketh his bones out,..yet for all his labour,..hee can hardly keepe himselfe from the almes box.
1830 W. Howitt in Fraser's Mag. Sept. 216/1 This comes of living like a curmudgeon in a great house by yourself, working your eyes out to hoard up money.
1849 W. Valentine Budget of Wit & Humour 49 I've been working my daylights out all summer.
1920 Negro World 13 Mar. in R. A. Hill Marcus Garvey & Universal Negro Improvem. Assoc. Papers (1983) II. 257 The boy..works his soul out from morning to morn-out.
2007 Blade (Toledo, Ohio) (Nexis) 6 Feb. There's nothing I can do about it except work my brains out and coach like hell.
b. colloquial. to work one's butt (also socks, fingers, balls, etc.) off: to work extremely hard.See also to work one's ass off at ass n.2 Phrases 7, to work one's arse off at arse n. and int. Phrases 5a, to work one's tail off at tail n.1 5a.
ΚΠ
1828 Ladies' Mag. June 246 She would have worked her hands off before she would have parted with the dear little creature.
1890 C. C. Harrison Anglomaniacs ii. 79 What man wants to work his head off to lay up money, and then see a fool and profligate walk away with it?
1926 People's Home Jrnl. Feb. 49/2 I'll work—I'll work my fingers off.
1974 J. Wainwright Evidence I shall Give xxi. 102 He was working his nuts off.
1982 P. Redmond Brookside (Mersey TV shooting script) (O.E.D. Archive) Episode 4. 53 The poor sods working their knackers off at the machines.
1983 W. Goldman Adventures in Screen Trade 47 He obviously worked his buns off learning to be a hoofer.
1989 Independent 15 Mar. 21/4 I don't mind working my bollocks off.
1992 Pract. Householder Nov. 5/1 Another time you'll work your socks off and the results are terribly disappointing.
1998 Boxing Monthly June 37/2 Despite working my balls off, I wasn't getting any money.
2010 Guardian (Nexis) 9 June 29 My friends..have worked their butts off to help increase the number of African Caribbean and Asian members of parliament.
P6.
a. to work one's (also its) way: to advance; to move or make progress to or towards something or someone, esp. gradually or with difficulty; to penetrate through something, etc. Cf. to make one's way at way n.1 and int.1 Phrases 1h.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > move forward or advance [verb (intransitive)]
wadeOE
agoOE
forthganga1000
forthgoOE
syeOE
kenc1275
to-stepc1275
vaunce1303
forthnima1325
passc1330
throc1330
forthpass1382
to pass forthc1384
to carry forthc1390
proceedc1392
to go alongc1400
to be forthwardc1430
get) groundc1436
to set onc1450
avauntc1460
pretend1481
to make way1490
advance?1507
to get forward1523
promove1570
to rid ground (also space)1572
to rid (the) way1581
progressa1586
to gather grounda1593
to make forth1594
to make on1597
to work up1603
perge1607
to work one's (also its) way1609
to pass on1611
to gain ground1625
to make its way1645
vadea1660
propagate1700
to gain one's way1777
further1789
to pull up1829
on1840
to make (up) ground1921
1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica xiv. xcv. 379 O're his dead Coarse the warlike Greeke doth stride, and workes his way through harnesse richly ingrau'd.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 512 As one who sought access, but feard To interrupt, side-long he works his way . View more context for this quotation
1713 J. Addison Cato i. iii Through Winds, and Waves, and Storms, he works his way.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 151 They worked their Way down these Streams.
1824 R. Stevenson Roads & Highways 8 The bottom or hand-laid stones are said to work their way from the bottom to the surface.
1857 Knickerbocker Jan. 86 The..phrase..is working its way into common parlance.
1889 R. Brydall Art in Scotl. vi. 106 He gradually wrought his way against the usual obstacles which a poor artist must always encounter.
1908 E. Fowler Between Trent & Ancholme 23 The fluffy golden kerria..having worked its way through the thick wall.
1992 D. Madden Remembering Light & Stone xi. 105 I carefully worked my way around to what I had wanted to talk about.
2008 J. Quinn Goodnight Ballivor xxi. 108 They would start at the far end and work their way towards the headland.
b. to work one's way up: to progress towards something better or superior by labour or effort (esp. as opposed to privilege, favouritism, etc.); to gradually ascend a hierarchy, series of ranks, etc., esp. by working hard. Cf. to work up 4a at Phrasal verbs 1.
Π
1734 Fidler's Fling at Roguery ii. 84 The Man to make his best Effort, To work his way up to the Skies, By being bravely Good and Wise.
1774 T. Walker Vindic. Discipline Church of Scotl. i. iii. 32 They were obliged to work their way up to the ministry by their own industry; some of them, perhaps, by teaching schools.
1858 Chambers's Jrnl. 9 160 [He] had worked his way up from a corporalship of marines.
1883 Harper's Mag. Oct. 726/2 The trainer..begins in the stables as a rubber at an early age, and works his way up.
1956 N. Algren Walk on Wild Side i. 111 Ambitious young men..willing to begin at the bottom and work their way up.
1991 C. Buckley Wet Work Prol. 7 He was an orphan. Worked his way up from zip.
2005 Professional Builder (Nexis) 1 Mar. 49 Gary began his building career with Marv Andersen Homes, working his way up from house-sweeper to framer to Director of Construction.
c. Chiefly U.S. to work one's way through college (also university, school, etc.): to pay for one's college or university education (and its associated living costs) by taking paid employment while studying.
ΚΠ
1870 Zion's Herald 4 Aug. 372/1 The donor, Orange Judd, esq., graduated in 1847, working his way through college, self-made, like so many successful men.
1896 San Francisco Chron. 13 Aug. 14/1 Young Saul Epstein of San Francisco has entered the University this year and decided to work his way through college as a barber.
1939 Afro-American 4 Nov. 15/8 A 1939 graduate of Howard University, who worked his way through school as a porter.
1948 Sunday News of India 1 Feb. 10/4 One of nine children of Creole parents, she was borne in Minneapolis, and worked her way through University by acting as a model at art classes.
1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 18 May va24/2 They came to the door and said they were working their way through med school by painting house numbers on curbs.
2005 C. Northrup Mother-Daughter Wisdom (2006) xix. 582 Some girls work their way through college while others don't have to.
P7. to work one's passage and variants: to pay for a journey by undertaking work; spec. to pay for one's passage on a ship by working during the voyage. Also figurative.Apparently arising from ellipsis of for in to work for one's passage; but cf. to work out 2 at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work to pay for passage on ship
to work one's passage1727
society > travel > travel by water > seafaring life > practice the calling of a sailor [verb (intransitive)] > work one's passage
to work one's passage1727
1727 P. Longueville Hermit ii. 121 He sees..Hay-makers, going to work,..and resolves to make one of their Number, and work his passage up to London.
1803 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 25 Aug. (1941) I. 257 He was just come from America... I do not think that he had brought much [money] back with him, for he had worked his passage over.
1836 C. P. Traill Backwoods of Canada 8 A pretty yellow-haired lad,..who works his passage out.
1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xxv. 236 Some months afterwards Amory made his appearance at Calcutta, having worked his way out before the mast from the Cape.
1884 Cent. Mag. Jan. 365/1 An educated young Englishman..worked his passage as a coal-passer and ash-heaver.
1946 T. H. White Mistress Masham's Repose xix. 126 The first scheme was to work his passage to London as a bus conductor.
1958 Oxf. Mag. 15 May 448/2 Italy, liberated piecemeal and ‘working her passage’ to the improved status of the Hyde Park Declaration and the New Deal for Italy.
1973 Times 20 Mar. 13/2 One of the greatest bores in packing is choosing which shoes to take... They are heavy..and do not really work their passage.
2010 G. Ridley Discov. J. Baret ix. 233 Sober, professional soldiers who wanted to work their passage back to France.
P8. to work havoc: to cause destruction, chaos, or disorder; to wreak havoc. Frequently with work in past tense or past participle form wrought, which is sometimes interpreted as the past tense or past participle of wreak; cf. wreak v. 8b.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (intransitive)] > cause devastation
to make stressa1400
to make havoc1480
ravage1604
to work havoca1774
to play (up) old gooseberry1827
to play havoc1910
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > become disordered [verb (intransitive)] > cause disorder
to make havoc1480
to play the devil (also the very devil, the devil and all)1542
to play the dickens1771
to work havoca1774
to play smash1841
to play havoc1910
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. xxvi. 48 The mighty strength of a ruling passion..might work havoc and devastation.
1806 J. Barrow Acct. Trav. Interior S. Afr. 1797–98 (ed. 2) I. 218 They are subject also to a cutaneous disease that works great havoc among the bovine tribe.
1868 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea III. xvii. 369 A ricochet fire which..had been more or less working havoc in their ranks.
1913 St. Nicholas Nov. 37/2 Its men would pile up a writhing heap of arms and legs, beneath which would be the player who had wrought the havoc.
1931 Sun (Baltimore) 6 Sept. 7 Floods wreak havoc in French vineyards... Menacing floods..and downpours which wrought havoc in the wine-producing region.
1978 Washington Post 30 Nov. a14/2 Settlers who are prone to California dreaming,..and on whom..the anything-goes atmosphere and the wide-open spaces work havoc.
1984 Financial Times 4 June iii. p. vii A decade of inflation had wrought havoc with its portfolio of fixed interest mortgages.
2004 Independent 18 Aug. (Review section) 11/1 I had..increasingly witnessed the havoc wrought by viruses.
P9. to work both ways: (of an action or process) to have a double or mixed (often positive and negative) effect; (of a point or statement) to serve both sides of an argument; cf. to cut both ways at cut v. 2b.
Π
1783 E. Burke Speech on Mr. Fox's E. India Bill 1 Dec. (1784) 94 The influx of fortunes... works both ways; it influences the delinquent, and it may corrupt the minister.
1829 Niles' Reg. 9 May 170/1 No rule..can be laid down..unless it work both ways; one..reason assigned for..men's [higher] wages is ‘that they have families to support’. Has not a woman, a widow, a family to support?
1935 Proc. Acad. Polit. Sci. 16 255 The appeal to experience, it is true, is about the most effective that can be made to Americans. But it works both ways. The experience of the past can become the most stubborn obstacle in the way of progress.
1995 Guardian 18 Feb. 8/7 In discovering that the ‘feel-good factor’ works both ways, one of the researchers..has confirmed that happy physicians both view their patients more humanely—and are more likely to make correct diagnoses.
2006 People (Nexis) 3 Nov. 55 All that hard work can work both ways, though. It can fire you up or it can exhaust you so we will have to see how the players react.
†P10. to work a progress: to make progress, advance. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1831 W. Scott Castle Dangerous iii, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. IV. 75 It [sc. a contagious disease] ravaged the English Borders, and made some incursions into Scotland, where it afterwards worked a fearful progress.
P11. Mining. to work home: to work back towards the main shaft. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1835 Rep. Select Comm. Accidents in Mines 343 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 603) V. 1 It is better to drive to the boundary, and work home.
1872 Saward's Coal Trade Circular (N. Y.) 22 May 1/1 Where there is a known danger from spontaneous combustion, it can be obviated by driving to the boundary and working home.
1908 Trans. Inst. Mining Engineers 1906–7 33 507 The system..of fore-winning the coal by means of driving out heads to the dip-boundary, or some convenient distance from the shaft, and working home.
P12. to work for a living: to have to work to earn money, as opposed to being in a position of ease, privilege, etc.; (also) to earn money by doing something regarded as proper work, instead of something regarded as easy.
Π
1880 Marion (Ohio) Daily Star 16 Aug. Don't you think it's outrageous that a pretty-behaved girl like you should be working for a living when there's thousands of women no better than you be rolling in their carriages?
1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad i. 13 The difference between the Underworld and the Overworld folk is that one lot works for a living; the other ‘acquires’ wealth and regards toil as sin.
1951 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 22 Oct. 1/3 Placing an additional tax on the people is not going to help the economical situation of those who have to work for a living.
1996 Billboard 13 July 105/1 If a rock star whines about how rough he's got it, he should try working for a living.
2013 Irish Independent (Nexis) 29 May 38 A well-paid club which facilitates a narrow group of well-connected people to pursue a cushy existence, while the rest of the world works for a living.
P13. Printing.
a.
work and turn n. a method of imposition in which a single plate or image carrier bears the material for both sides of a sheet, the sheet being turned and fed in a second time, keeping the same edge as the gripper edge, and then cut in half to produce two complete copies.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > specific methods or processes > [noun] > printing second side from same forme
work and turn1888
work and tumble1903
work and back1919
work and twist1922
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. Sheet work, applied to works or jobs printed both sides—the reverse of half-sheet or ‘work and turn’.
1931 H. Jahn Hand Composition xvi. 263 The Dexter standard jobbing folder..makes thirteen different folds adapted to work-and-turn and sheetwise forms.
1967 V. Strauss Printing Industry x. 626/1 Work-and-turn impositions cut the number of sheets to be printed in half, but they require larger and more expensive presses.
