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Synonyms of work in English:
work
See US English definition of work
See UK English definition of work
See Spanish definition of trabajo
noun
1‘he was tired after a day's work in the fields’
SYNONYMS
labour, toil, exertion, effort, slog, drudgery, the sweat of one's brow
industry
service
informal grind, sweat, donkey work, spadework, elbow grease
British informal graft, fag
Australian, New Zealand informal yakka
archaic travail, moil
ANTONYMS
leisure, rest
2‘his work takes him to France, Spain, and Germany’
SYNONYMS
employment, job, day job, post, position, situation, means of earning one's living, occupation, profession, career, business, trade, line
vocation, calling
archaic employ
3‘haven't you got any work to do?’
SYNONYMS
tasks, jobs, duties, assignments, commissions, projects
chores
4‘one of the best works of modern English literature’
SYNONYMS
composition, piece, creation, achievement, accomplishment
work of art, opus, oeuvre
5‘the attack was the work of a militant group’
SYNONYMS
handiwork, doing, act, deed, feat, performance
6works‘a lifetime spent doing good works’
SYNONYMS
deeds, acts, actions
7works‘the complete works of Shakespeare’
SYNONYMS
writings, oeuvre, canon, output
8works‘the site of a former car works’
SYNONYMS
factory, plant, manufacturing complex, mill, foundry, yard, industrial unit, business unit
workshop, shop
9works‘the works of a clock’
SYNONYMS
mechanism, machinery, workings, working parts, parts, movement, action
informal innards, insides
10the works‘for only $60 you can get the works’
SYNONYMS
everything, the full treatment
informal everything but the kitchen sink, the lot, the whole shooting match, the whole caboodle, the whole kit and caboodle, the whole shebang, the whole nine yards
British informal the full monty
North American informal the whole ball of wax
verb
1‘staff worked late into the night to make the necessary repairs’
SYNONYMS
toil, labour, exert oneself, slave, slave away, plod away
work one's fingers to the bone, work like a dog, work like a Trojan, work day and night, keep at it, keep one's nose to the grindstone
informal slog, slog away, beaver away, plug away, peg away, put one's back into something, work one's guts out, work one's socks off, knock oneself out, sweat blood, kill oneself
British informal graft, fag
Australian, New Zealand informal bullock
British vulgar slang work one's arse off, work one's balls off
North American vulgar slang work one's ass off, work one's butt off
archaic drudge, travail, moil
ANTONYMS
rest, play
2‘Taylor has worked in education for 17 years’
SYNONYMS
be employed, have a job, earn one's living, hold down a job, do business, follow one's trade, ply one's trade
3‘many farmers had given up working the land’
SYNONYMS
cultivate, farm, till, plough
exploit
4‘Dino's car was now working perfectly’
SYNONYMS
function, go, run, operate, perform
be in working order
informal behave
5‘she showed me how to work the ice-cream machine’
SYNONYMS
operate, use, handle, control, manipulate, manoeuvre, drive, run, direct
ply, wield
6‘their desperate ploy had worked’
SYNONYMS
succeed, be successful, work out, turn out well, go as planned, have the desired result, get results
be effective, take effect, be efficacious
informal come off, pay off, do the trick, do the business
North American informal turn the trick
ANTONYMS
fail
7‘with a dash of blusher you can work miracles’
SYNONYMS
bring about, accomplish, achieve, produce, do, perform, carry out, implement, execute, create, engender, contrive, effect
8‘the chairman was prepared to work it for Philip if he was interested’
SYNONYMS
arrange, manipulate, manoeuvre, contrive
pull strings
North American pull wires
informal fix, swing, wangle
British informal fiddle
9‘he worked the crowd into a frenzy’
SYNONYMS
stir, stir up, excite, drive, move, spur, rouse, fire, galvanize
whip up, inflame, incite, agitate
10‘work the mixture into a paste’
SYNONYMS
knead, squeeze, form, shape, fashion, mould, model
mix, stir, blend
11‘he worked the blade into the padlock’
SYNONYMS
manoeuvre, manipulate, negotiate, guide, edge
12‘Bella's mouth worked furiously for a few seconds’
SYNONYMS
twitch, quiver, twist, move spasmodically, convulse
13‘John had worked his way through the crowd’
SYNONYMS
manoeuvre, make, thread, wind, weave
Phrases
- work out
1‘the bill works out at £50’
SYNONYMS
amount to, add up to, come to, total
British tot up to
2‘I'm glad my idea worked out’
SYNONYMS
succeed, be successful, work, turn out well, go as planned, get results, be effective
informal come off, pay off, do the trick, do the business
ANTONYMS
fail
3‘things didn't quite work out the way she had planned’
SYNONYMS
end up, turn out, go, come out, develop, evolve, result
happen, occur
informal pan out
4‘Bob keeps in shape by working out at the local gym’
SYNONYMS
exercise, do exercises, train
‘it looked like someone had worked him over to get him to say what they wanted him to say’
SYNONYMS
beat up, beat, attack, assault, knock about, knock around, maltreat, mistreat, abuse, batter, manhandle
informal do over, bash up, rough up, beat the living daylights out of
British informal duff up
North American informal beat up on
‘he couldn't seem to work up any enthusiasm’
SYNONYMS
stimulate, rouse, raise, arouse, awaken, excite, build up, whet
develop, produce
‘leave him to me—I'll work on him’
SYNONYMS
persuade, manipulate, influence, sway, put pressure on, lean on
coax, cajole, wheedle, soften up
informal twist someone's arm, put the squeeze on
1‘work out how much you can afford to spend’
SYNONYMS
calculate, compute, reckon up, determine
2‘I'm still trying to work out what she meant’
SYNONYMS
understand, comprehend, puzzle out, sort out, reason out, make sense of, think out, think through, get to the bottom of, make head or tail of, solve, find an answer to, find an solution to, unravel, untangle, decipher, decode, find the key to, piece together
informal figure out, crack
British informal suss out
3‘they worked out a plan of action’
SYNONYMS
devise, formulate, draw up, put together, develop, prepare, construct, arrange, organize, plan, think up, contrive, concoct
hammer out, thrash out, reach an agreement on, negotiate
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