work

noun
UK: /wɜːk/
US: /wɝːk/

  1. Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.

    1. I have to go to work now. [ ] [ ]
    2. He finds great satisfaction in his work as a teacher. [ ] [ ]

  2. A task or tasks to be undertaken; something that a person or thing is required to do.

    1. My work today is to clean the house. [ ] [ ]
    2. The builders have a lot of work to do before the house is finished. [ ] [ ]

  3. The place where one does their job.

    1. I'm already at work, please call me later. [ ] [ ]
    2. She drives to work every morning and listens to music. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

effort task vocation calling job labor toil function operate employment
work verb

  1. To perform an activity that involves mental or physical effort in order to achieve a purpose or result.

    1. I work every day. [ ] [ ]
    2. She used to work at a department store before becoming a teacher. [ ] [ ]

  2. To operate or function effectively.

    1. The machine doesn't work anymore. [ ] [ ]
    2. The new system seems to work well for everyone involved. [ ] [ ]

  3. To be employed.

    1. He works as a programmer. [ ] [ ]
    2. My sister works for a large international company downtown. [ ] [ ]
work adjective

  1. Relating to or used for work.

    1. I wear work boots. [ ] [ ]
    2. He needed work clothes for the construction site. [ ] [ ]
work intransitive-verb

  1. Operate correctly or achieve the desired result.

    1. Does this work? [ ] [ ]
    2. Hopefully, this new strategy will work effectively for our team. [ ] [ ]
work transitive-verb

  1. To manipulate or influence someone to achieve a desired outcome.

    1. She worked him hard. [ ] [ ]
    2. The politician skillfully worked the crowd during his campaign rally. [ ] [ ]
work phrasal-verb

  1. Continue working or functioning.

    1. I work on even now. [ ] [ ]
    2. They will work on the project until it is completely finished. [ ] [ ]

  2. To make an effort to achieve something.

    1. We work at it. [ ] [ ]
    2. The team has to work at improving communication between members. [ ] [ ]

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "work" in English means: Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result., A task or tasks to be undertaken; something that a person or thing is required to do., The place where one does their job..

The phonetic transcription of "work" is /wɜːk/ in British English and /wɝːk/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "work": effort, task, vocation, calling, job, labor, toil, function, operate, employment.

Example usage of "work": "I have to go to work now.". More examples on the page.