A particular kind of worker does the kind of work mentioned.
...office workers.
The society was looking for a capable research worker.
Aid workers erected tents to house displaced people.
2. countable noun [usually plural]
Workers are people who are employed in industry or business and who are not managers.
Wages have been frozen and workers laid off.
...a call for the workers of the world to unite.
The agreement encourages worker participation in management decisions.
Synonyms: employee, hand, labourer, or woman or person">workman or woman or person More Synonyms of worker
3. countable noun [usually adjective NOUN]
You can use worker to say how well or badly someone works.
He is a hard worker and a skilled gardener.
A first-class worker, she operated the difficult Jacquard looms.
4. See also care worker, caseworker, dock worker, social worker, teleworker, youth worker
worker in British English
(ˈwɜːkə)
noun
1.
a person or thing that works, usually at a specific job
a good worker
a research worker
2.
an employee in an organization, as opposed to an employer or manager
3.
a manual labourer or other employee working in a manufacturing or other industry
4.
any other member of the working class
5.
a sterile female member of a colony of bees, ants, or wasps that forages for food, cares for the larvae, etc
Derived forms
workerless (ˈworkerless)
adjective
worker in American English
(ˈwɜrkər)
noun
1.
a person, animal, or thing that works; specif., a person who is employed to do physical or mental work for wages, esp. in order to earn a living, as in a trade, industry, business, office, etc. or on a farm, ranch, etc.
2.
a person who works for a cause, organization, etc.
volunteer workers, a party worker
3.
any of a class of sterile or sexually imperfect ants, bees, wasps, etc. that do work for the colony: with the exception of termites, workers are normally females
4. Printing
an electrotype used to print from, as distinguished from one used as a mold for making duplicate electrotypes
-worker in American English
(ˈwɜrkər)
a person who works in a (specified) industry or place or with (specified) materialsor equipment
dockworker, steelworker
Examples of 'worker' in a sentence
worker
Did we protect our industry and our workers?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Being a team player and hard worker are very important.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
And experts agree that automation will cost many workers their jobs.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Alongside her was a beaming aid worker.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He was also reassured by the fact that the bank worker had called his mobile as its number was not publicly available.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He is old school, a hard worker.
The Sun (2016)
There are also sterile female workers that are out catching insects and returning to the nest to feed any larvae that are still there.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The extent of employment rights will depend on whether the individual is selfemployed, a worker or an employee.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
A study found that workers worried about job security were more likely to put on weight and struggle with sleep.
The Sun (2016)
Britain could fashion internal controls based on compulsory apprenticeship training, or stopping unscrupulous employers hiring workers from abroad without advertising jobs in Britain.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Workers of all kinds are taking part.
The Sun (2011)
Thousands of workers decide to set up their own businesses each year.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Workers in the industry will also be hard hit.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The trainers liked him because he was a hard worker and athletic.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The doctors said that some hospital workers were members of street gangs.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The activists were thought to be ferry workers hit by job cuts.
The Sun (2015)
Government vets were called in after workers reported a sudden drop in egg production.
The Sun (2009)
The workers are themselves female but have only fed on honey and pollen.
Turner, Roger Newman The Hayfever Handbook - a summer survival guide (1988)
The latter seeks to provide similar pay and conditions to agency workers as employees.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Talking to colleagues and church workers was difficult.
Christianity Today (2000)
There may well be rapacious businesses exploiting their workers to make fat profits.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The spotlight needs to be shone hard on social workers.
The Sun (2013)
Call centre workers were shown singing with their mouths full.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The suspended staff are male and female admin workers and junior managers.
The Sun (2006)
It must also not pander to xenophobia and not deprive business of workers.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Many workers left the industry during the downturn and companies are now struggling to persuade them to come back.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Both are suspected of bringing people in on the false pretext that they will get jobs as religious workers.
The Sun (2013)
The remainder will fund a night out for other airport workers and members of the public who witnessed the incident.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Three test cases were won by construction, road and engineering workers but their employers contested them.
The Sun (2014)
The fast-track process for applying for visas for aid workers has been brought to an end.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
There is anecdotal evidence of a rise in City workers taking former employers to the tribunal.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
They fear that if and when business improves, their good workers may be difficult to recover.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Quotations
The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workers of all countries unite!Marx & EngelsThe Communist Manifesto
In other languages
worker
British English: worker /ˈwɜːkə/ NOUN
Workers are people who are employed in industry or business and who are not managers.
...factory workers.