2001 Working from Home Mar. 36/1 Documents with pages that need to be printed..upside down—the printing industry refers to this as work and turn.
b.
work and tumble n. a method of imposition similar to work and turn but with the opposite edge of the sheet used as the gripper edge for the printing of the second side.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > specific methods or processes > [noun] > printing second side from same forme
work and turn1888
work and tumble1903
work and back1919
work and twist1922
1903 Desk Bk. (Philippines Bureau of Printing) 43 The number of sheets to be printed,..instructions to ‘work and turn’ or ‘work and tumble’, and..the number of sheets to print one side only for binding, should be written on the O.K.'d revise.
1931 H. Jahn Hand Composition xvi. 254 In the work-and-tumble form the pages are so imposed that the sheet must be ‘tumbled’ or turned on the ‘long cross’.
2010 G. Ambrose & P. Harris Visual Dict. Pre-press & Production 286 Work-and-tumble sees the gripper edge change position from one side of the sheet to the other.
c.
work and back n. a method of imposition where different image carriers are used for the two sides of a sheet; cf. sheet-wise adv., sheet-work n. at sheet n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > specific methods or processes > [noun] > printing second side from same forme
work and turn1888
work and tumble1903
work and back1919
work and twist1922
1919 C. R. Spicher Pract. of Presswork 201 This is called a ‘sheetwise’ form, or work and back.
1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-offset ii. 18 Sheet work is the term used to indicate that two formes are used to print the sheet, sometimes called ‘work and back’.
2004 E. Kenly & M. Beach Getting it Printed (ed. 4) 199/1 Sheetwise, technique of printing one side of a sheet with one set of plates, then the other side of the sheet with a set of different plates. Also called work and back.
d.
work and twist n. a method of imposition where a sheet is printed on one side, then turned, typically through 180 degrees, and printed again on the same side from a different part of the same image carrier.This procedure is sometimes used for printing tables, with the horizontal lines in one part of the image carrier and the vertical lines in another.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > specific methods or processes > [noun] > printing second side from same forme
work and turn1888
work and tumble1903
work and back1919
work and twist1922
1922 Appl. Eng. for Printers of Lakeside Press 72 Work and twist forms are those that are given two impressions on each half sheet by twisting new edges to both the side and gripper (or lower) guides.
2008 G. Ambrose & P. Harris Production Man. v. 144/2 The rarely used work and twist sees two passes of the same design on the same side but with the stock rotated 180 degrees between each pass.
P14.
a.
work-to-rule n. a form of industrial action in which employees undertake their contractual duties and no more, typically following rules (such as safety regulations) punctiliously in order to reduce efficiency and speed of work, and to demonstrate the level of flexibility and goodwill ordinarily offered by the workforce; an instance of this.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [adjective] > type of protest
ca'canny1896
go-slow1902
go-easy1916
slowdown1919
work-to-rule1920
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [noun] > protest > forms of
rattening1828
polytechnic1835
restriction1852
lockout1853
ca'canny1896
restrictive practice1896
go-slow1920
hartal1920
lock-in1920
working to rule1920
work-to-rule1920
cacannyism1921
job actionc1926
slowdown1926
gherao1967
work-in1967
work-to-contract1969
sick-out1970
sick-in1974
siege action1977
1920 Times 19 Apr. 14/2 In the event of the Executive Committee not complying with this request..they [sc. railwaymen] threatened to adopt a national ‘work to rule’ movement.
1920 Financial Times 4 June (headline) ‘Work to rule’ dropped at Liverpool.
1950 Ann. Reg. 1949 40 The delegates replied by ordering a general work-to-rule 44-hour week..unless claims were settled.
1962 Spectator 26 Jan. 96 What about lesser sanctions—go-slows, work-to-rules and overtime bans?
1992 Forbes 7 Dec. 110/3 The centerpiece of the union's campaign is its work-to-rule strategy, designed to slow down production.
2001 Toronto Star 7 Apr. a4/1 It's his fifth year as a principal and he has had to deal with four strikes and work-to-rules.
b. to work to rule: (of employees) to undertake contractual duties and no more, as a form of industrial action; to carry out a work-to-rule.Cf. quot. 1879 for to work to —— at Phrasal verbs 2 for use of the phrase outside the context of industrial action.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > participate in labour relations [verb (intransitive)] > work to rule or contract
to work to rule1920
to work to contract1969
1920 Times 1 May 15/3 They propose to ‘work to rule’, a system of ca' canny..which consists in taking advantage of the technical instructions issued to railwaymen in order to do as little work as possible.
1958 Times 4 Aug. 6/4 Prison officers..were working to rule in protest against the report..that prisoners there had been assaulted.
1967 R. Whitehead in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 69 The system would fail even more often if the staff stuck rigidly to the rules. We see the results when they ‘work to rule’, as it is.
2005 Providence (Rhode Island) Jrnl. (Nexis) 19 Aug. c1 Teachers worked to rule, complying with the contract's requirements but declining to volunteer for such things as chaperoning class trips or dances.
c.
work-to-contract n. a form of industrial action in which employees undertake their contractual duties and no more; an instance of this; = work-to-rule n. at Phrases 14a.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [noun] > protest > forms of
rattening1828
polytechnic1835
restriction1852
lockout1853
ca'canny1896
restrictive practice1896
go-slow1920
hartal1920
lock-in1920
working to rule1920
work-to-rule1920
cacannyism1921
job actionc1926
slowdown1926
gherao1967
work-in1967
work-to-contract1969
sick-out1970
sick-in1974
siege action1977
1969 Financial Times 13 Feb. 32/2 More than 1,000 pilots..are to prepare plans for what they call a ‘work-to-contract’ if the corporations's pay proposals..do not advance negotiations for more money and better conditions of service.
1975 Times 13 Jan. 15/1 Instead of wholesale industrial action by most of the [medical] profession, we are left with the consultants and their ‘work-to-contract’.
1996 Jrnl. Gen. Educ. 45 71 He interprets unions as potentially democratizing forces that have often mistaken..an instrumental, work-to-contract strategy, for empowerment.
2013 Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 1 Feb. 6 The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association suspended its work to contract last year.
d. to work to contract: (of employees) to undertake contractual duties and no more, as a form of industrial action; to carry out a work-to-contract.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > participate in labour relations [verb (intransitive)] > work to rule or contract
to work to rule1920
to work to contract1969
1969 Guardian 15 Mar. 6/1 It was also stated that teachers at Warrington would work ‘to contract’.
1994 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 17 Dec. 1601/1 The only thing that the government would understand would be consultants deciding to work to contract.
2010 Wisconsin State Jrnl. (Nexis) 18 Oct. a1 The Monona Grove Education Association has decided to ‘work to contract’.
P15. to work out of a suitcase: to have no fixed place of work; to be an itinerant worker; (also) to have a job which requires frequent overnight travel. Cf. sense 13d, to live out of a suitcase at suitcase n. Phrases.
Π
1947 San Antonio (Texas) Light 29 Dec. b1/5 Brown is disturbed over the number of itinerant tattoo artists who are plying their trade in San Antonio. He terms them ‘guys who work out of a suitcase’.
1976 New Society 12 Aug. 338/2 Sir Robert Mark's spring clean of London bookshops forced hard pornbrokers to work out of a suitcase.
1990 Independent (Nexis) 13 Mar. 31 You could work out of a suitcase. You don't need to be attached to an institution. It's rather like being a busker.
2004 Vancouver Province (Nexis) 27 June b14 Peter Greenberg has spent much of his adult life working out of a suitcase. ‘Hotels could be considered my second home,’ he says.
P16. to work it: to engage in a performance, photo shoot, etc., with intensity or energy, or so as to increase its impact; esp. to move or pose in a sexually alluring way during such a performance. Chiefly in imperative.
Π
1979 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 13 June ‘Work it, girl, work it!’ cheers Dixie Lee Parker as her 20-year-old daughter bumps, grinds, writhes and wiggles out of a gold tinsel dress, black brassiere, panties and G-string.
1987 Philadelphia Tribune 22 May 4 c/4 Her next selection..from her Blacks and Blues album, worked the audience into a frenzy as they egged her on with shouts of ‘work it baby’, and ‘do it sister’.
1997 Scotl. on Sunday (Nexis) 22 Mar. (Spectrum section) 16 A stunning black model..is rippling with gold bangles and moving like an art form. ‘You can tell the haute couture models—they really know how to work it.’
2004 M. Darling B Model 212 That's the face, baby—come on! You're beautiful... Work it, baby. Work it. I love it. Yeah!
P17. music while you work: see music while you work n. to be subdued to what one works in: see subdue v. Phrases. to work both sides of the street: see street n. and adj. Phrases 9. to work double tides: see tide n. 14. to work like a charm: see charm n.1 1c. to work one's fingers to the bone and variants: see bone n.1 Phrases 1a(b). to work one's ticket: see ticket n.1 6a. to work the oracle: see oracle n. 1b. to work with one's hands: see hand n. Phrases 2r.

Phrasal verbs

PV1. With adverbs in specialized senses. to work away
1. transitive. To remove, efface, or erode (esp. by labour or effort).
ΘΠ
the world > movement > transference > [verb (transitive)] > convey or transport > off or away > forcibly
ravisha1382
to work away1602
1602 T. Russel Diacatholicon Aureum ii. sig. B4 And selecting the subtill inward medicinable vertue, drawing it into the veynes to helpe her selfe to worke away all that offendeth her.
1745 R. Pococke Descr. East II. ii. ii. 227 They light the fires, where they have worked away all the ore that was loosened.
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 161 This stoping is not unlike the hewing a flight of steps in a rock, where each man works away the step above that which he stands on.
1829 Q. Jrnl. Agric. 1 No. 4. 422 Place the index of the protractor at 89°, and at the first mark or division next to the last, apply it as before, and again work away the wood, until it fits the angle of the protractor.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 231 Horizontal level headings driven through a pillar..in order to work away the coal.
1937 C. L. Camp & G. D. Hanna Methods in Paleontol. 37 It is best to work away the last thin shell of matrix with a hand needle or with the dental mallet.
2011 V. Holt Spiritual Facelift ii. 54 Many natural beauty experts offer a natural facelift whereby they work away your wrinkles with a deep facial tissue massage.
2. intransitive. To work continuously or methodically; to keep working (at something).
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > carry on vigorously [verb (transitive)] > apply oneself to vigorously
to stand to ——?a1400
to shove at1542
to fall upon ——1617
to work awaya1635
to fall aboard1642
to fall on ——1650
to go at ——1675
to pitch into ——1823
to lay into1880
to be (also go) at the ——1898
to sail in1936
a1635 R. Sibbes Light from Heaven (1638) iv. 103 We see the Physitian by his art and skill, when he sees nature working away, then he will helpe nature, till the cure be wrought.
1778 Town & Country Mag. Oct. 542/2 Come, Lubin, my lad, work away; Love, and Annette, thy toil will repay.
1855 W. M. Thackeray Rose & Ring xiv. 89 He sat down and worked away, very, very hard.
1863 E. C. Gaskell Dark Night's Work xii. 225 She was..still working away at her languages in any spare time.
1936 M. Kennedy Together & Apart i. 33 The machine in the power house..was working away for dear life.
1998 Times 25 June 50/7 He worked away at his returns and his ground-strokes.
2013 Observer (Nexis) 25 Aug. 48 A suited man, already working away furiously on his laptop.
3. intransitive. To apply oneself methodically or vigorously to eating or drinking something. Frequently with at.
Π
1840 W. M. Thackeray Barber Cox in Comic Almanack 9 The Duchess and the great ladies were all seated,..working away at the ices and macaroons.
1866 S. W. Baker Albert N'yanza II. 37 Saat..works away with his spoon,..the soup disappearing like water in the desert.
1987 B. Duffy World as I found It (1990) 116 He worked away at an enormous welcoming meal.
2007 C. C. Williamsen Sherlock, John, & Trevor ii. 22 We were all working away at the food to the exclusion of all conversation.
 to work down
transitive. To reduce (to a particular size, state, etc.); to make smaller, flatter, finer, etc.; to wear or whittle down (literal and figurative).
Π
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 65 Before the Glass is wrought down to its true Figure.
1675 A. Browne Ars Pictoria (ed. 2) App. 10 Let not the Roughness of the Colour discourage you from proceeding, for that is to be wrought down.
1767 Let. Rope-dancing Monkey iv. 37 It is..surprizing, how this animated scene..could be so unnerved, so worked down to flatness unparallelled.
1784 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. I. p. cxxii With the blade-bones, worked down to a sharp edge, they form scythes.
1834 G. Thorburn Resid. Amer. 224 When first I began to handle the hammer,..my hands blistered too; but I wrought the blister down.
1879 ‘G. Eliot’ Theophrastus Such v. 113 All human achievement must be wrought down to this spoon-meat.
1907 Carriage Monthly Mar. 330/1 Take a good welding heat, and work it down to the proper size.
2001 C. F. Taylor Native Amer. Weapons 72 The horn was worked down with a sharp knife to an even thickness.
 to work in
1. transitive. To insert, incorporate, or introduce (a physical or abstract thing).In quot. ?c1450 intransitive with object implied.
