outwork

[verb out-wurk; noun out-wurk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR outwork ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), out·worked or out·wrought, out·work·ing.

to work harder, better, or faster than.

to work out or carry on to a conclusion; finish: a problem to be outworked in after generations.

Archaic. to outdo in workmanship.

noun

a minor defense built or established outside the principal fortification limits.

Origin of outwork

1200–50; Middle English: to complete; see out-, work

Related formsout·work·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for outwork

mainstay, bastion, fortress, redoubt, stronghold, parapet, barrier, protection, partition, buffet, citadel, guard, defense, embankment, rampart, security, safeguard, buttress, fort, outwork

Examples from the Web for outwork

Contemporary Examples of outwork

But he was a whirling dervish of energy and could outwork his critics.
From The Square Deal to The New Deal: The Overlapping Political Identities of TR and FDR
John Avlon
September 9, 2014

Historical Examples of outwork

An outwork which has three salient angles at the head and two inwards.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
Good fame is an outwork that defends them all and renders them all valuable.
Pearls of Thought
Maturin M. Ballou
Good fame is an outwork, that defends them all, and renders them all valuable.
Thoughts on the Present Discontents
Edmund Burke
The wonder is, that they have not fortified the rock as an outwork to their fort.
Syd Belton
George Manville Fenn
It took a fortnight's hard work before the outwork was completed.
Won by the Sword
G.A. Henty

British Dictionary definitions for outwork

outwork

noun (ˈaʊtˌwɜːk)

(often plural) defences which lie outside main defensive works

work performed away from the factory, office, etc, by which it has been commissioned

verb (ˌaʊtˈwɜːk) -works, -working, -worked or -wrought (tr)

to work better, harder, etc, than

to work out to completion

Derived Formsoutworker, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012