worker

[ wur-ker ]

/ ˈwɜr kər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR worker ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that works.

a laborer or employee: steel workers.

a person engaged in a particular field, activity, or cause: a worker in psychological research; a worker for the Republican Party.

Entomology.

a member of a caste of sexually underdeveloped, nonreproductive bees, specialized to collect food and maintain the hive.
a similar member of a specialized caste of ants, termites, or wasps.

Printing. one of a set of electrotyped plates used to print from (contrasted with molder²).

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

Nearby words

workday, worked, worked up, worked up, be, worked-up, worker, worker director, worker participation, worker-priest, workers' compensation, workers' compensation insurance

Origin of worker

First recorded in 1300–50, worker is from the Middle English word werker, worcher. See work, -er¹

Related forms

non·work·er, nounsub·work·er, noun

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

Examples from the Web for worker

“We thought it must be the children playing some game,” a worker at the school told Reuters.
Taliban: We Slaughtered 100+ Kids Because Their Parents Helped America|Sami Yousafzai|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We meet a worker named Joan, who tries to escape but is dragged back in after sustaining a gory walker bite on her arm.
The Walking Dead’s ‘Slabtown’: The Real Source of Terror Isn’t Walkers, It’s Rape|Melissa Leon|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then there is the fact that officially every French worker is entitled to 31 days of paid vacation.
Obama’s Extravagant Summer Break? More Like, America’s Vacation-Deficit Disorder|Clive Irving|August 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There is one theory that they were both exposed by a Liberian worker in the contamination crew who fell ill.
‘He Could Have Brought Ebola Here’: Minnesota Widow on Her Husband|Michael Daly|July 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST

One worker was shot point blank in the chest, another in the shoulder.
Brooklyn Shooting Hits Close to Bill de Blasio’s Park Slope Home|Michael Daly|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Indeed, there wasn't a worker in the house that was not disgusted with his laziness.
The Tale of Buster Bumblebee|Arthur Scott Bailey
Each person received pay according to his value as a worker, the record being kept by the foreman of his group.
Stories of the Badger State|Reuben Gold Thwaites
Engels pleaded he was already over busy with those tasks, which show him to have been so patient and prolific a worker.
The Art of Lecturing|Arthur M. (Arthur Morrow) Lewis
But there are two points of view in this question—the point of view of the management and that of the worker.
To Him That Hath|Ralph Connor
They are deceived: the mason builds for the fire, the worker toils for the thief.
The Legend of Ulenspiegel, Vol. II (of 2)|Charles de Coster

British Dictionary definitions for worker

worker

/ (ˈwɜːkə) /

noun

a person or thing that works, usually at a specific joba good worker; a research worker

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

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

any other member of the working class

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

Derived Forms

workerless, adjective

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