I.
noun
1 effort/product of effort
ADJECTIVE
▪ hard
▪
It's hard ~ trying to get him to do a few things for himself.
▪
It doesn't require skill—it's a matter of sheer hard ~.
▪ arduous , back-breaking , challenging , complicated , demanding , difficult , gruelling/grueling , intensive , labour-intensive/labor-intensive , tiring , tough
▪
The show is the product of two years' intensive ~.
▪ tireless
▪
Through their tireless ~, they proved his innocence.
▪ rewarding
▪ heavy
▪
They employ a couple of young men to do the heavy ~.
▪ donkey ( BrE , informal )
▪
I did the donkey ~ (= hard work requiring little skill) but I hired a professional for the hard part.
▪ grunt ( AmE , informal )
▪
He has done the grunt ~ (= the hard, boring part of a task) , sifting through thousands of official records.
▪ light
▪
She's only allowed to do a little light ~ because of her bad arm.
▪ easy
▪ close
▪
I need to wear glasses for close ~.
▪ physical
▪ delicate
▪ dangerous
▪ dirty
▪
Engine maintenance is dirty ~.
▪
The drugs gang used children to do their dirty ~ for them. ( figurative )
▪ monotonous , repetitive , tedious
▪ fascinating , interesting
▪ purposeful
▪
Many unemployed people welcome the chance to do purposeful ~, even if unpaid.
▪ valuable
▪
The research institute needs funds in order to carry on its valuable ~.
▪ professional
▪ men's , women's
▪
They think that caring for children is women's ~.
▪ intellectual , mental
▪ creative , imaginative
▪ practical (see also fieldwork , paperwork )
▪ detective , investigative
▪ undercover
▪
The scandal was revealed after months of undercover ~ by journalists.
▪ leg (usually legwork )
▪
Her job as a market researcher involves a lot of legwork (= walking around to collect information) .
▪ class , course (usually coursework ) , school (usually schoolwork )
▪
She was getting distracted from her schoolwork.
▪ written
▪
His written ~ is the best in the class.
▪ individual
▪ group
▪ project
▪ collaborative , joint
▪
classroom activities involving collaborative ~ between children
▪
The report is the joint ~ of an economist and a sociologist.
▪ remedial , restoration
▪
The poorly designed bridge needs remedial ~ to make it safe.
▪ background , preliminary , preparatory
▪ follow-up
▪ extra
▪
He's willing to do extra ~ to get the project finished on time.
▪ honest
▪
He preferred to make his money from honest ~ rather than from gambling.
▪ excellent , good , nice ( informal ), outstanding , sterling ( esp. BrE )
▪
Nice ~, James! I'm impressed.
▪
In accepting the award, she mentioned the sterling ~ of her assistants.
▪ careful , meticulous , painstaking
▪ poor , shoddy , sloppy
▪ charitable , humanitarian
▪ community , youth
▪ missionary
▪ groundbreaking , innovative , pioneering
▪
He did pioneering ~ on microbes.
▪ empirical , experimental
▪ theoretical
▪ academic , commercial , educational , environmental , scientific
▪ building , construction
▪ cosmetic , dental
▪
She's had a lot of dental ~ done.
▪ your own
▪
Is this all your own ~ (= did you do it without help from others) ?
… OF WORK
▪ bit , piece
▪
It was an interesting piece of ~.
VERB + WORK
▪ carry out , do , put in
▪
All the construction ~ was carried out in 2001.
▪
I had lots of ~ to do.
▪
She's put in a lot of ~ on the design.
▪ get done , have done
▪
I think I'd better try and get some ~ done.
▪
We're going to have some building ~ done on the house.
▪ create , make
▪
All these visitors make a lot of ~ for me.
▪ produce
▪
Work produced on a computer tends to look more professional.
▪ get , have
▪
We get far too much ~ at this time of year.
▪ take on , undertake
▪
I've taken on more ~ than I have time to do.
▪ create , make
▪
Small children make a lot of ~ for their parents.
▪ begin , commence , get down to , set about , set to , start
▪
They began ~ on the project last year.
▪
Stop talking and get down to ~.
▪
We set to ~ on the outside of the house (= for example, painting it) .
▪ go about
▪
She went cheerfully about her ~.
▪ carry on , continue , resume
▪ complete , finish
▪ halt , hold up , stop
▪
Work on the project was halted.
▪ lose
▪
They lost the ~ to a competitor.
▪ undo
▪
The new president spent the first year undoing the ~ of his predecessor.
▪ oversee , supervise
▪
The assistant manager supervises ~ on the factory floor.
▪ check , inspect
▪ admire , appreciate , value
▪
I really appreciate all your hard ~.
