worker

[ wur-ker ]
/ ˈwɜr kər /
SEE 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.
  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.
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.

Origin of worker

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

OTHER WORDS FROM worker

non·work·er, nounsub·work·er, noun

Words nearby worker

workbox, work camp, workday, worked, worked-up, worker, worker director, worker participation, worker-priest, workers' compensation, workers' compensation insurance
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to worker

employee, trader, peasant, laborer, slave, help, stiff, toiler, breadwinner, hand, serf, artisan, operative, proletarian, craftsperson, wage earner, blue collar, nine-to-fiver, tradesperson, white collar

Example sentences from the Web for worker

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 of worker

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