INDEX:
1. to work hard
2. to work extremely hard
3. to work too hard
4. someone who works hard
5. someone who does the hardest or most boring work
6. to make people work hard
7. what you say to tell someone to work harder
8. to not work hard enough
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ WORK
↑ WORK FOR SB
↑ JOB
↑ EARN
↑ BUSINESS
↑ COMPANY
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1. to work hard
▷ work hard /ˌwɜːʳk ˈhɑːʳd/ [verb phrase]
to work hard when you are doing your job, your schoolwork, or anything that takes time and effort :
▪ Bruno had been working hard in the kitchen all morning.
▪ I wouldn’t mind working so hard if they paid us more.
▷ put a lot of effort into something /ˌpʊt ə lɒt əv ˈefəʳt ɪntə something ǁ-lɑːt-/ [verb phrase]
to work hard because you think something is important and you want to do it well :
▪ Stella had obviously put a lot of effort into her assignment, and got a good grade.
▪ The company puts a great deal of effort into training its staff.
▷ work at /ˈwɜːʳk æt/ [transitive verb not in passive]
to try hard to improve something or to improve the way you do something :
▪ The only way to be successful in athletics is to really work at it.
▪ You should be able to take your music exam in the summer, if you work at it between now and then.
▷ be hard at work /be hard at it British /biː ˌhɑːʳd ət ˈwɜːʳk, biː ˌhɑːʳd ˈæt ɪt/ [verb phrase] informal
to be working very hard and continuously :
▪ Mike’s been hard at it all afternoon and he still hasn’t finished mending the car.
be hard at work on something
▪ Since January, Leane’s been hard at work on a self-help book on how to launch a business.
be hard at work doing something
▪ They’ve been hard at work getting the house decorated.
▷ push yourself /ˈpʊʃ jɔːʳself/ [verb phrase]
to force yourself to work or train very hard at something :
▪ If you really push yourself, you should get all the work done on time.
push yourself hard
▪ Warm up your body before you start exercising, and avoid pushing yourself too hard or too fast.
▷ beaver away British /plug away American /ˌbiːvər əˈweɪ, ˌplʌg əˈweɪ/ [intransitive phrasal verb] informal
to work very hard for a long time in a determined way :
▪ American investment bankers are still plugging away, looking for business in developing countries like Thailand, Indonesia, or Malaysia.
beaver away on/at
▪ Haven’t you finished? You’ve been beavering away on that report all morning.
▷ labour British /labor American /ˈleɪbəʳ/ [intransitive verb] formal
to work hard, especially doing hard physical work, or doing something difficult or boring :
▪ Sheffield is a city where steel-workers once laboured in their thousands.
labour over
▪ Shipman was seated in his office, labouring over his paperwork, when I came in.
labour to do something
▪ The goal was just what the team needed, at the end of a game in which they had laboured hard to overcome Chelsea.
2. to work extremely hard
▷ slave away /ˌsleɪv əˈweɪ/ [] informal
to work very hard at something you do not enjoy and do not want to do :
▪ I’ve been slaving away all week and I’ve had enough of it!
slave away at
▪ Ed had been slaving away at his essay for hours, but it still wasn’t finished.
slave away to do something
▪ The poor man spent ten years of his life slaving away to pay back the money they had borrowed.
▷ work your fingers to the bone /wɜːʳk jɔːʳ ˌfɪŋgəʳz tə ðə ˈbəʊn/ [verb phrase] informal
to work extremely hard for a long time - use this when you are complaining about how hard you have to work :
▪ In those days we got up at 5 in the morning, and worked our fingers to the bone.
▪ His mother had had a hard life - had worked her fingers to the bone bringing up six children.
▷ work your butt/ass off /ˌwɜːʳk jɔːʳ ˈbʌt, ˈæs ɒf/ [verb phrase] American spoken
to work very hard, especially for a period of time on one particular thing - use these only in situations where you know people well as they are considered impolite by many people :
▪ It hasn’t been easy. The truth is I’ve worked my ass off for everything I’ve achieved.
work your butt/ass off to do something
▪ Lea worked her butt off to graduate with honors and big scholarships.
