worker

American  

[wur-ker] / ˈwɜr kər /

noun

1. a person or thing that works.

2. a laborer or employee.

   steel workers.

3. a person engaged in a particular field, activity, or cause.

   a worker in psychological research; a worker for the Republican Party.

4. Entomology.

   1. a member of a caste of sexually underdeveloped, nonreproductive bees, specialized to collect food and maintain the hive.

   2. a similar member of a specialized caste of ants, termites, or wasps.

5. Printing. one of a set of electrotyped plates used to print from (molder ).

6. any of several rollers covered with card clothing that work in combination with the stripper rollers and the cylinder in the carding of fibers.

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worker British  

/ ˈwɜːkə /

noun

1. a person or thing that works, usually at a specific job

   a good worker

   a research worker

2. an employee in an organization, as opposed to an employer or manager

3. a manual labourer or other employee working in a manufacturing or other industry

4. any other member of the working class

5. a sterile female member of a colony of bees, ants, or wasps that forages for food, cares for the larvae, etc

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Other Word Forms

• nonworker noun
• subworker noun
• workerless adjective

Etymology

Origin of worker

First recorded in 1300–50, worker is from the Middle English word werker, worcher. See work, -er ¹

Example Sentences

The clothing sector accounts for more than 80% of Bangladesh's total export revenue and employs around four million workers.

From BBC

Physical AI is artificial intelligence that interacts with the real world, instead of just virtual chatbots helping workers create software code or draft emails.

From Barron's

Fewer workers mean less output and, therefore, weaker growth.

From BBC

The Mining Chamber, a trade group representing mining unions and companies, said that three of the men were "found dead and were identified" by authorities and fellow workers.

From Barron's

Its impact showed up first in manufacturing as machines, robots and computers took the place of workers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• employee
• laborer
• staff