▪ support
▪
We give grants to support the ~ of voluntary organizations.
▪ set sb to
▪
She set them to ~ painting the fence.
▪ require
▪
To carry out accurate market research requires a huge amount of ~.
▪ hand in , submit
▪
We're supposed to hand in this ~ tomorrow.
WORK + VERB
▪ come
▪
The ~ comes in bursts according to the time of year.
▪ wait
▪
That ~ can wait until tomorrow.
▪ go
▪
How's the ~ going this morning?
▪ involve sth
▪
What does the ~ involve?
▪ begin , start
▪ continue , go on
▪ come to a halt , grind to a halt
▪
Work came to a complete halt in the summer.
▪ cost
▪
How much will the ~ cost?
WORK + NOUN
▪ ethic
▪ rate
▪
Her boss told her she had to increase her ~ rate.
▪ habit
▪
Children can learn good ~ habits at school.
▪ programme/program , schedule
▪ crew ( AmE )
▪
The construction company has three ~ crews of five men each.
▪ load (usually workload )
▪
The instructor's ~ load was becoming increasingly heavy.
▪ flow
▪
Her job is to manage the company's ~ flow.
▪ surface
▪
Work surfaces should be left clear and clean.
PREPOSITION
▪ at ~
▪
He's been hard at ~ all morning.
▪ ~ on
▪
I have to do some ~ on the car before it'll be ready.
▪ ~ with
▪
She's done a lot of ~ with disadvantaged children.
PHRASES
▪ a backlog of ~
▪
It will take a month to clear the backlog of ~.
▪ keep up the good ~
▪
The hotel manager thanked the staff and told them to keep up the good ~.
▪ your life's ~
▪
The art collection was his life's ~.
▪ make light ~ of sth , make short ~ of sth (= to do sth quickly and easily)
▪
Mike made short ~ of fixing the engine.
▪ not a stroke of ~ ( esp. BrE )
▪
She never does a stroke of ~.
▪ pressure of ~
▪
Pressure of ~ forced him to cancel the cruise.
▪ ~ in progress
▪
The showroom has been designed so that people can see ~ in progress.
2 job
ADJECTIVE
▪ paid , unpaid
▪
She is now looking for paid ~ outside the home.
▪ lucrative , well-paid
▪ badly paid
▪ full-time , part-time
▪ permanent
▪ temporary
▪ regular , steady
▪
He hasn't been in regular ~ since he left school.
▪ casual
▪
During the college vacations he does casual ~ in the local hospital.
▪ freelance
▪ voluntary , volunteer
▪ skilled
▪ semi-skilled
▪ unskilled
▪ manual
▪ indoor , outdoor
▪ daily , day-to-day , everyday , routine
▪
People went about their daily ~ despite the war.
▪
Ambulance crews alternate between emergency and routine ~.
▪ piece
▪
It's piece ~, so how much you earn depends on how fast you can work.
▪ administrative , clerical , office , secretarial
▪ managerial
▪ domestic
▪ social
▪ research
▪ agricultural , farm
▪ building
▪ nice ( informal , humorous )
▪
A hundred grand for two days a week? Nice ~ if you can get it!
VERB + WORK
▪ have
▪
He has some freelance ~ at the moment.
▪ look for
▪
He got laid off, so now he's looking for ~ again.
▪ find , get
▪
Full-time ~ is hard to find.
▪ go to
▪
I go to ~ by bus.
▪ go out to
▪
Some mothers of young children choose not to go out to ~.
▪ start
▪ finish , knock off ( informal )
▪
What time do you finish ~?
▪ stop
▪
She stops ~ at the end of this month.
▪ give up
▪
Just before he was sixty, he decided to give up ~.
▪ go back to , return to
▪
She has just returned to ~ after the birth of her child.
▪ allocate , give
▪ outsource
▪ coordinate
▪
Sales reps meet up monthly to coordinate their ~.
▪ enjoy , love
▪
I'm lucky—I love my ~.
WORK + VERB
▪ go
▪
Work's going well at the moment.
▪ start
▪
What time does ~ start in the morning?
▪ finish
▪ consist of sth , include sth , involve sth
▪
Her ~ consists of drawing up and coordinating schedules.
WORK + NOUN
▪ day ( esp. AmE ), hours , week ( esp. AmE )
▪
Employees must not make personal calls during ~ hours.
▪ force (usually workforce )
▪ place (usually workplace )
▪ area , environment , room (usually workroom )
▪ station (usually workstation )
▪ boots ( esp. AmE ), clothes
▪ schedule
▪ experience
▪
The opportunities will depend on your ~ experience.
