Jump to:

• working day
  working day

  noun

  the amount of time that a worker must work for an agreed daily wage.
• working-day
  working-day

  adjective

  workaday; everyday.

working day

¹ American  

noun

1. the amount of time that a worker must work for an agreed daily wage.

2. a day ordinarily given to working (distinguished from holiday).

3. the daily period of hours for working.

---

working-day ² American  

[wur-king-dey] / ˈwɜr kɪŋˌdeɪ /

adjective

1. workaday; everyday.

---

working day British  

noun

1. a day on which work is done, esp for an agreed or stipulated number of hours in return for a salary or wage

2. the part of the day allocated to work

   a seven-hour working day

3. (often plural) commerce any day of the week except Sunday, public holidays, and, in some cases, Saturday

---

Usage

What does working day mean? A working day is any day that you work. Most commonly, working day refers to one of the days in the working week, the span of (often five) days that are not the weekend and when many people work. The word workday means the same thing as working day, and workweek means the same thing as working week. Workday and workweek are much more commonly used in the U. S. and Canada. The standard workweek is from Monday through Friday, with Saturday and Sunday being considered the weekend, though working schedules vary widely. Many full-time jobs involve a 40-hour workweek consisting of five eight-hour working days. In this sense, workweek refers to all the time spent working in a week, and a working day refers to the hours spent working in a day. Working day sometimes refers just to the part of the day that you work, as in After the working day, I like to unwind by taking a walk around the lake before I go home for the night. The word working day is sometimes used to distinguish it from other nonwork days during a certain period, as in My trip is 11 days away—and only eight working days!Example: My working day consists of catching up on emails for the first hour or so, and then I’m in meetings for several hours, leaving me an hour or two to get some actual work done.

Etymology

Origin of working day¹

First recorded in 1525–35

Origin of working-day²

First recorded in 1470–80

Example Sentences

"Currently in north Wales 84.8% of first class letters are delivered the next working day, with the remainder arriving in the days that follow," a spokesperson said.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

We are working day and night for you.’”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Beginning at 1 p.m. and ending shortly after 8 p.m., coincidentally, says Blenkarn, the length or so of a working day, not everyone made it to the “asses.masses” conclusion.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

One international organization staff member said educators were "working day and night" to provide any form of learning, with many not taking a single day off in two years.

From Science Daily • Jan. 11, 2026

At Townsend’s I’ll have a normal working day and get off for the night at eight.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz