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

• workerless adjective
• nonworker noun
• subworker noun

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

Federal workers can choose to return to the office full time or resign and get paid for the next eight months.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The continuing government shutdown has also put hundreds of thousands of workers on furlough and sparked mass layoffs.

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Republicans and Democrats have been deadlocked over government funding since 1 October, leading to a shutdown that has placed more than 700,000 federal workers on unpaid leave.

Read more on BBC

The typical U.S. factory worker now produces more in one hour than the typical 1947 worker did in a 10-hour day.

Read more on MarketWatch

Rescue workers in Mexico are searching for at least 38 people who are missing after torrential rains triggered flooding in 150 locations across five states.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• employee 
• laborer 
• staff