ΘΠ
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > add by insertion
to work in?c1450
redact1570
to let in1575
to let into1596
enchase1611
to piece in1720
inlet1860
?c1450 in G. Müller Aus Mittelengl. Medizintexten (1929) 38 Anoynte where þat it is sor, with þat oyle, and it helyth, oþer werk yn with a clystir.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Inframettere, to inlay or worke in among other things.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 78 Then scarifie the wound with that oyntment, till it be wrought in.
1675 A. Browne Ars Pictoria (ed. 2) App. 11 Working in, driving, and sweetening the same Colours one into another.
1728 E. Smith Compl. Housewife (ed. 2) 129 Work in three quarters of a pound of Sugar.
1826 M. Crosfield in Jrnl. Friends Hist. Soc. 20 93 The 5 American Epistles..abound with choice passages of Scripture well wrought in.
1847 A. Helps Friends in Council I. i. viii. 124 I would try and work in the old good thing with the new.
1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) II. App. 584 A..tale in which several particulars..are worked in with a lofty contempt for chronology.
1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies (1938) ix. 147 Part of Butcher Cumberland's army... It's always good to work in a little atmosphere like that.
1984 Gardening from Which? July 26/1 Work in plenty of leaf-mould.
2007 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 17 June e9 This last phrase appears to be Norm's catch-cry, as he manages to work it in several times during our conversation.
2. intransitive. To make one's way in, esp. gradually or with difficulty.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come in [verb (intransitive)] > gradually
to edge in1683
to work in1703
dribble1865
1703 [implied in: Philos. Trans. 1702–03 (Royal Soc.) 23 1297 By this Gnawing and Working in with their Body, they [sc. animalcules] cause a most troublesome Itching.].
1886 C. Bigg Christian Platonists Alexandria vi. 233 Great is the truth and it will prevail, if it have but time to work in.
1918 Westm. Gaz. 29 Apr. 5/4 Yorkshire troops..threw the enemy out of the village..but the enemy again worked in.
2008 C. Wright et al. IT Regulatory & Standards Compliance Handbk. xiii. 328 Start at the perimeter and work in towards the centre.
3. With with.
a. intransitive. Of a thing: to fit in with something else; to be suitable to or in harmony with a plan, system, etc.
Π
1849 A. Helps Friends in Council ii. i. 12 All he meets seems to work in with, and assimilate itself to, his own peculiar subject.
1896 Rep. Sel. Comm. Old-age Pensions 28 in Votes & Proc. (New S. Wales Legislative Assembly) V. 831 I should like to know how our present police administration works in with the existing system.
1920 Fourth Estate (N.Y.) 27 Nov. 25/2 Some impractical scheme for developing business which will not work in with our plans at all.
1944 Bath Weekly Chron. & Herald 24 June 3/1 (advt.) By budgeting my points to work in with the rest of the rations, we make out very well.
2003 Sc. Sun 22 Mar. (Supergoals section) 6/3 I've been doing the community coaching for Motherwell... It works in well with my course in Sports Studies.
b. intransitive. Of a person: (originally) to fit in with a group of people; (later) to cooperate or get along with someone.
ΘΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > co-operation > co-operate with [verb (transitive)]
coadjuvate1601
rally1706
to work in1875
to sit in1925
1875 C. Nordhoff Communistic Societies U.S. 159 If one comes with low motives, he will not be comfortable with us;..but if he has the true vocation he will gradually work in with us.
1894 ‘Old Sleuth’ Wonder Jack iv. 97 If you will work in with me you can make the best pull you ever made.
1915 E. Fenwick Diary 14 Oct. in Elsie Fenwick in Flanders (1981) 89 I had tried so hard to work in with her.
1960 M. Spark Ballad of Peckham Rye viii. 181 If Mr. Druce thought I was working in with you, he'd kill me.
1974 O. Manning Rain Forest i. ix. 101 I am a very fast learner, and I work in well with Mr. Axelrod.
2001 J. Hickey in M. Hickey Irish Days (2004) 59 The bricklayers..depended on the carpenters and the carpenters worked in with them.
 to work off
1.
a. transitive. To finish working at (a task, etc.); to get through or dispose of by working. Also in extended use.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > complete (an action or piece of work) [verb (transitive)] > get finished with (a task, etc.)
overcome?c1225
speedc1340
overtake?a1400
rid1467
finish1526
absolve1574
to work off1618
to get over ——a1646
to finish with1823
1618 G. Chapman tr. Hesiod Georgicks ii. 20 Thy Plough-drawne Oxe; thy Maid, without her spouse, And wisely hir'd; that businesse in thy house, May first worke off; and then to Tillage come [no exact equivalent in Gk. original].
1778 J. Haigh Dyer's Assistant 33 When a Vat has been heated two or three Times, and a good Part has been worked off.
1795 W. Woodfall et al. Impartial Rep. Deb. 6th Session 17th Parl. II. 102 They, therefore, requested to be exempted till they had worked off their stock in hand.
1892 W. S. Gilbert Mountebanks i Giuseppe, he's to be married tomorrow,..and so on until we are all worked off.
1920 Westm. Gaz. 2 Dec. 4/2 When the existing contracts for new steamships are worked off.
1997 P. Prown & H. P. Newquist Legends of Rock Guitar xvii. 131/1 Gregg returned to L. A. to work off the rest of the Liberty contract.
2004 G. P. O'Reilly et al. in Networks 2004 Proc. 11th Internat. Telecommunications Network & Planning Symp. 210/1 The second labor shift cleared out imports while working off the remaining backlog of exports.
b. transitive. To pay off (a debt) gradually or in stages; (now usually) to earn money to pay off a (debt); (also, esp. in early use) to discharge (a debt or obligation) by labour instead of a monetary payment. Cf. earlier to work out 2 at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΚΠ
1701 View of Paris 90 In less than Nine Years they [sc. the French government] cannot work off half their gross Debt.
1781 W. Coxe Acct. Prisons & Hospitals in Russia i. 6 The principle of obliging the debtor to work off his debts by his own labour is just and plausible in theory.
1837 Legality or Illegality of Imprisonment for Debt? III. 4 In other countries..the objects of the law are to..assist rather than impede him [sc. the debtor] in the practice of honest industry, whereby he may obtain subsistence and work off his debts.
1898 C. T. Eben tr. G. Mittelberger Journey To Pennsylvania 31 He must work his debt off as a slave and poor serf.
1917 P. G. Wodehouse Uneasy Money iv. 23 I'm an English countess, doing barefoot dancing to work off the mortgage on the ancestral castle.
1966 M. F. Thorp Sarah Orne Jewett 9 She worked off the mortgage on the farm and began to put money in the bank.
1986 P. Auster Locked Room vii. 122 People who owe him money are rarely sued or taken to court—but are given a chance to work off their debts by rendering him services.
2005 Sunday Times (Nexis) 14 Aug. (Features section) 38 Many are opting to stay on during the summer to get jobs for working off that overdraft.
2.
a. transitive. To remove (something material) by persistent rubbing, scraping, etc.In quot. 1640 in figurative context.
ΘΠ
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > remove or take away > from the position of being on > by continuous force
sweep1577
to work off1621
1621 G. Markham Hungers Preuention xii. 161 Gently rubbing and chafing the Lymed feathers betweene your fingers, working off the Lyme.
1640 T. Fuller Joseph's Coat 175 Some Theeves have eat off their Irons, and fretted off their Fetters with Mercury water; but there is no way to worke off the Chaines of our Naturall Corruption.
1703 S. Parker tr. Eusebius Eccl. Hist. viii. 146 When the Flesh of her Sides and Breasts had been wrought off with Pincers, she was Sentenc'd to the Sea.
1799 Trans. Soc. Arts 17 337 Work off the remaining wood with a large firming chissel.
1864 Amer. Agriculturalist Dec. 338/1 The liver may now be disengaged, by working it off from its attachments next the kidneys.
1895 Stone July 163 This tool is used to work off the inequalities left by the pick.
1930 Pop. Sci. Monthly May 134/3 If a deep nick must be ground out, the edge left by the grinding wheel must be worked off on the hand stone before you can finish it to a keen cutting edge.
1986 J. Townshend in A. Limon et al. Home Owner Man. (ed. 2) vi. ii. 846 The flame will soften the paint so that it is easily worked off with a scraper.
2010 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 6 June (Sports section) 2 Mangrove snapper are just big enough to fillet, and the skin is then worked off with a thin-bladed knife.
b. transitive. To reduce or eliminate (a feeling, condition, etc.) by action or effort; (now) esp. to get rid of (surplus energy, strong emotion, etc.) through vigorous exercise; to take exercise to lose (weight, or food as representing this).
ΘΠ
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > get or be rid of > specifically a thing > by gradual process
to work out?1560
to work off1678
1678 T. Rymer Trag. Last Age 83 This Scene having wrought off the Remains of Phedra's frenzy, in the next she seems more calm.
1702 A. de la Pryme Let. 27 Mar. in Diary (1870) ii. 251 Returning to his labour,..he sweat and wrought it [sc. canine madness] of without any physic.
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xxv. 368 Nature is working off some latent Enemy.
1756 C. Smart tr. Horace Satires ii. ii, in tr. Horace Wks. (1826) II. 97 When exercise has worked off your squeamishness..then let me see you despise mean viands.
1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy II. x. 280 You..take some of his quack medicine, and then he will allow you a run on shore to work it off.
1873 J. A. Symonds Stud. Greek Poets vii. 194 Should a man arise capable of seeing rightly and living purely, he may work off the curse.
1922 J. S. Kingston Our Homes 108 A man sitting writing all day could not work off the calories contained in the food that a man would require who was using a pick and shovel all day.
1943 E. Blyton Summer Term at St Clare's viii. 53 Carlotta worked off some of her restlessness in the playgrounds, but still had plenty left by the time the bell went for classes again.
1957 Washington Post 20 Sept. c10/5 A ‘slimnastics’ class—to help the ladies work off the pounds gained by the gourmet cooking.
1996 Guardian 23 Nov. (Weekend Suppl.) 80/4 To work off our meal..we took a hike along the stunning and challenging Kalalau trail.
2003 Here's Health Sept. 59/3 Go for something more energetic, such as capoeira or step aerobics, if you need to work off pent-up energy.
3. transitive. Printing. To print off (a work, sheet, etc.) from type or a plate, esp. in a final form ready for publication or distribution.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > manner or style of printing > style of printing [verb (transitive)] > print in final form
to work off1624
1624 D. Featley Romish Fisher Caught To Rdr. sig. A4v I could not conueniently procure the proofs to be brought vnto mee, before they were wrought off.
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 36 The very first..who published any works of this kind under their names, wrought off by the Rolling-Presse.
1701 Laconics (new ed.) iii. 89 That..execrable Dog of a Printer..has Work'd off the last Sheet..without Sending me a Proof.
1754 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 58/1 An accident..to the Plate prevented a sufficient number [of etchings] from being wrought off.
1868 E. Edwards Life Sir W. Ralegh II. Introd. p. lxxxi By an accident of a miscarriage of proofs in the Post Office, the three letters..were worked off, prior to correction of the press.
1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism (1883) xv. 107 The printers..often found themselves working off papers half through the night and all through the day.
1932 S. Morison Eng. Newspaper iii. 64 Copies of The Post Man, being worked off upon a full, instead of the normal half-sheet, [etc.].
1986 W. J. Rorabaugh Craft Apprentice v. 105 Peck and Clapp worked off more than a hundred copies of one side of a magazine.
2004 L. P. Fleming in Hist. Bk. in Canada v. x. 216 Thomas Chorley set the type and then worked off 100 handbills.
†4. transitive. To dissuade from an opinion, belief, idea, etc. Cf. sense 39a. Obsolete.
ΘΠ
the mind > will > motivation > demotivation > demotivate [verb (transitive)] > discourage
remove?a1425
discourage1437
revoke1447
disporta1450
to take offa1616
to work off1627
to put off1631
dishearten1634
disinvitea1641
to put or set (anyone) by1768
eyebrow1876
1627 R. S. tr. V. Cepari Life Gonzaga ii. xi. 231 He..seriously did his endeauour, to worke him off from that conceit.
1644 H. Burton Vindic. Churches 1 A corrupt, prophane, polluted Land, not yet washed from her old superstitions,..not yet wrought off from the spirit of bondage.
1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. iii. 56 Glauco..had..aimed at some great office in the Common-wealth, not to be wrought off from this fancy.., untill adrest by some friends to Socrates, who made him acknowledge his own errour.
1702 W. Nicolson Let. to Dr. Kennet 28 I am strangely harden'd and impenitent in this Matter, and not to be wrought off from any of my Opinions.
†5. transitive. To make, create, produce. Obsolete.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacture or production > manufacture or produce [verb (transitive)]
i-wurchec888
makeeOE
workOE
dighta1175
outworka1325
forge1382
tiffa1400
fabricate1598
elaborate1611
produce1612
manufacture1648
to work off1653
output1858
productionize1939
the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > with ease, speed, or success, or in large quantities
whip1611
to work off1653
to hit off1700
dispatchc1710
to throw off1724
to run off1759
to turn off1825
to turn out1847
to run out1872
to churn out1912
proliferate1912
slug1925
whomp1955
gurgitate1963
1653 W. Harvey tr. Seneca in W. Harvey Anat. Exercitations Pref. sig. a8v Virgils face is his Idea, and the Exemplar of his future designe: now that which the Artist takes from this Idea, and worketh off [L. operi suo imposuit], is the Picture.
