I. worth 1 S1 W2 /wɜːθ $ wɜːrθ/ BrE AmE preposition
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: weorth 'worthy, of a particular value' ]
1 . be worth something
a) to have a value in money:
The house must be worth quite a lot of money now.
One of the pictures is worth £50,000.
Do you know how much the ring is worth?
This art collection is worth a fortune (=worth a very large amount of money) .
be worth nothing/not be worth anything
It’s a very old machine so I shouldn’t think it’s worth anything.
b) to have money or possessions that have value:
I’ve heard that he’s worth over $2 million.
The man who founded the company must be worth a fortune.
► Worth is not a verb. Do not say that something ‘worths’ something.
2 . be worth (doing) something
a) used to say that something is interesting, useful, or helpful:
A lot of the small towns in the area are definitely worth visiting.
The film is well worth seeing.
worth a trip/visit etc
The local museum is worth a visit.
b) used to say that someone should do something because they will gain something from it
be worth doing something
It’s worth checking the details of the contract before you sign it.
It’s well worth getting there early if you want a good seat.
be worth the time/effort/work
It was a great evening, and definitely worth all the hard work.
3 . be worth it informal used to say that you gain something from an action:
It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it.
4 . be not worth it informal used to say that you do not gain anything from an action:
I thought about trying to talk to him about it, but decided it wasn’t worth it.
5 . be worth sb’s while (to do/doing something) spoken used to say that someone should spend time or money on something because they will gain something from it:
It might be worth your while to talk to the head of department.
Some people feel it’s not worth their while working if they can get money from the state.
6 . make it worth sb’s while spoken to offer something to someone so that they will do something for you:
He promised to make it worth our while.
7 . what’s it worth (to you)? spoken used humorously to ask someone how they will reward you if you do something for them
8 . for what it’s worth spoken used when you are giving someone information, to say that you are not sure how useful it is:
Here’s the list of names, for what it’s worth.
9 . for all you are/he is etc worth with as much effort as possible:
He was pulling the rope for all he was worth.
10 . worth his/her salt doing their job well or deserving respect:
Any player worth his salt would love to play for his country.
11 . worth your/its weight in gold very useful:
In these mountains, an experienced guide is worth his weight in gold.
II. worth 2 W3 BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ worth , ↑ worthlessness , ↑ worthy , ↑ unworthiness ; adjective : worth, ↑ worthless , ↑ worthwhile , ↑ worthy ≠ ↑ unworthy ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: weorth ]
1 . ten pounds’ worth/$500 worth etc of something an amount of something worth ten pounds, $500 etc:
a chance to win £2,000 worth of computing equipment
The fire caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage.
2 . ten minutes’ worth/a week’s worth etc of something something that takes ten minutes, a week etc to happen, do, or use:
We had only three days’ worth of food left.
3 . how good or useful something is or how important it is to people SYN value :
The new computer system has already proved its worth.
4 . how much money something is worth SYN value :
It is difficult to estimate the current worth of the company.