work
work is a 4-letter English word with 59 senses as noun, transitive verb, and verb in the JumbleFix dictionary. One common meaning is: Exertion of strength or faculties; physical or intellectual effort directed to an end; industrial activity; toil; employment; sometimes, specifically, physically labor. Face value is 11 in Scrabble and 11 in Words With Friends. Use the entries below when you need a playable sense, a nearby word, or another arrangement of the same letters.
Definitions
- noun. Exertion of strength or faculties; physical or intellectual effort directed to an end; industrial activity; toil; employment; sometimes, specifically, physically labor.
- noun. The matter on which one is at work; that upon which one spends labor; material for working upon; subject of exertion; the thing occupying one; business; duty; as, to take up one's work; to drop one's work.
- noun. That which is produced as the result of labor; anything accomplished by exertion or toil; product; performance; fabric; manufacture; in a more general sense, act, deed, service, effect, result, achievement, feat.
- noun. Specifically: (a) That which is produced by mental labor; a composition; a book; as, a work, or the works, of Addison. (b) Flowers, figures, or the like, wrought with the needle; embroidery.
- noun. Structures in civil, military, or naval engineering, as docks, bridges, embankments, trenches, fortifications, and the like; also, the structures and grounds of a manufacturing establishment; as, iron works; locomotive works; gas works.
- noun. The moving parts of a mechanism; as, the works of a watch.
- noun. Manner of working; management; treatment; as, unskillful work spoiled the effect.
- noun. The causing of motion against a resisting force. The amount of work is proportioned to, and is measured by, the product of the force into the amount of motion along the direction of the force. See Conservation of energy, under Conservation, Unit of work, under Unit, also Foot pound, Horse power, Poundal, and Erg.
- noun. Ore before it is dressed.
- noun. Performance of moral duties; righteous conduct.
- noun. To exert one's self for a purpose; to put forth effort for the attainment of an object; to labor; to be engaged in the performance of a task, a duty, or the like.
- noun. Hence, in a general sense, to operate; to act; to perform; as, a machine works well.
- noun. Hence, figuratively, to be effective; to have effect or influence; to conduce.
- noun. To carry on business; to be engaged or employed customarily; to perform the part of a laborer; to labor; to toil.
- noun. To be in a state of severe exertion, or as if in such a state; to be tossed or agitated; to move heavily; to strain; to labor; as, a ship works in a heavy sea.
- noun. To make one's way slowly and with difficulty; to move or penetrate laboriously; to proceed with effort; -- with a following preposition, as down, out, into, up, through, and the like; as, scheme works out by degrees; to work into the earth.
- noun. To ferment, as a liquid.
- noun. To act or operate on the stomach and bowels, as a cathartic.
- transitive verb. To labor or operate upon; to give exertion and effort to; to prepare for use, or to utilize, by labor.
- transitive verb. To produce or form by labor; to bring forth by exertion or toil; to accomplish; to originate; to effect; as, to work wood or iron into a form desired, or into a utensil; to work cotton or wool into cloth.
- transitive verb. To produce by slow degrees, or as if laboriously; to bring gradually into any state by action or motion.
- transitive verb. To influence by acting upon; to prevail upon; to manage; to lead.
- transitive verb. To form with a needle and thread or yarn; especially, to embroider; as, to work muslin.
- transitive verb. To set in motion or action; to direct the action of; to keep at work; to govern; to manage; as, to work a machine.
- transitive verb. To cause to ferment, as liquor.
- noun. activity directed toward making or doing something
"she checked several points needing further work"
- noun. the occupation for which you are paid
"he is looking for employment"
"a lot of people are out of work"
- noun. the total output of a writer or artist (or a substantial part of it)
"he studied the entire Wagnerian oeuvre"
"Picasso's work can be divided into periods"
- noun. a product produced or accomplished through the effort or activity or agency of a person or thing
"it is not regarded as one of his more memorable works"
"the symphony was hailed as an ingenious work"
- noun. a place where work is done
"he arrived at work early today"
- noun. applying the mind to learning and understanding a subject (especially by reading)
"mastering a second language requires a lot of work"
"no schools offer graduate study in interior design"
- noun. (physics) a manifestation of energy; the transfer of energy from one physical system to another expressed as the product of a force and the distance through which it moves a body in the direction of that force
"work equals force times distance"
- verb. give a workout to
"Some parents exercise their infants"
"My personal trainer works me hard"
- verb. arrive at a certain condition through repeated motion
"The stitches of the hem worked loose after she wore the skirt many times"
- verb. go sour or spoil
"The milk has soured"
"The wine worked"
- verb. cause to undergo fermentation
"We ferment the grapes for a very long time to achieve high alcohol content"
"The vintner worked the wine in big oak vats"
- verb. find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
"did you solve the problem?"
"Work out your problems with the boss"
- verb. use or manipulate to one's advantage
"He exploit the new taxation system"
"She knows how to work the system"
- verb. make uniform
"knead dough"
"work the clay until it is soft"
- verb. perform as expected when applied
"The washing machine won't go unless it's plugged in"
"Does this old car still run well?"
- verb. move into or onto
"work the raisins into the dough"
"the student worked a few jokes into his presentation"
- verb. cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
"I cannot work a miracle"
"wreak havoc"
- verb. make something, usually for a specific function
"She molded the rice balls carefully"
"Form cylinders from the dough"
- verb. shape, form, or improve a material
"work stone into tools"
"process iron"
- verb. prepare for crops
"Work the soil"
"cultivate the land"
- verb. gratify and charm, usually in order to influence
"the political candidate worked the crowds"
- verb. move in an agitated manner
"His fingers worked with tension"
- verb. proceed along a path
"work one's way through the crowd"
"make one's way into the forest"
- verb. provoke or excite
"The rock musician worked the crowd of young girls into a frenzy"
- verb. proceed towards a goal or along a path or through an activity
"work your way through every problem or task"
"She was working on her second martini when the guests arrived"
- verb. cause to work
"he is working his servants hard"
- verb. be employed
"Is your husband working again?"
"My wife never worked"
- verb. exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
"I will work hard to improve my grades"
"she worked hard for better living conditions for the poor"
- verb. cause to operate or function
"This pilot works the controls"
"Can you work an electric drill?"
- verb. operate in or through
"Work the phones"
- verb. have an effect or outcome; often the one desired or expected
"The voting process doesn't work as well as people thought"
"How does your idea work in practice?"
- verb. have and exert influence or effect
"The artist's work influenced the young painter"
"She worked on her friends to support the political candidate"
- verb. operate in a certain place, area, or specialty
"She works the night clubs"
"The salesman works the Midwest"
- verb. behave in a certain way when handled
"This dough does not work easily"
"The soft metal works well"
Synonyms
employment, oeuvre, workplace, study, exercise, ferment, sour, turn, lick, solve, exploit, knead, function, go, operate, run, bring, play, wreak, forge, form, mold, mould, shape
Common word forms
works, worked, worker, workful, working, workable, workless
Words from these letters
If you are holding these tiles, the unscrambler for WORK lists every valid word you can make from the same letters, including shorter plays.