working

[ wur-king ]

/ ˈwɜr kɪŋ /

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See synonyms for: working / workings on Thesaurus.com

noun

the act of a person or thing that works.

operation; action: the involuted workings of his mind.

the process of shaping a material: The working of clay is easy when it's damp.

the act of manufacturing or building a thing.

Usually workings. a part of a mine, quarry, or the like, in which work is carried on.

the process of fermenting, as of yeasts.

a slow advance involving exertion.

disturbed or twisting motions: The working of his limbs revealed the disease.

repeated movement or strain tending to loosen a structural assembly or part.

adjective

that works.

doing some form of work or labor, especially manual, mechanical, or industrial work, as for a living: a working person.

operating; producing effects, results, etc.

pertaining to, connected with, or used in operating or working.

serving to permit or facilitate continued work: a working model; a working majority.

adequate for usual or customary needs: a working knowledge of Spanish.

large enough for working or being worked: a working sample.

done, taken, etc., while conducting or discussing business: a working lunch.

Also work. (of a face or edge, as of a timber or a metal casting) shaped and planed as a reference for further shaping and planing.

SYNONYMS FOR working

15 usable, practical, operative, functioning.

See synonyms for working on Thesaurus.com

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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

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Origin of working

First recorded in 1250–1300, working is from the Middle English word werking.See work, -ing¹, -ing²

OTHER WORDS FROM working

self-working, adjectiveun·work·ing, adjective

Words nearby working

work hardening, workhorse, work-hour, workhouse, work in, working, working asset, working bee, working capital, working-capital fund, working class

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for working

A July working paper out of the National Bureau of Economic Research reported substantial learning gains among participants in 96 programs lasting 10 weeks to a year, with mostly low, often 1-to-1, student-tutor ratios.
Creative school plans could counter inequities exposed by COVID-19|Sujata Gupta|September 8, 2020|Science News
The 8th District takes in South Boston, a historically working-class and Irish American community.
Today’s Elections In Massachusetts Are Another Big Test For The Progressive Movement|Nathaniel Rakich (nathaniel.rakich@fivethirtyeight.com)|September 1, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Publishers can’t predict how much longer the peaks will last, especially since plenty of remote working and home decor purchases — monitors, treadmills, desks — are one-time purchases.
Beyond the boom and bust cycle: How The Sun grew and stabilized its e-commerce revenue haul|Lucinda Southern|August 27, 2020|Digiday
Reports have criticized unsafe working conditions in Amazon warehouses and some workers in Minneapolis even went on strike on Prime Day last year.
Who is Dave Clark, the new chief of Amazon’s giant retail business?|Aaron Pressman|August 22, 2020|Fortune

Long-entrenched views on such things as remote working and digitization have changed.
Research: Only 25 percent of professionals expect to be working from home long-term|DailyPay|August 17, 2020|Digiday
Together, the teams are working 24 hours a day for a product that promises much higher risk than it does profit.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Take the chief metric of the war in Vietnam—body counts, which ultimately did not answer whether the strategy was working.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War|Nancy A. Youssef|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I wish I was a young Carole King, working in the Brill Building.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He also was working to recruit Castro as a driver for a drug load.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro|Bill Conroy|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The brokers then scout out potential “crew members” who can earn substantial discounts for working the journey.
Ghost Ships of the Mediterranean|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Beginning with single twigs and working over them patiently she at length painted whole trees, and later animals.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Not only have its fundamental principles been fully vindicated but in most details the working of the measure has been successful.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
The universal ignorance of the working class broke down the aspiring force of genius.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
All possibility of a general increase of wages depended on the relation of available capital to the numbers of the working men.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
With hands nervously working within her muff, she suddenly missed the handkerchief which she had placed there.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett

British Dictionary definitions for working

working

/ (ˈwɜːkɪŋ) /

noun

the operation or mode of operation of something

the act or process of moulding something pliable

a convulsive or jerking motion, as from excitement

(often plural) a part of a mine or quarry that is being or has been worked

(plural) the whole system of excavations in a mine

a record of the steps by which the result of a calculation or the solution of a problem is obtainedall working is to be submitted to the examiners

rare slow advance against or as if against resistance

adjective (prenominal)

relating to or concerned with a person or thing that worksa working man

concerned with, used in, or suitable for workworking clothes

(of a meal or occasion) during which business discussions are carried onworking lunch; working breakfast

capable of being operated or useda working model

sufficiently large or accurate to be useful or to accomplish a desired enda working majority; a working knowledge of German

(of a theory, etc) providing a basis, usually a temporary one, on which operations or procedures may be carried out

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

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