▷ toil /tɔɪl/ [intransitive verb] formal
to work hard for a long time, especially doing work that is boring or difficult :
▪ Men. women and children spent long hours toiling in the fields, whatever the weather conditions.
toil to do something
▪ Roger and his wife toiled round the clock for seven years to make a success of their business.
3. to work too hard
▷ overworked /ˌəʊvəʳˈwɜːʳkt/ [adjective]
someone who is overworked has too much work to do :
▪ Teachers often complain that they are overworked and underpaid.
▪ I’d been six months without any holiday, and I was tired and overworked.
overwork [uncountable noun]
▪ She had a heart condition caused by heavy smoking and overwork.
being overworked
▷ overdo it /ˌəʊvəʳˈduː ɪt/ [verb phrase] informal
to work so hard that you become ill :
▪ The doctor told me to relax and not overdo it.
▪ The President’s advisers are worried that he might have been overdoing it lately.
▷ drive/push yourself too hard /ˌdraɪv, ˌpʊʃ jɔːʳself tuː ˈhɑːʳd/ [verb phrase]
to force yourself to work too hard, especially because you want very much to be successful :
▪ You should slow down. You’re pushing yourself too hard.
▪ It’s no wonder that she had a nervous breakdown -- she’s been driving herself too hard for months.
▷ work/drive yourself into the ground /ˌwɜːʳk, ˌdraɪv jɔːʳself ɪntə ðə ˈgraʊnd/ [verb phrase] informal
to force yourself to work very hard, so that you become extremely tired or ill :
▪ It’s good to work hard. But don’t drive yourself into the ground.
▪ By the time the great day arrived, I’d worked myself into the ground making sure everything would be just right.
4. someone who works hard
▷ hardworking /ˌhɑːʳdˈwɜːʳkɪŋ◂/ [adjective]
▪ Colleagues described him as a quiet, hardworking young man.
▪ She’s not our best employee, but at least she’s hardworking.
▪ Unfortunately, the school has just lost two of its best and most hardworking teachers.
▷ workaholic /ˌwɜːʳkəˈhɒlɪkǁ-ˈhɔː-/ [countable noun]
someone who wants to work all the time and who cannot relax when they are not working :
▪ Steve’s doing a sixty-hour week at the moment - I never realized he could be such a workaholic.
▪ Selling is a career that seems to attract workaholics.
▷ industrious /ɪnˈdʌstriəs/ [adjective]
someone who is industrious works hard and effectively :
▪ Most of the students I knew at college were serious and industrious.
▪ The Omanis are industrious people, striving to make their country prosperous.
▷ dedicated /ˈdedɪkeɪtəd, ˈdedəkeɪtəd/ [adjective]
someone who is dedicated works very hard at something because they care about it a lot, even though the job is difficult or does not earn them much money :
▪ Janie’s a wonderful nurse - completely dedicated.
▪ The lifeboat service is run by a team of dedicated volunteers.
dedicated to
▪ The group is dedicated to the conservation of the environment.
dedicated to doing something
▪ Worknet has a staff of 28 people, dedicated to assisting the community in their search for employment or training.
dedicated sportsman/gardener etc
someone who is dedicated to their sport, gardening etc
▪ As a dedicated sportsman, Steven trained every day of the week.
▷ committed /kəˈmɪtɪd, kəˈmɪtəd/ [adjective]
if a person, organization, or country is committed to a particular job or idea, they really believe in it and want it to succeed, and are willing to work very hard to achieve this :
committed to
▪ Edinburgh sees itself as a university of the new millennium, committed to research and teaching.
committed to doing something
▪ Tanzania is a country committed to building socialism in the long term.
highly committed
▪ The company looks for highly committed people, who are willing to study for further professional qualifications in their own time.
▷ studious /ˈstjuːdiəsǁˈstuː-/ [adjective]
someone who is studious likes to spend their time reading and studying in order to be more successful at school, college etc :
▪ Francis didn’t bother with clothes or make-up. She was an extremely serious and studious young girl.
▪ Angus’s round glasses made him look studious.
▷ swot British /grind American /swɒtǁswɑːt, graɪnd/ [countable noun] informal
someone who spends too much time studying :
▪ Everyone else in the class hated him because they thought he was a real swot.
