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working

working

866 6.4
A part of a mine or quarry where people dig for minerals
  • noun
  • /ˈwɜrkɪŋ/
translation icon : explotación
  • With her reputation for being hard-working and professional, Selena seems headed for a bright future.

Examples

  • The researchers expected this working environment might give rise to burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Few policymakers have spent much time at colleges that serve a mostly working-class population.

    Academic text (2011)
  • They were all men, all eyes are these men while they were working in the quarry.

  • - The working hours.

  • Public health professionals should explore ways to improve legal support for all working mothers wishing to breastfeed.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I'm a working man.

  • We identified 92 million working-aged adults with chronic health care needs in the U.S. population.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The old quarry still has some active working areas where miners extract valuable minerals.

  • After years of exploration, they finally returned to the working mine that had been temporarily closed.

  • The working site was buzzing with activity as the crew prepared for another day of extraction.

Synonyms

mine
vsworking
178 5.7

A hole in the ground where people dig for minerals like coal or gold

is one that is currently or formerly in operation
quarry
vsworking
55 4.9

An open place in the ground where people remove stone

is the one that is or was in operation rather than any nonoperational excavation
workings
vsworking
  • Specialized
5.8

A place where people remove minerals from the ground now or in the past

has identical meaning but is used as a singular form

Antonyms

A building that people no longer use or live in

3 1.0

Shut so people cannot go in or see

Compounds

69 2.8

People who do manual or factory work and earn hourly wages

56 3.4

Relates to people who do manual or factory jobs and earn wages

53 2.9

A man who does physical work with his hands, not an office worker

A person who does manual or factory work for pay, not a manager

47 5.3

The detailed steps you do to solve a problem

14 3.2

A woman who has a paid job doing physical tasks outside the home, often in a factory

13 2.6

A temporary team of people who work together to reach a clear goal

8 8.6

A woman who sells sex for money

7 1.2

A day when most people go to work, not a weekend or holiday

working capital
  • Specialized
5 4.4

Money and things a business can use to pay day-to-day costs

working memory
  • Specialized
3 4.4

The mind holds and uses information for a short time to solve problems

3 2.5

A dog raised and trained to do jobs like guiding or herding animals

working girl
  • Archaic
3 3.3

A woman who has a job and earns money

1 2.0

The hours an employee must work in one day for normal pay

1 3.6

A group of people who work together for a short time on a single task

working papers
  • Specialized
1 4.4

Documents that record the steps and details of a job for review

A plan for people or groups to work together without a formal contract

A craft for making useful things by hand from leather, like wallets and belts

Work of making salt from seawater or mines

The activity of making salt from sea water or rocks

4.1

An official document that gives a person permission to have a job

working principle
  • Specialized
4.1

A rule that explains how a machine or system works

A simple rule used at work that is not perfect but works in practice

How Active

productive
46 2.7
working
866 6.4
dormant
34 5.2
inactive
11 2.5
abandoned
2 2.8

Surface Forms

working singular
workings plural

Morphology

working = work (opaque) = work + ing

The sense 'a mine or quarry in operation' is a specialized nominal use that is not directly inferable from the basic meaning of 'work' by an average learner.

Etymology

Working as a noun in 'the workings' comes from work meaning 'the place or activity of work', so it came to mean the places in a mine where people have been working. That's why 'workings' often refers to the tunnels and areas of a mine that are or were in use.