▪
He's doing a month's unpaid ~ experience with an engineering company. ( BrE )
▪ permit , visa
▪ incentive
▪
High income tax can undermine ~ incentives.
▪ practice
▪
An independent report has described some ~ practices in the industry as old-fashioned.
▪ stoppage
PREPOSITION
▪ at ~
▪
‘Where's Diane?’ ‘She's at ~.’
▪
We had a party at ~.
▪ in (your) ~
▪
With so much unemployment, I'm lucky to be in ~. ( BrE )
▪
It's important to be happy in your ~.
▪ off ~ ( esp. BrE )
▪
She's been off ~ with a bad back since July.
▪ out of ~
▪
He's been out of ~ since the factory closed.
▪ through ~
▪
I met him through ~.
PHRASES
▪ a line of ~
▪
‘What line of ~ are you in?’ ‘Computing.’
▪ a place of ~
3 book/music/art
ADJECTIVE
▪ classic , fine , great
▪ definitive , seminal
▪
Her book is still considered the definitive ~ on beetles.
▪ best-known , well-known
▪ important , influential
▪ erudite , scholarly
▪ ambitious
▪ creative
▪ literary
▪ dramatic
▪ critical
▪ autobiographical , biographical
▪ artistic
▪ photographic
▪ sculptural
▪ art (usually artwork )
▪
The artwork in the book is superb.
▪ untitled
▪ completed , finished
▪
The finished ~ will be on view in the city art gallery.
▪ unfinished
▪ collaborative
▪ solo
▪ commissioned
▪
He does mainly commissioned portrait ~s.
▪ abstract , figurative , graphic
▪ choral , orchestral
▪ guitar , piano , etc.
▪ collected , complete
▪
the collected ~s of Stephen King
▪ early
▪ late , mature
▪
Picasso's mature ~s
▪ latest , present , previous , recent
▪
These paintings are more abstract than her previous ~.
▪ copyrighted
▪
People are using file-sharing to steal copyrighted ~s.
▪ published
▪
Her portfolio includes published ~s in several magazines.
▪ derivative
▪ original
… OF WORK
▪ series
▪ collection , exhibit ( AmE ), exhibition ( esp. BrE )
▪
The gallery is staging a special exhibition of Monet's early ~s.
VERB + WORK
▪ compose , create , produce , write
▪
Beethoven composed his greatest ~s in the latter part of his life.
▪ choreograph , conduct , translate
▪ commission
▪ perform , play
▪ hear , read , see
▪
Her ~ can be seen in most of the major European galleries.
▪ conduct , direct , edit , produce , publish , put on
▪
Over the next two years, the company is putting on the complete ~s of Brecht.
▪ display , exhibit , feature , show , showcase
▪
The town hall is exhibiting ~s by local artists.
▪ acclaim , admire , appreciate , praise
▪ critique ( esp. AmE ), discuss , review
▪ inform , inspire
▪
A love of landscape informs all his ~.
WORK + VERB
▪ be called sth , be entitled sth , be titled sth ( esp. AmE )
▪
a ~ entitled ‘The Sacrifice’
▪ depict sth , describe sth , represent sth
▪
The ~ represents a synthesis of the natural and the artificial.
▪ consist of sth
▪
a ~ consisting of twelve small blank canvases
▪ appear , be on show , go on show
▪
Her ~ appears at the Museum of Contemporary Art this summer.
PREPOSITION
▪ in a/the ~
▪
She's studying the theme of death in the ~s of Beckett.
▪ ~ by
▪
a ~ by an unknown 18th-century writer
PHRASES
▪ a ~ of art , a ~ of fiction , a ~ of literature
▪
The building is hated by some and considered a ~ of art by others.
▪
They discovered that his report was a complete ~ of fiction. ( humorous )
▪ a ~ of genius
▪
Her latest novel is a ~ of genius.
4 ( also works esp. BrE ) building/repairing
ADJECTIVE
▪ extensive , major
▪ road (usually roadworks in BrE and roadwork in AmE )
▪ maintenance , repair , restoration
VERB + WORKS
▪ carry out
▪
We are planning to carry out major ~s on the site.
▪ plan
▪ announce
WORKS + VERB
▪ continue , go on
▪
The ~s will continue until the end of July.
▪ be completed , finish
PREPOSITION
▪ at the ~ ( BrE )
▪
A contraflow is in operation at the ~s near Junction 5.
5 works ( esp. BrE ) factory
ADJECTIVE
▪ brick , iron , steel (usually brickworks , etc.)
▪ railway ( BrE )
▪ sewage , treatment
▪
The smell is believed to have originated from the sewage ~s.
