worker

[wur-ker]

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.

worker

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• nonworker noun
• subworker noun
• workerless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of worker¹

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

Example Sentences

Judge Parnell said one child had told the Cafcass social worker that their mother kept "going on and on" about the father when they visited her.

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“Even though this absurd case was dismissed today, I will continue to defend the civil rights of every New Yorker. Every worker has a right to a safe commute.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

On the busy avenues populated not by residents but by construction workers and carpenters laying the groundwork for a new Palisades.

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The suit, filed last year, is one of several legal challenges over unpaid severance for workers who were laid off after Musk took over.

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That would be welcome news for Patty Zaragoza, a food service worker at Alhambra Unified’s central kitchen.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• employee 
• laborer 
• staff