worker

American  

[wur-ker] / ˈwɜr kər /

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.

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worker British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• nonworker noun
• subworker noun
• workerless adjective

Etymology

Origin of worker

First recorded in 1300–50, worker is from the Middle English word werker, worcher. See work, -er ¹

Example Sentences

After waves of RTO mandates yielded mixed results, employers are betting a subtler strategy will be more effective at pulling workers back to their desks.

From The Wall Street Journal

Cursor’s products make knowledge workers vastly more productive because they use proprietary custom data and model to achieve what appears to be an intuitive understanding of their needs.

From Barron's

“My boss says AI doubles our output,” one designer told us in a research survey of Chinese workers and managers that we conducted from 2024 into 2025.

From Barron's

Nevertheless, hours before her death, party workers had on Monday submitted nomination papers on her behalf for three constituencies for the polls.

From Barron's

When the BBC visited in November, workers were busy knocking down a decrepit old barn, one of many that dot the Appalachian landscape.

From BBC

Related Words

• employee
• laborer
• staff