1695–6 Act 7 & 8 Will. III c. 20 §3 A..profitable Invention..for the..more speedy..knitting of..Stockings..whereby great Quantities are wrought off in a little tyme.
1718 W. Melmoth Let. 10 Mar. in Lett. Several Subj. (1749) II. lxii. 118 I am willing enough to join with you in thinking, that they [sc. the souls of both sexes] maybe wrought off from different models.
1774 J. Granger Suppl. to Biogr. Hist. Eng. 271 The characteristic head of Henry VII..., which is unquestionably a cast from a mould wrought off from that politic prince's face.
6. colloquial.
a. transitive. To dispose of or pass off, esp. by fraud, trickery, or misrepresentation; to palm off. Also: to perpetrate (a swindle, scheme, etc.). Chiefly with on. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)]
nunclea1676
to cook up1686
plant1811
to work off1813
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > treat fraudulently, cheat [verb (transitive)] > dispose of fraudulently
put1603
to bob off1605
to put off1612
impose1650
palm1679
sham1681
cog1721
slur1749
pawn1763
to play off1768
to pass off1799
to work off1813
to stall off1819
to fob off1894
1813 M. L. Weems Let. in Ford's M. L. Weems: Wks. & Ways (1929) III. 92 The Maps..may be work [ed] off and in time to give you bank interest.
1869 Galaxy Sept. 353 Thieves use fences to ‘work off’ stolen goods.
1884 R. Kipling Let. 21 Nov. in C. E. Carrington R. Kipling (1955) iv. 58 I've been writing a story... I'm trying to work it off on some alien paper to get myself pice thereby.
1891 N. Gould Double Event xvi. 112 A nice little swindle you worked off on me that time.
1900 ‘M. Twain’ in N.Y. Times 7 July (Sat. Review Bks. & Art Suppl.) 461/3 He has not written as many plays as I have, but he has had that God-given talent, which I lack, of working them off on the manager.
1948 V. Palmer Golconda viii. 58 Corney had been skiting about his claim for months, and everyone knew it was a duffer, but he hung on in the hope of working it off on someone.
b. transitive. reflexive. To pass oneself off as someone else. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > pretend, dissemble [verb (reflexive)]
feign1297
abuse?a1439
counterfeit1610
personate1710
to pass off1770
to hold out1829
to work off1894
1894 Railroad Trainmen's Jrnl. Dec. 1140/2 He was trying to work himself off as a Trainman.
1897 ‘O. Thanet’ Missionary Sheriff 7 The lightning-rods ain't in it with this last scheme—working his self off as a Methodist parson.
1908 G. B. McCutcheon Husbands of Edith 101 You are the alleged sister of the woman who is working herself off as Mrs. Medcroft.
†7. transitive. colloquial. To put to death; to hang. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > hang [verb (transitive)]
hangc1000
anhangOE
forhangc1300
to loll up1377
gallowa1400
twitchc1450
titc1480
truss1536
beswinga1566
trine1567
to turn over1570
to turn off1581
to turn (a person) on the toe1594
to stretch1595
derrick1600
underhang1603
halter1616
staba1661
noose1664
alexander1666
nub1673
ketch1681
tuck1699
gibbet1726
string1728
scrag1756
to hang up1771
crap1773
patibulate1811
strap1815
swing1816
croak1823
yardarm1829
to work off1841
suspercollatea1863
dangle1887
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge lxiii. 304 He was ready for working off; such being the case, he considered it their duty, as a civilised and enlightened crowd, to work him off.
1849 H. A. Wise Los Gringos xix. 116 Soon after, they were properly worked off, and swung, dangling, lifeless figures.
1909 Canada Law Jrnl. 45 469 An executioner..attempted to shew how a victim was ‘worked off’.
 to work out
1.
a. transitive. To bring about or produce (a result) by labour or effort; to attain or accomplish (a plan or purpose), esp. with difficulty. Now archaic and rare. In quot. 1600: to preserve to the end.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)]
wieldeOE
timberc897
letc900
rearOE
doOE
i-wendeOE
workOE
makeOE
bringc1175
raisec1175
shapec1315
to owe (also have) a wold (also on wield)a1325
procurec1330
purchasec1330
causec1340
conform1377
performa1382
excite1398
induce1413
occasionate?c1450
occasionc1454
to bring about1480
gara1500
to bring to passc1513
encause1527
to work out1534
inferc1540
excitate?1549
import1550
ycause1563
frame1576
effect1581
to bring in1584
effectuatea1586
apport?1591
introduce1605
create1607
generate1607
cast1633
efficiate1639
conciliate1646
impetrate1647
state1654
accompass1668
to bring to bear1668
to bring on1671
effectivate1717
makee1719
superinduce1837
birth1913
the world > action or operation > carrying out > execute, perform, or carry out [verb (transitive)] > achieve or effect > with effort
to work out1534
to toil out1593
to wrestle out1823
1534 Bible (Tyndale rev. Joye) Phil. ii. 12 Worke out [Gk. κατεργάζεσθε] youre awne saluacion with feare and tremblynge.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. i. 181 We..Knew that we ventured on such dangerous seas, That if we wrought out life, twas ten to one. View more context for this quotation
1621 T. Granger Familiar Expos. Eccles. vi. ii. 148 Doth he not most often by his wit worke out his woe? and by his strength procure his owne ruine?
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts i. 537 Hee loves to injoy blessings, but not to earne, and worke them out.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper iii. 225 To go about to work out true peace by..compliances with men, is an endlesse work.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. iii. 298 Made unknowingly to work out the advantage of fellow-creatures, whereof we have not the least knowledge.
1805 W. Wordsworth Waggoner iv. 118 When the malicious Fates are bent On working out an ill intent.
1851 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 4) ii. 33 O lift your natures up:..work out your freedom.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People ii. §7. 95 The fortunes of England were being slowly wrought out in every incident.
2011 A. Rugeruza Through Trials to Triumph i. xii. 81 It is difficult to see what God is doing when we are facing trials, but God works his purpose out even through our tears.
b. transitive. To make, fashion, or form (a material thing), esp. by digging or cutting; to carve out, dig out, etc. Now rare.Usually with work in past tense or past participle in form wrought.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > fashion, shape, or form > form by cutting, pounding, tearing, rubbing, etc.
hewc900
smitec1275
tailc1400
carve1490
tear1597
wear1597
to work out1600
draw1610
to carve outa1616
effringe1657
shear1670
pare1708
sned1789
whittle1848
to rip up1852
slice1872
chop1874
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > types of shaping process
worka1325
strike1485
sink1526
print1530
cut1600
to work out1600
strain1674
scribe1679
stamp1798
slab1868
squirt1881
tablet1891
extrude1913
fabricate1926
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > hollowness > make hollow [verb (transitive)] > form by hollowing out
sink?a1425
to cut out1548
void?1578
cut1634
hollow1648
to work out1774
excavate1839
tunnel1856
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne x. xxix. 185 A hollow caue was in the craggie stone, Wrought out by hand [It. fatta] a number yeeres to fore.
1653 J. Rogers Ohel or Beth-Shemesh i. xiv. 187 Learne (saith Solomon) Prov. 30.26. of the Conies (poore little things) yet they with labour worke out holes and burrowes in the roots of the Rocks.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 79 When I had wrought out some Boards..I made large Shelves.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 108 The old one then, with as much assiduity as it before worked out its hole, now closes the mouth of the passage.
1826 H. Cole tr. M. Luther Select Wks. III. 260 A golden vessel wrought out with file and hammer.
1837 E. Taylor Irish Tourist 179 These passages and chambers..had been wrought out by men's hands at some very distant period.
1920 T. Mainland in J. G. F. M. Heddle & T. Mainland Orkney & Shetland 124 Wonderful caves and subterranean passages, wrought out by the action of the sea.
2012 V. Buzylo et al. in G. Pivnyak et al. Geomech. Processes during Underground Mining 30/1 Barrier pillar is in the center of it. Chambers are worked-out to the left and to the right within 2 panels.
2. intransitive. Originally: to discharge (a debt or obligation) by labour instead of a monetary payment. Now also more generally: to earn money to pay off (a debt). Cf. to work off 1b at Phrasal verbs 1.In quot. a1535 in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (transitive)] > work to pay off (debt or obligation)
to work outa1535
to earn out1651
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) xxiv. sig. U.iv Anthony. There shall no man (whych denieth our sauiour once, & after attaineth remission) scape thorow that denying, one penny the better cheape, but that he shal ere he come in heauen, full suerly paye therefore. Vincent. He shal peraduenture worke it out afterward Uncle in the frutefull workes of penaunce, prayer & almose dede.
1614 T. Godwin Romanæ Historiæ Anthologia 28 They were delivered vp vnto their creditors by the Praetor to worke out the debt, so that after the payment thereof either by mony or worke, they did recover their libertie.
1670 A. Marvell Let. 8 Dec. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 120 Who can not pay his 5s..shall worke it out in the house of correction.
1773 Pennsylvania Gaz. 28 Apr. 3/2 Whereas I..am indebted £28:7:6,..I am desirous to engage and work it out.
1828 L. Kennedy & T. B. Grainger Tenancy of Land 297 The highway-tax is most frequently worked out.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xiv. 168 Mind you're here my lad to work it out.
1901 B. T. Washington Up from Slavery iii. 59 The charge..was ten dollars per month. I was expected to pay a part of this in cash and to work out the remainder.
1948 Billboard 20 Mar. 36 If the batoneer was suspended, he would not be able to work out his debt.
1990 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 7 Feb. People should be able to work out their debts free of harassment and hardship.
2009 M. Allen Survival Guide to Debt iii. 71 You can replace higher monthly payments with lower ones, giving you a way to work out your debt with a little less strain on your monthly budget.
3. transitive. To work (a mine, vein, seam, etc.) until it is exhausted. Usually in passive.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)]
minea1398
win1447
to work out1545
broach1582
labour1897
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)] > work a mine, vein, or seam
to work out1545
coal1708
stool1824
1545 in G. C. Bond Early Hist. Mining (1924) 8 [The parties shall cause all such coalpits as shall hereafter be] clenewrought out and gettyn [to be] caste in and stopped.
1631 E. Jorden Disc. Nat. Bathes x. 48 Aristotle also tells of a Copper Myne..which being wrought out, turned to an iron Myne.
1770 tr. J.-B. Chappe d'Auteroche Journey into Siberia 190 When one pit is worked out, another is sought for by following the metallic channels.
1827 W. Scott Chron. Canongate I. vii. 143 The Highlands were indeed a rich mine; but they have, I think, been fairly wrought out.
1857 W. Westgarth Victoria & Gold Mines 226 The diggings, the greater part of which..had been abandoned as ground ‘worked out’, to use the digger's phrase.
1906 J. Hockaday in Victoria Hist. County Cornwall I. 520/1 As one part [of the rock] was worked out it was filled in with rubble from the new excavations.
1957 Gloss. Geol. (Amer. Geol. Inst.) Rib,..an elongated pillar left to support the hanging wall, in working out a vein.
2013 Northern Echo (Nexis) 25 Apr. 21 These closures were managed as the mines were worked out.
4. transitive. To bring or get out, esp. gradually or with difficulty. Now esp.: to get rid of, remove, or expel through effort. Cf. to work off 2 at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΠ
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > get or be rid of > specifically a thing > by gradual process
to work out?1560
to work off1678
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > expel > by some process
to work out?1560
vote1642
the mind > emotion > [verb (reflexive)] > expel an emotion
to work out1906
?1560 T. Norton Orations of Arsanes sig. *.ijv He..worketh out of them [sc. floures]..the swete tasting..& healing honey.
1595 T. Lodge Fig for Momus sig. Gv Uolcatius that subborn'd, deuis'd, and wrought To worke out Themis, from the place he sought.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Yy2 That..you may worke out the knots and Stondes of the mind. View more context for this quotation
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 226 If the Fox be in the earth,..they take this course to worke him out.
1660 J. Dryden Astræa Redux 14 Tears of joy..Work out and expiate our former guilt.
1691 J. Hartcliffe Treat. Virtues p. x Strong Bodies will work out the Poyson they take, by degrees.
1759 Ann. Reg. 1758 3/2 To work out the old servants of the Crown, in order to make way for a more uniform system.
1814 J. Nicholson Farmer's Assistant 33 Stir the curd till it is gathered; put it in a strainer, and with your hands work out all the whey.
1897 C. I. Dodd Domest. Econ. xii. 61 Work the lumps out while adding the milk and boiling the sauce up each time.
1906 Jrnl. Abnormal Psychol. 1 37 We might properly say that the ‘uncompleted emotion’..could be given an opportunity to work itself out.
1985 Black Enterprise May 106/1 Holding the bottle at a 45 degree angle, slowly work out the cork.
1996 Plow Snowboarding Mag. Dec. 78/3 We could just make out two small figures plodding along, which we presumed were Kyle and Ed, slowly working the toxins out.