5. someone who does the hardest or most boring work
▷ drudge /drʌdʒ/ [countable noun]
someone who works hard at something that is difficult and boring, especially for people who do not realize or care that the work is difficult and boring :
▪ The work I was given was the same, day after day; I felt like a drudge.
a household drudge
someone who stays at home doing nothing except boring tasks around the house
▪ One of the women said that since having four children, she felt she’d been reduced to a household drudge.
▷ dogsbody British /peon American /ˈdɒgzˌbɒdiǁˈdɔːgzˌbɑːdi, ˈpiːənǁˈpiːɑːn/ [countable noun] informal
a person who does the boring or unimportant jobs that no one else wants to do :
▪ You have to be prepared to be a peon when you start -- sweeping floors, delivering, that kind of thing.
a general dogsbody
▪ I got myself a job as a typist and general dogsbody on a small magazine.
6. to make people work hard
▷ work somebody hard /ˌwɜːʳk somebody ˈhɑːʳd/ [verb phrase]
to make someone work hard, especially unreasonably hard :
▪ Sometimes I think that they work us too hard in this office.
▪ The bank’s managers admit that they work their employees hard, but on the other hand they pay good wages.
▷ slave driver /ˈsleɪv ˌdraɪvəʳ/ [countable noun] informal
someone who makes people work too hard :
▪ She’s a real slave driver. One of her secretaries had a nervous breakdown last year.
7. what you say to tell someone to work harder
▷ put some effort into it also put your back into it British /put some muscle into it American /ˌpʊt s ə m ˈefəʳt ɪntʊ ɪt, ˌpʊt jɔːʳ ˈbæk ɪntʊ ɪt, ˌpʊt s ə m ˈmʌs ə l ɪntʊ ɪt/ [verb phrase]
use this to tell someone to work harder at what they are doing :
▪ You’ll have to put your back into it -- I want to see all these boxes moved by tonight.
▪ Come on you guys, let’s see you put some muscle into it!
▷ pull/get your finger out /ˌpʊl, ˌget jɔːʳ ˈfɪŋgər aʊt/ [verb phrase] British informal
say this to tell someone to do something faster or work harder :
▪ You could easily finish your essay if you just sit down and pull your finger out!
8. to not work hard enough
▷ not pull your weight /nɒt ˌpʊl jɔːʳ ˈweɪt/ [verb phrase]
to not do as much work as other people, when you are working in a group or team :
▪ If you think that Alan isn’t pulling his weight, you must tell him either to improve or leave.
▪ Of all the people sharing the house with us, only Lizzie didn’t pull her weight.
▷ skive /skaɪv/ [intransitive verb] British informal
to not do the work that you should be doing, or to be away from your place of work without a good reason :
▪ She says she’s been ill for the past week, but I think she’s just skiving.
skive off
not be at your place of work
▪ Harry’s going to get into trouble if he keeps skiving off on Friday afternoons.
skiver [countable noun]
▪ Everyone knew that Ned was the biggest skiver in the class.
▷ goof off /ˌguːf ˈɒf/ [intransitive phrasal verb] American informal
to not work when you are supposed to be working :
▪ Hey you two! Quit goofing off and do some work!
goof off on the job
▪ Anyone who does consistently good work doesn’t need to worry about occasionally goofing off on the job.
▷ not do a stroke of work /nɒt duː ə ˌstrəʊk əv ˈwɜːʳk/ [verb phrase] British informal
to do no work at all :
▪ The telephone’s been ringing and I haven’t managed to do a stroke of work yet today.
▪ Duncan found a wealthy woman, married her, and he’s never done a stroke of work since!
▷ slack /slæk/ [intransitive verb usually in progressive] British informal
to deliberately do less work than you should :
▪ She called me into her office and accused me of slacking and taking too many holidays!
no slacking
use this to tell someone to work as hard as possible
▪ ‘You start tomorrow at nine,’ he told them, ‘and no slacking, or there’ll be trouble.’
▷ malinger /məˈlɪŋgəʳ/ [intransitive verb usually in progressive] formal
to avoid going to work by pretending to be ill :
▪ I’m sure he’s not malingering. He looked awful when I saw him last night.
▪ The report claimed that women may be more likely to malinger than men.
malingering [uncountable noun]
▪ There’ve been so many cases of malingering that now you need a doctor’s note if you’re absent.