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Synonyms

work on

British  

verb

  1. (intr, preposition) to persuade or influence or attempt to persuade or influence

"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
work on Idioms  

  1. Also, work upon. Exercise influence on, as in If you work on him, he might change his mind, or She always worked upon their feelings by pretending to be more ill than she really was. [Early 1600s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A previous owner of the land had started work on a house in the early 2000s, but later abandoned the project leaving some low walls.

From BBC

Prior to his work on Radio 2, Mills was a mainstay on Radio 1 - which he joined in 1998 - for decades.

From BBC

“Workers are consumers, too. If it works on consumers, it works on workers. It’s the same psychology.”

From MarketWatch

Levy: Chemistry is not something that you can really work on.

From Los Angeles Times

In her work on the Central Coast, Taylor said she had responded to calls from people who had encountered rattlesnakes in their backyards.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.