2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 21 July c2/1 I could use a good neck rub,..something to work out the knot of tensions I had acquired.
5. intransitive. Of a thing: to go or come out of something or someone, esp. gradually, or from having been embedded or enclosed. Also: to work loose and come out.In quot. 1698: to lose effect gradually; to wear off.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > go or come out [verb (intransitive)] > make way out gradually
to work out1591
1591 W. Burton Certaine Questions & Answeres f. 22 It [sc. the power of God] worketh out of God himselfe, in the creatures, as when he created all things.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxx. xiii. 394 To draw forth spils of bones, and make them to worke out.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 11 Underlays..are often apt to work out, and..subject it to an unstable and loose position.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 127 The Liquor working out by his Walking, he began to grow weary.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 151 Forelock, a small wedge of iron driven through a hole near the end of iron pins to keep them from working out.
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster I. iii. 33 Fresh splinters of the bone continually worked out.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 275/2 There are three modes of cleansing—..2d, by running the beer into casks, and then allowing the yeast to work out through the bung holes.
1921 Pop. Mech. Aug. 276/1 The end links of the cross chains..are prevented from working out.
1993 Guardian (Nexis) 25 Mar. 3 Twenty-four hours would be allowed for the drugs to work out of his system.
1998 P. Gill Electr. Power Equipm. Maintenance & Testing v. 200 Moisture in the interior of the insulation is working out through the initially dried portions.
†6. transitive. To wear (something) out, esp. by labour, or by continued application of force. Obsolete.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > cause to waste away > wear away or down > wear out
forweara1240
perusec1475
outweara1542
overwear1591
to work out1609
frazzlea1825
1609 E. Topsell House-holder iii. 166 So many worke out their Seruauntes strength, & then turn them out to begge.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Ouvrer Le temps ouvre. Time workes (or weares) out euerie thing.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lvii. 514 During what long thankless nights had she worked out her fingers for little Georgy.
7.
a. transitive. To solve (a problem or question) by calculation or arithmetic; to calculate (an amount, etc.); (more generally) to find the solution to (a problem, difficulty, etc.) by reasoning. Also: to find out or come to (an answer, solution). Also with clause as object.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > calculate or solve [verb (transitive)]
rimeeOE
calcule1377
numbera1382
accounta1387
casta1400
calk1401
computate1449
suppute?a1475
reckona1513
to cast up1539
yield1542
supputate1555
practise?a1560
calculate1570
compute1579
work1582
quantulate1610
resolve1613
find1714
to work out1719
solve1737
to figure out1854
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > resolving of problem, solution > find solution, solve [verb (transitive)]
findOE
assoilc1374
soil1382
contrive1393
to find outc1405
resolvea1438
absolvea1525
solute?1531
solve?1541
dissolve1549
get1559
salvec1571
to beat out1577
sort1581
explicate1582
untiea1586
loose1596
unsolve1631
cracka1640
unscruple1647
metagrobolize1653
to puzzle out1717
to work out1719
to get around ——1803
to dope out1906
lick1946
to get out1951
1719 Free-thinker No. 155. Thus the Algebraist sets out with a very few simple, but clear Principles, which enable him to work out a very intricate Question.
1774 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. 16 Aug. in Jrnl. & Lett. (1965) 169 Bob..worked out three Sums in Reduction compound.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xix. 192 Day after day, Old Sol and Captain Cuttle kept her reckoning..and worked out her course, with the chart spread before them.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. vi. 108 While she completed the exercise, or worked out the sum (for Mdlle. Moore taught her arithmetic, too).
1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. xviii She tried to work out the question in her own mind, whether her eagerness for classical learning was a wrong sort of ambition.
1891 Speaker 2 May 533/1 A practised novel-reader could probably work out the problem and complete the plot.
1932 Punch 23 Nov. p. xiii (advt.) He has worked out that, on the Hire Purchase system, he can pay for it, as well as paying for its fuel, with what he now pays for fuel alone.
1980 Look Now Sept. 64/3 You should sit down with your parents and work things out between you.
1989 Which? Tax-saving Guide 5/2 To work out how much extra tax is due, you need to find out the before-tax amount of the income.
1992 Sunday Times of India 19 Apr. 24/7 The monks..are hopeful of working out an acceptable solution to the vexed ethnic problem.
2013 Church Times 22 Feb. 25/1 The problems start when you try to work out what exactly collegiality means in practice.
b. intransitive. To amount to or be calculated at a specified quantity or total.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > enumeration, reckoning, or calculation > enumerate, reckon, or calculate [verb (intransitive)] > amount or be equal to
goeOE
risec1175
amount1399
mountc1400
to come to ——?a1425
draw1425
reach1431
to run to ——1528
surmount1551
to come unto ——1562
arise1594
to equivalize account1647
tell1671
sum1721
reckon1783
count1819
number1842
to add up1850
to add up to1853
to work out1867
total1880
to tot up1882
1867 Special Rep. Select Comm. Metropolis Gas Bill: Minutes of Evid. 14 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 520) XII. 1 When the capital was small..it [sc. the rate] would work out to more than 9 per cent or 10 per cent.
1882 Minutes of Evid. 48/1 in Rep. Select Comm. Artizans' & Labourers' Dwellings in Parl. Papers (H.C. 235) VII. 249 I had in my eye and in my recollection then the Whitechapel and Limehouse scheme, and that [sc. the loss on the scheme] does work out at 15 per cent.
1894 Times 14 Aug. 11/4 The oil, waste, water, and general engine-room stores work out to ·0657 penny per unit metered.
1898 Tit-Bits 16 July 311/3 This [quantity of tea] when infused works out at about 4,000,000 gallons.
1919 Princeton Alumni Weekly 17 Dec. 284/2 The best showing of the evening was made in the relay race, the time of 1.45.4 working out at an average of 26.2 for each fifty yards.
1967 Pop. Sci. Apr. 186/1 You can add up to about 10 percent of the weight of cement in coloring pigment without affecting the strength of the concrete. This works out to about two pounds of pigment per bag of premix.
2009 Private Eye 18 Sept. 16/1 We had excellent seats for £320 apiece, which worked out at about 35p a minute.
c. transitive. To understand or decipher the character, behaviour, or motivation of. Chiefly in negative construction. Cf. to make out 11 at make v.1 Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > understand [verb (transitive)] > reach understanding of
conceive1340
grope1390
tellc1390
catchc1475
reacha1500
make1531
to make sense of1574
to make outa1625
apprehend1631
realize1742
finda1834
reify1854
recognize1879
to get (something) straight1920
to pick up1946
to work out1953
1953 Washingon Post 24 July 29/3 Britain's Ryder Cup selectors were a puzzled band of golf experts tonight. They just can't work out the form of their golfers.
1982 Jerusalem Post Mag. 26 Feb. 18/2 Nobody can really work him out yet as he has an inscrutable air which intrigues.
1991 T. Mo Redundancy of Courage (1992) xiii. 134 You couldn't work Maria out. She was a closed book, even to Rosa and to me.
1997 J. King Headhunters (1998) 36 He couldn't work women out sometimes.
2010 L. Lynch Grey Man 154 When I first met him I couldn't work him out and to be honest I didn't really like him.
8. transitive. To bring to a fuller or finished state; to develop, elaborate (a theory, idea, etc.); to formulate (a plan, etc.) in detail. Sometimes coloured by sense 7a.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > furtherance > further [verb (transitive)] > by bringing out what is potential
educt1568
educe1603
develop1714
to work out1821
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. v. 131 To see how Marlow, Shakespeare, and other play artificers, work out their fanciful plots.
1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Good for Nothing xxxix A picture..worked out with a skill and knowledge of light and shade.
1865 J. Fergusson Hist. Archit. I. ii. i. ii. 380 [Italy] did not work out the Basilican type for herself.
1880 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times IV. lxvii. 518 The theory [of the survival of the fittest]..was worked out with the most minute and elaborate care.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men II. xxviii. 212 An idea..which..works itself out in his brain.
1895 F. Harrison in 19th Cent. Aug. 217 This important and far-reaching truth is worked out by Mr. Mallock with much acuteness.
1922 Sunday State Jrnl. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 27 Aug. a9/1 A committee was appointed to work out details of the pre-race event.
1959 H. Pinter Birthday Party i. 10 It was all arranged, it was all worked out.
1994 Wedding & Home June 85/2 Work out a seating plan and write out any place cards.
2011 Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 22 July 31 Handwriters spend more time working out and clarifying their thoughts than keyboarders.
†9. transitive. To study or investigate completely; to work through. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > [verb (transitive)] > study diligently or hard
to make a study ofa1591
nit1596
to sit over ——1606
to mouse over1808
to work out1830
bone1832
work1840
to work up1852
mug1868
swot1901
1830 H. N. Coleridge Introd. Greek Poets 17 After a boy has worked out a book or other given portion of a classic poem.
10. Of a situation, course of events, etc.
a. transitive (reflexive). To develop in a particular way; esp. to be resolved successfully; to sort itself out.
Π
1835 Rep. Select Comm. Hand-loom Weavers' Petitions 100 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 341) XIII. 1 The weaver would not have the same power, if a minimum scale were fixed, of forcing an advance when there should be a demand for labour as he has now?—No, but the thing would certainly work itself out.
1869 H. F. Tozer Res. Highlands of Turkey I. 141 The natural tendency of their mode of life..worked itself out as time went on.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth of Lang. xiv. 281 Every division of the human race has been long enough in existence for its language-capacities to work themselves out to some manner of result.
1952 C. Fry Firstborn i. i, in M. Halverson Relig. Drama 1 (1957) 87 Ramases, let what has happened work itself out.
1992 InfoWorld 14 Sept. 42/2 Perhaps you think that it'll all just work itself out in the end, that justice will be served.
2000 S. Kinsella Secret Dreamworld Shopaholic iii. 41 ‘Are you overdrawn?’.. ‘Just a tad.’ I shrug. ‘It'll work itself out.’
b. intransitive. With adverb, or phrase or clause functioning adverbially, as complement: to have a particular outcome; to turn out well, badly, etc.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > effect, result, or consequence > result [verb (intransitive)] > turn out
goOE
farec1230
to come to proofc1330
shape1338
afarec1380
achievea1393
falla1398
sort1477
succeed1541
lucka1547
to fall out1556
redound1586
to come off1590
light1612
takea1625
result1626
issue1665
to turn out1731
eventuate1787
to roll out1801
to come away1823
to work out1839
pan1865
1839 J. S. Dwight tr. J. W. von Goethe in tr. J. W. von Goethe & F. Schiller Select Minor Poems 181 In silence all will work out well [Ger. im Stillen gibt sich's schon].
1887 Spectator 3 Sept. 1173 It is..impossible to tell..how the situation in Ireland will work out.
1935 R. Chandler in Black Mask Jan. 28/1 Put some light on so I can see to pop this guy, if it works out that way.
1952 Kiplinger Mag. June 13/2 The current tendency to vote for the man, not the party, has worked out badly in another respect.
1996 C. Bateman Of Wee Sweetie Mice & Men xx. 159 I was so sure of myself that I believed everything would work out for the best.
2001 Times 21 Mar. i. 32/5 The job hasn't worked out as well as I'd hoped.
c. intransitive. To have a good or successful outcome. Also (of a person): to prove successful or effective in a particular role. Frequently in negative construction.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > succeed or be a success [verb (intransitive)]
speedc1175
fayc1300
provec1300
flourishc1400
passc1425
prosper1434
succeedc1450
to take placea1464
to come well to (our) pass1481
shift?1533
hitc1540
walka1556
fadge1573
thrive1587
work1599
to come (good) speedc1600
to go off1608
sort1613
go1699
answer1721
to get along1768
to turn up trumps1785
to come off1854
pan1865
scour1871
arrive1889
to work out1899
to ring the bell1900
to go over1907
click1916
happen1949
1899 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 16 Apr. 9/6 The city has a big paving scheme on hand, and means to put every dollar in permanent paving... Of course that plan will never work out.
1935 ‘E. Queen’ Spanish Cape Myst. xii. 269 Just a fling that didn't work out.
1947 J. Van Druten Voice of Turtle iii. ii. 156 I can't begin again..unless there is some chance of those plans working out.
1960 J. Kerouac Let. Sept. in Sel. Lett. 1957–69 (1999) 268 It felt like the old days when things used to work out for both of us.
1995 J. B. Rosener America’s Competitive Secret ii. 38 I hired a woman from Texas A and M and put her in charge of one of my field operations, but she didn't work out.
2009 Private Eye 18 Sept. 39/3 (advt.) Somehow using the computer to listen to music never worked out.
11. transitive. To complete the duration of (an employment contract, notice period, etc.).
Π
1840 Visitor Apr. 124/2 However quick..he might be, it was hardly likely that he had learned quite all that his master could teach him... The young man seemed to be reconciled to work out the remainder of his time.
1878 Amer. Israelite 31 May 4/3 If he worked out his time, his master was commanded by the law not to let him go away empty-handed.
1894 Rep. Chief Labour Correspondent Strikes & Lock-outs 1892 (Board Trade-Labour Depart.) 54 Degradation of a stoveminder to rank of labourer, whilst working out his notice to leave the employment.
