to work
- verb
- /wɜrk/
- He decided to work the clay into a beautiful sculpture.
My fingers are too arthritic to work the little clasp.
- My fingers are too arthritic to work the little clasp.
- If that's the stone they were working with Obsidian or Obsidian.
Examples
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After doing this activity, we came back together and worked on a different vocabulary activity.
Academic text (2015) -
I'm trying to work on it.
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You just have to really work this one into your skin.
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I had my dad over and we were working on the library.
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And for me, working with the hands is the best.
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How about we work with Dave in Boston?
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The soundproof glass rooms were ideal for my students to work on their group projects.
Academic text (2015) -
Such an interaction also builds a sense of working together, so essential for ensemble performance.
Academic text (2011) -
Teaching world music can be challenging when working with an unfamiliar style of music.
Academic text (2011) -
They learn to improvise, dance, sing, work with each other, and some of them really need it, they really do.
Synonyms
Spend time and effort improving or finishing something
To handle or change something by a series of actions
To give something a certain form for a purpose
To add something carefully into a mixture or conversation
To make or shape something
To shape metal by heating and hammering or to make something with effort
To move or control something with the hands in a skillful way
To shape something by hand or in a container
To make something by hand with skill and care
Press and fold a soft mixture like dough until it is smooth
To do work using your hands, like making or fixing things
To cut and shape metal or other material using a powered tool
To shape or work material by using tools
To make or finish something by hand
Does a job in old or poetic language
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
Act with different goals so people cannot work well together
- Informal
To put a lot of effort into work and enjoy free time actively
- Informal
A humorous question asking if people do their job a lot or only a little
Phrasal Verbs
- Informal
To move around a party or event and talk to many people to make connections
- Specialized
To shape metal by bending or hitting it at room temperature without heat
Do a simple job slowly or in the wrong way so it is much harder than needed
Compounds
An object like a painting or sculpture that people think is beautiful and made with skill
- Informal
Something impressive but difficult, for example a book or building, and sometimes a person who behaves strangely
- Formal
Official paper that lets a person from another country work in that country for a time
Planned activities by religious people to share their faith and help communities
Work that installs, fixes, or looks after wires and devices that bring power into a building
A system where students do paid part-time work and study to gain experience
A song with a steady beat people sing to make repeating work easier, for example in fields or on ships
A belief that hard work, discipline, and saving money are morally good, often linked to Protestant Christianity
- Archaic
Workers who stay at their workplace and keep working to protest closure or job cuts
- Formal
Official documents that show a person may have a job, often for immigrants or young workers
- Specialized
The job of shaping and joining thin metal sheets to make building parts like vents
- Formal
Friendly relationships between people who work together that can cause problems
- Specialized
A type of metal that stays hard at high temperatures used to make cutting tools like drills
- Specialized
Work done by a person who is not a lawyer to help legal cases, like preparing documents and doing research
- Specialized
Work of designing, making, and fixing metal tools and forms used to make parts
- Informal
A close, supportive colleague you have a personal bond with that is not romantic
How Skilled
Surface Forms
Etymology
Work comes from old German weorc meaning 'to make by effort', so to work the dough or clay is to shape it by using your hands and effort.