WORK

I. noun Etymology: Middle English werk, ~, from Old English werc, weorc; akin to Old High German werc ~, Greek ergon, Avestan varəzem activity Date: before 12th century activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something:, sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective or result, the labor, task, or duty that is one's accustomed means of livelihood, a specific task, duty, function, or assignment often being a part or phase of some larger activity, 2. energy expended by natural phenomena, the result of such energy , the transference of energy that is produced by the motion of the point of application of a force and is measured by multiplying the force and the displacement of its point of application in the line of action, 3. something that results from a particular manner or method of ~ing, operating, or devising , something that results from the use or fashioning of a particular material , 4. a fortified structure (as a fort, earthen barricade, or trench), structures in engineering (as docks, bridges, or embankments) or mining (as shafts or tunnels), a place where industrial labor is carried on ; plant , factory , the ~ing or moving parts of a mechanism , 7. something produced or accomplished by effort, exertion, or exercise of skill , something produced by the exercise of creative talent or expenditure of creative effort ; artistic production , performance of moral or religious acts , 9. effective operation ; effect , result , manner of ~ing ; ~manship , execution , the material or piece of material that is operated upon at any stage in the process of manufacture, 11. plural everything possessed, available, or belonging , subjection to drastic treatment ; all possible abuse, Synonyms: see: ~ Synonyms: see: ~ II. adjective Date: 14th century used for ~ , suitable or styled for wear while ~ing , involving or engaged in ~ , III. verb (~ed or wrought; ~ing) Etymology: Middle English werken, ~en, from Old English wyrcan; akin to Old English weorc Date: before 12th century transitive verb to bring to pass ; effect , 2. to fashion or create a useful or desired product by expending labor or exertion on ; forge , shape , to make or decorate with needle~, 3. to prepare for use by stirring or kneading, to bring into a desired form by a gradual process of cutting, hammering, scraping, pressing, or stretching , to set or keep in motion, operation, or activity ; cause to operate or produce , to solve (a problem) by reasoning or calculation, 6. to cause to toil or labor , to make use of ; exploit , to control or guide the operation of , 7. to carry on an operation or perform a job through, at, in, or along , to greet and talk with in a friendly way in order to ingratiate oneself or achieve a purpose , to pay for or achieve with labor or service , 9. to get (oneself or an object) into or out of a condition or position by gradual stages, contrive , arrange , 10. to practice trickery or cajolery on for some end , excite , provoke , intransitive verb 1. to exert oneself physically or mentally especially in sustained effort for a purpose or under compulsion or necessity, to perform or carry through a task requiring sustained effort or continuous repeated operations , to perform ~ or fulfill duties regularly for wages or salary , to function or operate according to plan or design , to exert an influence or tendency, to produce a desired effect or result ; succeed , 5. to make way slowly and with difficulty ; move or progress laboriously , to sail to windward, to permit of being ~ed ; react in a specified way to being ~ed , 7. to be in agitation or restless motion, ferment 1, to move slightly in relation to another part, to get into a specified condition by slow or imperceptible movements