1945 Billboard 7 Apr. 15/2 Sullivan is due to leave Light in the near future but is working out his contract before joining Lombardo by singing with both in the meantime.
1983 H. Evans Good Times, Bad Times xii. 264 I waited impatiently while he worked out his notice at Now!
2004 A. Kaur in R. Elmhirst & R. Saptari Labour in Southeast Asia ii. 66 After serving his sentence, he was taken back to his employer at the latter's request to work out the rest of his contract.
12.
a. transitive. Originally and chiefly U.S. Originally: to give (a racehorse) a practice run. Now also more generally: to subject (a person or animal) to a session of physical exercise or training. Cf. workout n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > engage in horse racing [verb (intransitive)] > train or exercise
to work out1891
to ride work1904
1891 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 1 July 4/6 He will go out to City View today to see his race horses worked out.
1901 Horse Rev. 2 July 716/3 Trainer C. H. Judd worked him out over the Honolulu track in 2:21.
1993 N.Y. Times 7 Nov. viii. 8/4 Ed Ford, a scout for the Cubs, worked him out on Aug. 28 for four hours in 90-degree heat along with 15 other prospects.
2011 B. Frankel Place of Yes i. 27 She worked at the track as an exercise rider, working out the horses in the morning.
2012 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Nexis) 27 Dec. d5 The team's trainer worked them out pretty hard.
b. intransitive. Originally U.S. Originally: to engage in physical training or practice for a sport. Now chiefly: to exercise, esp. with weights or gym equipment, in order to improve fitness or bodily appearance.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > boxing > box [verb (intransitive)] > for practice
to work out1892
shadow-box1919
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > exercise > [verb (intransitive)]
exercise1655
to work out1929
1892 Boston Daily Globe 18 Apr. 2/2 By noon there was a large gathering. To see the horses work out.
1905 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 23 Feb. 9/2 The [baseball] team is working out daily at Fourth and Jackson streets.
1927 Daily Express 27 May 13/7 I saw Barber work out in the gymnasium..boxing four rounds with Young Johnny Brown.
1929 Cosmopolitan Aug. 72/2 Feet's feet take up so much room when he is on the floor that only two other dancers can work out at the same time.
1948 G. Vidal City & Pillar ii. ix. 264 Jim worked out in the YMCA.
1976 N. Maclean River runs through It 157 A bunch of rail birds at a race track watching their favorite horse work out.
1980 J. Ball Then came Violence xiv. 117 He belonged to a health club where he worked out regularly.
2007 Metro (Toronto) 18 Jan. 5/1 Residents can work out in well-equipped fitness facilities.
 to work over
†1. transitive. To cover (something) completely or thoroughly with (a substance, decoration, etc.). Obsolete.In some passive instances, over may be interpreted as a preposition, with the subject of the clause being the prepositional object of the active verb.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > fashion with artistic skill or decoration [verb (transitive)] > cover with ornamental work
fret1340
lay?a1366
overfretc1440
to work over1542
parget1576
encrust1641
incrustate1728
1542 tr. A. Geuffroy Order Greate Turckes Courte sig. e.iii Theyr sheetes are of course lynnen clothe, wroughte ouer [Fr. couverts] wyth sylcke of nedle worcke.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xvii. 455 You must cut away the wood which is aboue the roote, and worke it ouer with gummed waxe all along the seames.
1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 113/2 An Air too dry and parching, does Wrinkle and Chap the Skin, so that Art must be called in to work it over with a Beautiful Embroidery.
1768 Universal Mag. June 326/2 When the plate has gone through the hands of a bungler, who has worked it over with his infamous scratches, the idea of the master is lost.
1874 J. H. Pollen Anc. & Mod. Furnit. S. Kensington Mus. 131 The work is profusely gilt and worked over with tooling.
1907 Success Mag. Nov. 766/3 I..marked out design in the dots. Then I worked it over solid with light-blue cotton floss.
2. transitive. To do work on (something material or immaterial) until it is changed or improved; to rework. [Compare German überarbeiten (18th cent. in the sense; 17th cent. in sense ‘to overwork’).]
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacture or production > manufacture or produce [verb (transitive)] > again
rework1645
remanufacture1763
to work over1832
1832 O. A. Taylor tr. F. V. Reinhard Mem. & Confessions i. xii. 96 I every where discover imperfections and defects which might have been avoided, had I..been able to work them over [L. alles..zu bearbeiten] and improve them.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. iii. 39 For a long time there has existed..a tendency to work over such verbs,..reducing them to accordance with the more numerous class of the ‘regularly’ inflected.
1943 B. Bandel Let. 3 Jan. in S. J. Bugbee Officer & Lady (2004) 60 The solution is invariably totally un-army, so then our Elder Statesmen work it over to make it fit into the army.
1983 Leadership 2 60 The Olifant tanks are thoroughly revamped ex-British Centurions which have been up-gunned, re-engined and generally worked over.
2007 M. A. Pitman Ask without Fear vii. 81 Introverts tend to share an idea once they've worked it over internally and arrived at their finished product.
3. transitive. colloquial (originally U.S.). To beat (a person) up, esp. severely. Cf. to do over 4 at do v. Phrasal verbs 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person
to-beatc893
threshOE
bustc1225
to lay on or upon?c1225
berrya1250
to-bunea1250
touchc1330
arrayc1380
byfrapc1380
boxc1390
swinga1400
forbeatc1420
peal?a1425
routa1425
noddlea1450
forslinger1481
wipe1523
trima1529
baste1533
waulk1533
slip1535
peppera1550
bethwack1555
kembc1566
to beat (a person) black and blue1568
beswinge1568
paik1568
trounce1568
canvass1573
swaddle?1577
bebaste1582
besoop1589
bumfeage1589
dry-beat1589
feague1589
lamback1589
clapperclaw1590
thrash1593
belam1595
lam1595
beswaddle1598
bumfeagle1598
belabour1600
tew1600
flesh-baste1611
dust1612
feeze1612
mill1612
verberate1614
bethumpa1616
rebuke1619
bemaul1620
tabor1624
maula1627
batterfang1630
dry-baste1630
lambaste1637
thunder-thump1637
cullis1639
dry-banga1640
nuddle1640
sauce1651
feak1652
cotton1654
fustigate1656
brush1665
squab1668
raddle1677
to tan (a person's) hide1679
slam1691
bebump1694
to give (a person) his load1694
fag1699
towel1705
to kick a person's butt1741
fum1790
devel1807
bray1808
to beat (also scare, etc.) someone's daylights out1813
mug1818
to knock (a person) into the middle of next week1821
welt1823
hidea1825
slate1825
targe1825
wallop1825
pounce1827
to lay into1838
flake1841
muzzle1843
paste1846
looder1850
frail1851
snake1859
fettle1863
to do over1866
jacket1875
to knock seven kinds of —— out of (a person)1877
to take apart1880
splatter1881
to beat (knock, etc.) the tar out of1884
to —— the shit out of (a person or thing)1886
to do up1887
to —— (the) hell out of1887
to beat — bells out of a person1890
soak1892
to punch out1893
stoush1893
to work over1903
to beat up1907
to punch up1907
cream1929
shellac1930
to —— the bejesus out of (a person or thing)1931
duff1943
clobber1944
to fill in1948
to bash up1954
to —— seven shades of —— out of (a person or thing)1976
to —— seven shades out of (a person or thing)1983
beast1990
becurry-
fan-
1903 Salt Lake Tribune 26 May 4/4 He hunted up the man from Neodesha and so completely worked him over that his mother wouldn't have known him.
1934 D. Hammett Thin Man viii. 37 Morelli's face was a mess: the coppers had worked him over a little just for the fun of it.
1979 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 1 June 532/2 I got some lively stuff of the three porkers working the kid over and all the editor has to say is that police brutality's a bit of a cliché nowadays.
1990 P. Auster Music of Chance ii. 29 They kept working me over. For a moment there I thought they were going to kill me.
2006 J. Kaplan Contact Wounds (2007) 90 His assailants had worked him over with hammers. The man's face resembled a blue melon.
 to work through
transitive. Originally Psychology. To resolve or come to terms with (an emotional or psychological problem), often by thinking or talking about it; (also) to surmount or deal with successfully. Cf. to work through —— at Phrasal verbs 2.
ΚΠ
1933 Family Oct. 207/1 He is ‘working over’ his problem rather than ‘working it through,’ and the effect is likely further to entrench him in the very attitudes that are causing him trouble.
1956 Jrnl. Bible & Relig. 24 169/1 The teacher will help him to enter counseling and work it through with a competent therapist.
1975 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 75 1776/3 Providing support to work the issues through, and then as the person learns to cope, giving the help needed in establishing new goals and directions.
1988 T. N. Hart Coming down Mountain 36 Far more intimate are those friends who clash once in a while, work the problem through, and end up embracing.
2005 Sunday Tasmanian (Nexis) 3 Apr. Some couples never recover from that... Others hang in there and work it through over a long period of time with the help of a counsellor.
 to work up
1.
a. transitive. To shape, knead (a soft or malleable substance) (to or into a paste, mixture, etc.); to mix or stir (with another material).In quot. c1425 figurative.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > mix or blend [verb (transitive)] > by kneading, stirring, etc.
workeOE
welka1400
confrayc1420
to work upc1425
tamper1573
to mill up1747
braid1851
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) Prol. l. 348 How mony worthi loste ther his lyf Thorouȝ olde hatrede wrouȝt vp with newe st[r]if.
c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich Mittelengl. Medizinbuch (1896) 127 Let hit stande nyne dayes & nyne nyȝtes, & þan go werche hit vp, & let frye hit in apanne.
a1500 in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 151 (MED) Stere wyth ȝoure hand... In þis manere schull ȝe wyrke it vp til it be as grete as a peys.
?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe sig. U.iiv Take..Frankencense, [and] as much oyle as shalbe thought sufficient, make it and worke it vp well.
1577 W. Harrison Descr. Scotl. xii. 15/1 in R. Holinshed Chron. I They grinde them [sc. their fish] to smal powder, which they worke vp with water into loaues.
1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health xxxv. 48 I aduise all studentes that be troubled with winde..to cause Fenell seedes, Anise or Carewaie to be wrought up in their bread.
1635 J. Babington Pyrotechnia xix. 23 These oyles must be..wrought up, till you finde your mixture bound like dough.
1661 W. Rabisha Whole Body Cookery 155 Mince a few sweet herbs and Parslee, with a little Beef-suet;..work it up with a piece of Butter, [etc.].
1740 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (ed. 2) App. p. xi Take scalding hot water, and..with Newcastle soap, beat and work it up to a clear lather.
c1770 H. Glasse Compl. Confectioner 118 Then work it up into a stiff paste.
1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. I. x. 355 To this strained matter, one half of the whole quantity of flour is to be added, and well worked up with the hands so as to form sponge.
1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women I. xi. 167 Hannah had left a pan of bread to rise, Meg had worked it up early,..and forgotten it.
1933 G. M. Hindlip Minnie (rev. ed.) 52 Add a mite of salt and work up the paste with a spoon.
1984 N. N. Greenwood & A. Earnshaw Chem. of Elements (1986) vii. 257 The solution is worked up with an excess of LiAlH4.
1997 D. Davis Southern Jack Tales 58 The farmer's wife worked up the butter while Jack churned the second churnful of cream.
2009 Sun (Nexis) 13 June 37 You use much less [shower gel] if you put a tiny blob on a shower puff or flannel and work it up into a lather.
b. intransitive. To be able to be shaped, mixed, etc., in this way. Also: to undergo mixing; to blend.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > become mixed or blended [verb (intransitive)]
mingOE
meddlec1350
mella1387
blenda1400
commix?1520
admixa1522
mixa1522
mingle1530
wallc1598
co-minglea1616
comminglea1626
congregate1626
intermingle1626
intermella1641
conflux1662
intermix1722
partake1731
to work up1841
interfuse1851
interblend1854
immingle1858
inmix1892
meld1959
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xviii. 188 A stew of tripe,..and cow-heel,..and bacon,..and steak,..and peas, cauliflowers, new potatoes, and sparrow-grass, all working up together in one delicious gravy.
1855 D. T. Ansted et al. Geol., Mineral. & Crystallogr. 213 Any hard material, that does not soon work up into mud or grind into dust.
1924 Pop. Sci. Sept. 96/1 (advt.) The shaving cream..works up into a rich, creamy lather almost instantly.
1930 Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 165. 31/2 The shale works up readily in water to a mud.
2013 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 2 Feb. (Mag.) 13 Its exfoliating grains are as fine as salt and work up into a silky polishing foam.
†2.
a. transitive. To construct, raise, build up (a wall or other structure). Obsolete.In quot. 1712: to build up material around, shore up.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > build or construct [verb (transitive)]
timbera900
workOE
betimberOE
craftOE
buildc1275
lifta1300
stagec1330
upraise1338
wright1338
edifya1340
to make outa1382
to make upa1382
biga1400
housea1400
risea1400
telda1400–50
to work upa1450
redress1481
levy1495
upmake1507
upbuild1513
exstruct?c1550
construct1663
to run up1686
practise1739
to lay up1788
elevate1798
to put up1818
to lay down1851
practicate1851
a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 3534 To wyrche vp herre werk he ȝaff hem space.
a1500 (?a1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 1532 The Giaunt wrought vp his wall And laid stonys gret and small.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 26v The walles [were] vp wroght wondur to se.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 262/1 Putlocks, pieces of Spar put into the Sides of the Wall to lay Boards on for the Bricklayer to stand and work up high Walls.