American English: worker
Arabic: عَامِل
Brazilian Portuguese: trabalhador
Chinese: 工人
Croatian: radnik
Czech: pracovník
Danish: arbejder
Dutch: arbeider
European Spanish: trabajador
Finnish: työntekijä työläinen
French: travailleur
German: Arbeiter
Greek: εργαζόμενος
Italian: lavoratore
Japanese: 働く人
Korean: 근로자
Norwegian: arbeider
Polish: pracownik
European Portuguese: trabalhador
Romanian: muncitor
Russian: работник
Latin American Spanish: trabajador
Swedish: arbetare
Thai: ผู้ทำงาน
Turkish: işçi
Ukrainian: працівник
Vietnamese: công nhân
All related terms of 'worker'
co-worker
Your co-workers are the people you work with, especially people on the same job or project as you.
aid worker
a person who works for an aid agency
care-worker
A care worker is someone whose job involves helping people who have particular problems or special needs, for example in a care home.
car-worker
a person who works in the car industry
dock-worker
A dock worker is a person who works in the docks, loading and unloading ships .
farm worker
a person who is hired to work on a farm
fast worker
a person who achieves results quickly, esp in seductions
gas worker
a gas engineer
hand-worker
a person who does handwork
key worker
an employee in any of a number of public-sector professions considered to be essential to society, for example teachers , police officers, health workers , etc
land worker
a person who works on the land
mill worker
a person who works in a mill , esp a cotton mill
pit worker
a person who works down a mine , esp a coal miner
rail worker
Rail workers are people who work for the railway .
sex worker
a prostitute
worker ant
a person or thing that works, usually at a specific job
worker bee
a person or thing that works, usually at a specific job
casual worker
a person who has temporary , as opposed to permanent or regular , employment
fellow worker
someone you work with
guest worker
A guest worker is a person, especially one from a poor country, who lives and works in a different country for a period.
hotel worker
a person who works in the hotel industry
hourly worker
an employee who is paid an hourly rate rather than a fixed salary
manual worker
a person whose job involves working with the hands
office worker
an employee who works in an office, for example carrying out clerical or administrative work for an organization
relief worker
a person who works for a charity providing aid for people in need, esp in disaster areas
rescue worker
someone who works to bring people out of danger , attack, harm , etc, esp after a disaster , accident , etc
shift worker
a person who does shiftwork
social worker
A social worker is a person whose job is to do social work.
water worker
a person employed in the water industry
worker-priest
a Roman Catholic priest who has full-time or part-time employment in a secular job to be more closely in touch with the problems of the laity
youth worker
A youth worker is a person whose job involves providing support and social activities for young people, especially young people from poor backgrounds.
building worker
a labourer , bricklayer , etc who works in the construction industry
campaign worker
a person who carries out duties for a political candidate or party, esp before an election
daycare worker
a person who works in a daycare centre
factory worker
a person who works in a factory
laundry worker
a person who collects or delivers laundry
miracle worker
If you describe someone as a miracle worker , you mean that they have achieved or are able to achieve success in something that other people have found very difficult .
outreach worker
a person who does work designed to help and encourage disadvantaged members of the community
precinct worker
a worker in a polling or electoral district (such as someone who mans voting , etc)
railway worker
a male worker on a railway , esp one other than a driver
research worker
a worker who specializes in researching into or investigating a subject, topic , etc, particularly in the sciences
seasonal worker
a worker who is employed for a particular period of the year, such as harvest , or Christmas
surface worker
a person who works on or near the ground surface
welfare worker
a person who is employed to give help and advice to people in need
worker director
a worker elected to the governing board of a business concern to represent the interests of the employees in decision making
ambulance worker
An ambulance worker is a person who drives an ambulance or takes care of people in an ambulance on the way to hospital .
childcare worker
someone who takes care of children in return for money
community worker
someone who works for the benefit of a community , esp for a social service agency
demolition worker
to tear down or break up (buildings, etc)
emergency worker
a person whose job is to help people in emergencies
Chinese translation of 'worker'
worker
(ˈwəːkəʳ)
n(c)
(= employed person) 工人 (gōngrén) (位, wèi)
⇒ The dispute affected relations between management and workers.这场争端影响到管理层和工人的关系。 (Zhè chǎng zhēngduān yǐngxiǎng dào guǎnlǐcéng hé gōngrén de guānxì.)
a hard/good worker工作努力/良好的人 (gōngzuò nǔlì/liánghǎo de rén)
The workmen were building a fence around the area.
craftsman or woman or person
artisan
tradesperson
wage earner
proletarian
The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.
working man or woman or person
Quotation
The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workers of all countries unite! [Marx & Engels – The Communist Manifesto]
Additional synonyms
in the sense of hand
Definition
a manual worker
He now works as a farm hand.
Synonyms
worker,
employee,
labourer,
workman,
operative,
or woman or person">craftsman or woman or person,
artisan,
artificer,
hired man,
hireling
in the sense of labourer
Definition
a person engaged in physical work
Her husband had been a farm labourer.
Synonyms
worker,
or woman or person">workman or woman or person,
working man or woman or person,
manual worker,
hand,
blue-collar worker,
drudge,
unskilled worker,
navvy (British, informal),
labouring man
in the sense of proletarian
Definition
a member of the proletariat
The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.
Synonyms
worker,
commoner,
Joe Bloggs (British, informal),
pleb,
plebeian,
prole (derogatory, slang, British)
Synonyms of 'worker'
worker
Explore 'worker' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of workman
Definition
a man who is employed to do manual work
The workmen were building a fence around the area.