▪
Scotland's biggest water treatment ~s
VERB + WORKS
▪ open
▪ close , close down , shut down
WORKS + VERB
▪ open
▪ close , close down
▪
The steelworks closed in 1986.
WORKS + NOUN
▪ manager , supervisor
▪ canteen ( BrE )
PREPOSITION
▪ at the ~
▪
the night shift at the ~s
II.
verb
1 do a job/task
ADVERB
▪ hard
▪
He had been ~ing hard all morning.
▪ tirelessly
▪ assiduously , busily , diligently , methodically
▪ feverishly , frantically
▪ steadily
▪ slowly
▪ quickly
▪ around the clock , round the clock ( esp. BrE )
▪
Emergency teams were ~ing around the clock to make the homes secure.
▪ full-time , part-time
▪
A lot of mothers choose to ~ part-time.
▪ illegally
▪
He was found to be ~ing illegally and was deported.
▪ effectively , efficiently , productively
▪
I ~ more efficiently on my own.
▪ actively
▪
We are actively ~ing to increase the number of women in science.
▪ closely , collaboratively , cooperatively , together
▪
people who have ~ed closely together over a period of time
▪ harmoniously
▪
We have proved that different groups can ~ harmoniously together.
▪ alone , independently , individually
▪ directly
▪
She ~s directly with customers.
▪ primarily
▪
I ~ primarily with young children.
▪ away
▪
We ~ed steadily away all morning.
VERB + WORK
▪ continue to
▪ choose to , prefer to
▪
I prefer to ~ as part of a team.
▪ motivate sb to
▪
Employees are motivated to ~ harder for a whole host of different reasons.
▪ enable sb to
▪
I needed a job which would enable me to ~ at home.
▪ refuse to
PREPOSITION
▪ as
▪
He's ~ing as a teacher at the moment.
▪ at
▪
I've spent three hours ~ing at this problem.
▪ for
▪
She ~s for an oil company.
▪ on
▪
We are ~ing on plans for a new swimming pool.
▪ towards/toward
▪
They are all ~ing towards/toward a common goal.
▪ with
▪
the people you ~ with
▪ within
▪
An architect must ~ within the confines of the laws of physics.
2 function; have a result/effect
ADVERB
▪ correctly , effectively , efficiently , properly , satisfactorily , well
▪
Everything ~ed very smoothly.
▪ flawlessly , perfectly , seamlessly , smoothly
▪ beautifully , brilliantly , splendidly ( esp. BrE ), wonderfully
▪ independently
▪
The fish's eyes can ~ independently of each other.
▪ differently
▪ synergistically ( esp. AmE )
VERB + WORK
▪ seem to
PHRASES
▪ ~ like a charm , ~ like magic
▪
Her strategy ~ed like a charm.
▪ ~ to sb's advantage , ~ to sb's disadvantage
▪
You can make your youth ~ to your advantage.
PHRASAL VERB
work out
ADVERB
▪ beautifully , fine , great , perfectly , well
▪ badly
PREPOSITION
▪ as
▪
It all ~ed out as we planned.
▪ between
▪
I told her I didn't think things would ~ out between us.
▪ for
▪
Things ~ed out well for Janet in the end.
▪ to
▪
This all ~s out to around $11 000.
Work is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ anaesthetic , ↑ approach , ↑ artist , ↑ brain , ↑ brake , ↑ computer , ↑ cure , ↑ device , ↑ diplomacy , ↑ effort , ↑ employee , ↑ equipment , ↑ evolution , ↑ experiment , ↑ flash , ↑ heating , ↑ idea , ↑ imagination , ↑ immigrant , ↑ labourer , ↑ link , ↑ lung , ↑ machine , ↑ magic , ↑ mechanism , ↑ metaphor , ↑ method , ↑ mind , ↑ motor , ↑ muscle , ↑ plan , ↑ ploy , ↑ printer , ↑ process , ↑ relationship , ↑ remedy , ↑ scheme , ↑ scientist , ↑ sculptor , ↑ servant , ↑ staff , ↑ strategy , ↑ system , ↑ tactic , ↑ technique , ↑ thing , ↑ tractor , ↑ traffic light , ↑ trainee , ↑ trick , ↑ volunteer , ↑ watch , ↑ worker
Work is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ cash register , ↑ circuit , ↑ crowd , ↑ desk , ↑ door , ↑ farm , ↑ field , ↑ hour , ↑ jaw , ↑ job , ↑ land , ↑ machine , ↑ magic , ↑ mine , ↑ miracle , ↑ muscle , ↑ overtime , ↑ passage , ↑ pedal , ↑ plantation , ↑ plot , ↑ puppet , ↑ shift , ↑ soil , ↑ way