1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 22 In working up the Walls of a Building, do not work any Wall above 3 foot high before you work up the next adjoining Wall.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 119 Set this Pole very upright,..and work up the Foot of it with Rubble.., for fear its own Weight, or the Wind, should throw it down.
1735 J. Price Some Considerations Stone-bridge Thames 8 Strong Cross-Walls..must be work'd up to the Top of the Crown of the Arches.
1831 P. Nicholson Mechanic's Compan. 195 In working up the wall it would be proper not to work more than four or five feet at a time.
b. transitive. To lift or raise (a weight) with effort; to hoist. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > raising > make to go up or cause to rise [verb (transitive)] > hoist
heave971
lifta1300
to set upa1300
lift1362
raisec1384
weigh1421
horsea1500
hawsec1500
heeze1513
hoise1548
hoist1548
wind1577
to work upc1610
hist1707
c1610 in G. C. Bond Early Hist. Mining (1924) 15 A smale weight..will growe heavye before it be worked up and worke many wheeles.
3.
a. transitive. To do work on (a substance or material), esp. so that it is ready for use; to make (something) up into a finished product.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)] > bring (a person or thing) into a state or condition
set971
haveOE
wendOE
to bring onc1230
teemc1275
putc1330
run1391
casta1400
laya1400
stead1488
constitute1490
render1490
takea1530
introduce1532
deduce1545
throw?1548
derive?c1550
turn1577
to work up1591
estate1605
arrive1607
state1607
enduea1616
assert1638
sublime1654
to run up1657
the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare [verb (transitive)] > for use > material
tawa900
defyc1380
work1440
suborn1541
to work up1591
1591 in G. C. Bond Early Hist. Mining (1924) 11 The fyner and hammerman for working up the said 50 tonns of barr iron.
1698 in Acts & Laws Massachusetts-Bay (1724) 116 No Person..shall work up into Shoes..any Leather that is not tanned and curried in Manner as aforesaid.
1739 C. Labelye Short Acct. Piers Westm. Bridge 60 Fir..Timber was chosen as being..the easiest work'd up.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iii. 42 Seneca..starting a doubt whether God made His own materials, or only worked up such as he found already in being.
1797 E. Burke Lett. Peace Regic. France iii, in Sel. Wks. (1892) 236 The raw and prepared material [sc. silk]..is worked up in various ways.
1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. Great Brit. Introd. 7 The straw-plait..is wrought up into hats and bonnets.
1869 W. T. Thornton On Labour iii. v. 323 A builder..willing to keep his men employed during the bad weather..allowed them to work up a quantity of stone to be ready for use in the spring.
1916 Boiler Maker July 197/2 The subsequent heatings necessary to work the material up into a finished product.
1985 M. F. Hendy Stud. Byzantine Monetary Econ. 665 Only metal obtained by the state through its various procedures was worked up into coin.
2010 R. J. Whitehurst & M. Van Oort Enzymes in Food Technol. vi. 130 The dough..can be worked up into high-quality bakery products.
b. transitive. To form, construct, produce (something material or immaterial), esp. with care, effort, or difficulty.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > produce with effort or difficulty
laboura1393
force1551
constrain1607
screw1630
toil1671
to work up1675
scratch1922
1675 T. Shadwell Psyche Pref. sig. A4v Here is more Variety, and the Scenes of Passion are wrought up with more Art.
1710 J. Addison Tatler No. 153 An eminent artist, who wrought up his pictures with the greatest accuracy.
1713 J. Addison Cato i. iv The Sun..Works up more fire and colour in their cheeks.
1820 Q. Musical Mag. 2 60 Fugues wrought up with infinite art, and little effect.
1885 Manch. Weekly Times 7 Mar. 5/5 I have perhaps worked up this picture a little too elaborately.
1897 G. A. Henty On Irrawaddy 120 My uncle is working up a very good business.
1911 ‘G. A. Birmingham’ Lighter Side Irish Life i. 9 He stood..in front of the looking-glass working up appropriate gestures.
1996 W. Carter in P. Trynka Rock Hardware 40/2 Sam Phillips sent Elvis over to Scotty's house to try to work up some material.
2012 New Yorker 3 Sept. 41/3 The police worked up an Operational and Raid Plan, which involved more than a dozen local and federal agents.
c. transitive. To develop, expand, enlarge (an idea, thought, plan, etc.); to form into something more complete or satisfactory.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [verb (transitive)] > into something greater
improve1647
to work up1693
to run on1886
1693 T. Creech tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xiii. 268 For he that but conceives a Crime in thought, Contracts the danger of an Actual Fault: Then what must he expect that still proceeds To finish Sin, and work up Thoughts to Deeds? [L. cedo si conata peregit].
1712 E. Budgell Spectator No. 307. ¶2 Your agreeable manner of working up Trifles.
1819 W. Irving Sketch Bk. ii. 134 A spray could not tremble in the breeze.., but it has been noticed by these impassioned and delicate observers, and wrought up into some beautiful morality.
1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest III. xiii. 278 All this could easily be wrought up into a claim.
1907 Mrs. C. Kernahan Fraud iv. 28 He had got a dramatic situation..which he meant Danvers to work up.
1957 New Scientist 24 Jan. 46/2 They [sc. sketch designs] could be worked up into a fully practicable design.
2010 New Yorker 16 Aug. 87/1 That may sound like standard post-Wildean wit, but Christie can work it up into lovely scenes.
4.
a. intransitive. To make one's way up, esp. gradually, indirectly, or with difficulty; to rise, go, or come up; to ascend, advance.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > move forward or advance [verb (intransitive)]
wadeOE
agoOE
forthganga1000
forthgoOE
syeOE
kenc1275
to-stepc1275
vaunce1303
forthnima1325
passc1330
throc1330
forthpass1382
to pass forthc1384
to carry forthc1390
proceedc1392
to go alongc1400
to be forthwardc1430
get) groundc1436
to set onc1450
avauntc1460
pretend1481
to make way1490
advance?1507
to get forward1523
promove1570
to rid ground (also space)1572
to rid (the) way1581
progressa1586
to gather grounda1593
to make forth1594
to make on1597
to work up1603
perge1607
to work one's (also its) way1609
to pass on1611
to gain ground1625
to make its way1645
vadea1660
propagate1700
to gain one's way1777
further1789
to pull up1829
on1840
to make (up) ground1921
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > rise or go up [verb (intransitive)] > against impediment or indirectly
to work up1603
clamber1852
1603 S. Harsnett Declar. Popish Impostures ix. 40 A pinte of this holy potion in her stomacke, working vp into her head.
1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) viii. iii. 106 Æstuating in her mighty toil The Sea has wrought up to her highest shore.
1790 R. Beatson Naval & Mil. Mem. II. 194 He ordered the Queenborough ahead to observe their motions, and continued endeavouring to work up after them.
1830 Amer. Q. Rev. Dec. 287 The larger stones will infallibly work up to the surface.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. vii. 107 Nearer and louder came the oar-roll, like thunder working up from the east.
1882 Daily Tel. 28 Oct. 2/4 The Torridge is in full flood, and plenty of salmon are working up to spawn.
1916 E. W. Hamilton First 7 Div. (1917) 41 An additional flanking corps that was said to be working up from the direction of Tournai.
1985 S. Lee Dunn's Conundrum iii. 283 Vera always looked sexy driving... Her dress always worked up.
2004 Santa Fe New Mexican (Nexis) 23 June c1 The mixture really thickens and reaches a boil and you see fat heavy bubbles work up to the surface and burst.
b. intransitive. To progress towards something better by labour or effort. Now esp.: to ascend a hierarchy, series of ranks, etc., through hard work; to proceed gradually to something higher or more advanced. Cf. to work one's way up at Phrases 6b.
Π
a1631 J. Donne Second Anniversarie in Poems (1633) 274 Then, Soule, to thy first pitch worke up againe.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 478 Till body up to spirit work. View more context for this quotation
1838 J. Forster Eminent Brit. Statesmen IV. 85 His old faith of the necessity of ‘working up to God’, by constant changes, and improvements.
1889 Athenæum 12 Jan. 45/2 The whole object of a Buddhist is..gradually to work up through higher stages to Nirwana.
1903 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant viii. 109 He was..drawing ten thousand a year, which was more than he could have worked up to in the leather business in a century.
1938 Life 4 Apr. 9/1 He had worked up to assistant passenger agent of the Detroit & Windsor Ferry Co.
1992 Autosport 23 Apr. 54/2 Shaw turned in a gritty drive to work up to fourth at the expense of Dewar and Thompson.
2008 U. McGovern Lost Crafts (2009) 211 It would take many years, working up through the ranks from garden boy.
c. transitive. To bring to or into a better or more exalted state or condition by labour or effort; to raise, elevate; to improve. Now chiefly reflexive.Sometimes overlapping with to work up sense 5b.
ΘΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)]
beetc975
betterOE
goodOE
sharpa1100
amendc1300
enhance1526
meliorate1542
embetter1568
endeara1586
enrich1598
meliorize1598
mend1603
sweeten1607
improve1617
to work up1641
ameliorate1653
solace1667
fine1683
ragout1749
to make something of1778
richen1795
transcendentalize1846
to tone up1847
to do something (also things) for (also to)1880
rich1912
to step up1920
uprate1965
up1968
nice1993
1641 C. Burges 1st Serm. House of Commons 2 Working up their hearts to that indispensable pitch of heavenly resolution, sincerely to strike through a religious and inviolable Covenant with their God.
1668 J. Dryden Of Dramatick Poesie 66 This last is indeed the representation of Nature, but 'tis Nature wrought up to an higher pitch.
1749 London Mag. Mar. 117/2 They [sc. manufactures] were..worked up to the greatest perfection.
1760 D. Webb Inq. Beauties Painting 158 The expression in this statue [Laocoon], is worked up to such a just extremity,..that, as the least addition would be extravagance, so every diminution would be a defect.
1824 Edinb. Philos. Jrnl. 11 277 (note) Square bars of malleable iron,..worked up to a high state of refinement by repeated heating and hammering.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. i. 7 The kitchen and buttery were worked up to a high state of perfection.
1875 E. White Life in Christ (1878) iii. xviii. 237 A man can work himself up into an immortal condition of ‘equality with the angels’..no more than an ox or an ass can work himself up into humanity.
1941 Michigan Technic Nov. 24/2 Beginning with the lowly position of dish-washer,..he has worked himself up to the Vice-President.
1988 M. A. Grissom Southern by Grace of God (1989) i. 24 They would pick the showiest and most difficult gospel song..and try to work it up to perfection.
2003 B. Tracy Turbostrategy xix. 131 If on a scale of one to ten you give yourself a score of seven, your aim will be to work yourself up to an eight.
d. transitive. To improve or refine one's knowledge of (a subject); to master by careful study or research. Now archaic and rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > [verb (transitive)] > study diligently or hard
to make a study ofa1591
nit1596
to sit over ——1606
to mouse over1808
to work out1830
bone1832
work1840
to work up1852
mug1868
swot1901
1852 C. A. Bristed Five Years Eng. University I. 305 My Mathematics began to feel a little less shaky, and the desire of working up my Classics increased.
1914 T. S. Eliot Let. 25 July (1988) I. 44 Send me some verse, please. I am working up my Greek, mornings.
2010 New Yorker 29 Mar. 101/1 Edmund Wilson..would say that he was ‘working up’ Hungarian poetry or Russian revolutionaries, the literature of the Civil War or Iroquois culture.
5.
a. transitive. To agitate, whip up (water, the sea, etc.); to cause to move turbulently. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > agitate [verb (transitive)]
weigha1000
dreveOE
ruska1300
commovec1374
to-stira1382
busy?c1400
tormenta1492
squalper?1527
toss1557
jumble1568
buskle1573
agitate1599
disturb1599
to work up1615
vex1627
conturbate1657
jerry-mumble1709
rejumble1755
jerrycummumble1785
reesle1903
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 328 A water Engine worketh vp a streame.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 54 This Lake perfectly resembles a Sea, when it is work'd up by Storms.
a1780 J. Macgowan Disc. Bk. Ruth (1781) xvi. 366 One Jonah sleeping in the sides of the ship will work up the sea to a tempest the most terrible.
1833 Pop. Introd. Study Quadrupeds ix. 484 The lashings of its ponderous tail work up the sea into boiling foam.
1936 J. W. Eisdell Back Country i. 17 Big ‘blows’ which quickly worked up the waves and gave us that wonderful sense of exhilaration which a strong breeze gives.
b. transitive. To agitate, excite (a person, the mind, etc.); to move, rouse to or into a particular state or condition, esp. of heightened emotion. Also: to induce or persuade by effort to do something. Frequently reflexive. Cf. worked up adj. (b) at worked adj. Compounds.Sometimes overlapping with to work up sense 4c.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > exciting > excite [verb (transitive)]
astirc1000
stir?c1225
araisec1374
entalentc1374
flamec1380
reara1382
raisec1384
commove1393
kindlea1400
fluster1422
esmove1474
talent1486
heavec1540
erect?1555
inflame1560
to set on gog1560
yark1565
tickle1567
flesh1573
concitate1574
rouse1574
warmc1580
agitate1587
spirit1598
suscitate1598
fermentate1599
nettle1599
startle1602
worka1616
exagitate1621
foment1621
flush1633
exacuatea1637
ferment1667
to work up1681
pique1697
electrify1748
rattle1781
pump1791
to touch up1796
excite1821
to key up1835
to steam up1909
jazz1916
steam1922
volt1930
whee1949
to fire up1976
geek1984
the mind > emotion > excitement > inspiration > inspire [verb (transitive)]
inblowc975
flamec1380
inspire1390
inflate1530
mounta1546
adblast1548
heighten1604
inspirita1661
to work up1681
exalt1744
inspiratea1806
the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > begin or enter upon (an action) [verb (transitive)] > stir up or rouse up > to or into a state or activity
rouse?1565
to work up1681
1681 J. Kettlewell Meas. Christian Obed. v. vii. 704 They can pray more passionately,..and work themselves up to more heavenly raptures than ordinarily they have been able to attain to.
1689 E. Stillingfleet Serm. Queen White-Hall 26 It is no very hard Matter to work up a heated and devout Imagination to the Fancy of Raptures and Ecstasies.
1698 J. Collier Short View Immorality Eng. Stage 25 To work up their Lewdness with Verse and Musick.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 172. ⁋2 We cannot but tremble to consider, what we are capable of being wrought up to.
1753 E. Young Brothers iv. 53 When I have work'd him up to Violence.
1831 G. P. R. James Philip Augustus III. i. 1 His whole powers and energies had been wrought up to bear it firmly and calmly.
1842 S. Lover Handy Andy x. 91 Tell him magnificent lies—astonish him with grand materials for a note-book and work him up to publish.
1874 F. C. Burnand My Time xxxi. 306 My father had tried to work himself up into a passion.
1930 Oxf. Ann. Girls 81/1 A groan went up from the waiting girls. ‘What a swizzle! After working us up to bursting point!’
1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxxi. 200 The tape recordings..must have worked everyone up to fever pitch.
2004 Company Mar. 73/1 By the time this so-called ‘Jamie’ phoned to ask Becky out for a drink, I had worked myself up into a mammoth strop.
c. intransitive. To become agitated or excited; to proceed gradually to a state of heightened emotion.In quot. 1681 as part of an extended metaphor; cf. sense 44a.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > be or become excited [verb (intransitive)] > gradually
to work up1681
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > be in state of nervous excitement [verb (intransitive)] > become gradually
to work up1681
to get one's panties in a bunch1985
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 5 So, several Factions from this first Ferment, Work up to Foam.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 36. ⁋3 You know a premeditated Quarrel usually begins and works up with the words, Some people.
1806 H. B. Gascoigne Nat. Refl. iii. 25 The madning vein Works up to frenzy, and distorted nerves Declare that Reason has forsook her seat.
1895 Trans. Royal Acad. Med. Ireland 8 60 For some days [she] is quiet and comparatively good-humoured, but gradually works up to a similar climax again.
1899 R. Kipling Stalky & Co. i. 27 He was merely working up to a peroration.
1956 Billboard 6 Oct. 84/4 ‘Heeby-Jeebies’ is a driving tune with rapid-fire lyrics that works up to a frenzy.
1997 C. Shields Larry's Party x. 186 He wondered what she was getting at, what kind of mood she was working up to.
2011 Evening Chron. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 29 Jan. a10 A Minority Movement speaker was working up to a frenzy.
d. transitive (reflexive). To prepare oneself mentally, to gather the courage or resolve to do something. With to-infinitive or to and it or a noun of action. Also intransitive with reflexive meaning.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare [verb (reflexive)] > for effort
girdc1450
bracea1500
buckle1570
accinge1657
screw1785
to work up1820
nerve1821
poise1831
to screw up1841
1820 C. R. Maturin Melmoth II. vi. 63 It was noon before I could work myself up to execute this resolution.
1877 J. L. Crane Two Circuits xxxv. 313 I was trying to work myself up to have this talk with you, as you know something of how things stand with me.
1943 R. P. Warren At Heaven's Gate ix. 126 ‘Well,’ she said, ‘you worked yourself up to bringing me home. You finally managed to do it. You see, Jerry darling,’ she continued, ‘I wasn't ever going to marry you unless you took me home.’
1970 ‘A. Cross’ Poetic Justice (1991) viii. 138 Were you working up to asking me about it?
1995 K. Ishiguro Unconsoled v. 55 Then he said suddenly, as though he had for some time been working himself up to it: ‘Look, it's awfully impertinent of me. But are you sure you don't want to go back to the hotel?’
2002 A. Leclaire Leaving Eden 132 He was working himself up to apologize for some harm done.
e. transitive. To arouse or build up (a quality, emotion, etc.) in oneself. Frequently with infinitive as complement.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)] > elicit or call forth
movea1398
drawa1400
provoke?a1425
askc1450
to draw out1525
to stir up1526
allure?1532
suscitate1532
to call out1539
to draw fortha1569
draw1581
attract1593
raise1598
force1602
fetch1622
milka1628
invite1650
summon1679
elicit1822
to work up?1833
educe1840
?1833 J. Barrington Rise & Fall Irish Nation xxiii. 219 Captain Armstrong became acquainted with the two brothers, pledged to them his friendship..and worked up sufficient guilt, to sacrifice the lives of both.
1881 T. Hardy Laodicean I. ii. 21 Who was he that had pondered, gone into solitudes, wrestled with himself, worked up his courage, and said, I will do this.
1912 Pacific Pharmacist Dec. 189/2 We cannot consider the highly problematical wishes, feelings and desires of those who could not work up enough energy to attend to the voting.
1952 B. Malamud Natural 15 If she hadn't yet eaten breakfast and he could work up the nerve, he could talk to her in the diner—only he didn't dare.
1992 Washington Post 10 Mar. e2/3 I'd been trying to work up the guts to talk to her.
2003 J. Flanders Victorian House (2004) viii. 281 Maud Berkeley was more sociable, yet even she could not work up much enthusiasm for all her obligations.
f. transitive. To develop or produce (a sweat, appetite, thirst, etc.), usually by activity or effort.
Π
1853 Boston Herald 1 July 1/1 The squealing of the little fellows, as the teachers (in order, half the time, we believe, to work up an appetite for dinner,) spank, birch, and switch them.
1880 Glasgow Herald 28 Dec. 6/2 Ayrshire curlers..will work up thirst for another tumbler, ruminating over their favourite game.
1907 N.Y. Med. Jrnl. 2 Feb. 202/2 You can run ‘on the spot’..and ‘work up a sweat’ in this way that will satisfy any trainer.
1948 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 24 Oct. (Parade of Youth section) 3/3 After they worked up a thirst, soda pop in abundance was provided.
1988 Bike Events Summer 39/1 You'll work up a bit of an appetite on the road.
2003 ‘J.D. Robb’ Imitation in Death 43 By the time she was at full pace, she'd worked up a nice sweat.
†6. transitive. Nautical. To make (a sailor) do unnecessary and disagreeable hard work as a punishment. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > administration and ceremonial > organize naval affairs, etc. [verb (transitive)] > punish
mastheada1809
to work up1812
haze1840
society > authority > punishment > other types of punishment > [verb (transitive)] > punish with hard work
to work up1812
1812 in F. W. Howay Voy. New Hazard to Northwest Coast (1938) 37 The captain..jawed us, called us thieves, country boogars, infernal scoundrels; would work us up.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast viii. 18 Let an officer once say ‘I'll haze you’, and your fate is fixed. You will be ‘worked up’, if you are not a better man than he is.
1897 F. T. Bullen Cruise ‘Cachalot’ 208 The hands no longer felt that they were continually being ‘worked up’ or ‘hazed’ for the sole, diabolical satisfaction of keeping them ‘at it’.
7. transitive. Medicine. To perform diagnostic procedures upon (a patient). Cf. workup n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > examination > examine medically [verb (transitive)]
searcha1425
visit1484
examine?1541
to run the rule over1909
to work up1931
1931 Lancet 19 Dec. 1135/1 The two following cases..have been worked up in considerable detail.
1978 Jrnl. Family Pract. 7 541 Hospitalized patients from this practice were worked-up and used as the source of inpatient specialty learning.
2003 Amer. Jrnl. Cardiol. 91 840/2 I worked the patient up from stem to stern, tried to find the source of the bleeding.
PV2. With prepositions in specialized senses. to work around ——
1. intransitive. To find a way to overcome, bypass, or avoid a difficulty or problem, esp. when the usual or most obvious solution is not feasible or possible. Cf. workaround n.
Π
1907 Central Station 7 837/2 English electrical engineers had been working around the problem of producing a steady arc, but they had found themselves obliged usually to employ one.
1952 Pop. Mech. Sept. 89/2 No tooling has been ordered. It appears impossible even for versatile Ed Cole, new chief engineer, to work around this obstacle in time for '53.
1963 1964 NASA Authorization: Hearings before Subcomm. on Manned Space Flight 333 In fact, we are kind of working around the problem that was created by the structural test failure of the S-II.
1989 Byte Aug. 191/1 SuperMac cleverly used a chunky/planar mode that was defined..by Apple to work around this limit.
2013 N.Y. Times 10 Jan. (Late ed.) a23/2 For the president's tough talk to be credible, Congress and the country need to know..that he has a plausible plan to work around the debt ceiling.
2. intransitive. To adapt one's work or activity to accommodate the physical presence of a person or thing.
Π
1947 Time 6 Oct. 94/3 The maintenance man often finds her with a male guest, necking at the poolside. Says the imperturbable workman: ‘We just work around 'em’.
1992 N.Y. Times 19 Jan. iv. 6/2 ‘Slash and burn’ contractors who have found it cheaper and easier to raze trees than to work around them.
2010 Scotsman (Nexis) 11 Mar. 40 The boss..is a lovable eccentric, whose staff say they just work around him.
to work round —— intransitive. = to work around ——.
Π
1974 Washington Post 17 Oct. 53 Here's a novel problem—a team that's too smart... But Stuyvesant works round its problem and has won its first three games.
1996 PC Week 10 Dec. 12/3 US criminals had already worked round that by removing the regulators..from the microprocessors.
2000 H. Simpson Hey Yeah Right (2001) 53 So you can work the mornings, then you can collect Robin and Maxine and bring them along for a sandwich and work round them from then till it's time to pick up Martin.
2013 Evening Standard (Palmerston North, N.Z.) (Nexis) 13 Sept. 19 Any New Zealand road will sooner or later flag that handling foible, though you do eventually learn to work round it, tipping the bike assertively into bends.
to work through ——
intransitive. Originally Psychology. To resolve or come to terms with an emotional or psychological issue, often by thinking or talking about it; (also) to surmount or successfully deal with a problem or difficulty. [Apparently ultimately after German durcharbeiten to take steps to resolve psychological resistance as a problem in its own right ( S. Freud Internat. Zeitschr. f. ärztliche Psychoanal. (1914) 491, in the paper summarized in quot. 1916).]
ΚΠ
1916 Psychoanalytic Rev. 3 473 Freud says they must not stop at the beginning of the real cure but give the patient time to work through his resistances to deeper levels.]
1930 V. P. Robinson Changing Psychol. Social Case Work xi. 119 He will tend to use this relationship [with the analyst]..to release his conflicts, to project his impulses, to work through his problems.
1957 Law & Contemp. Probl. 22 30 The addict can be helped towards socialization in the world.., by working through his feelings about the other members of the group therapy.
1963 A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex 59 That acceptance which would permit the Oedipus phase to be ‘worked through’.
1989 G. Schoenewolf 101 Therapeutic Successes iii. 280 After they had worked through her anger, she got in touch with her existential issues.
2002 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 17 Aug. f15 I have finally been diagnosed with chronic bone-marrow disease. The ordeal has been very hard on my husband and children, but we are working through it.
to work to —— intransitive. To operate within the constraints of something (as a schedule, plan, set of rules, etc.); to be confined by or work within the limits of something.See also to work to rule at Phrases 14b, to work to contract at Phrases 14d.
Π
1879 Railway Accidents (Brit. Board of Trade) 25/2 I had signalled ‘clear’..when I gave permission for the train to start for Silloth; I was working to rule in doing so.
1900 N.Y. Daily Tribune 28 Aug. 7/5 We are working to that schedule now, and I fully expect to accomplish it.
1967 Music in Educ. 31 456/1 Is there something degrading perhaps about writing music for people with limited technique? Is it too difficult to work to this kind of brief?
1983 M. Doerken Teaching & Television 214 I don't mind working to a budget, but I don't want to be told by someone who knows nothing about television production when to do my show.
1991 S. Coney Menopause Industry (1993) vi. 105 Journalists work to pressing deadlines.
2004 F. Dodds & M. Strauss How to lobby Intergovernmental Meetings 40 They should also be working to similar timelines.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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