working day
noun
the amount of time that a worker must work for an agreed daily wage.
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working day
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working-day
working-dayadjectiveworkaday; everyday.
working day
1 Americannoun
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working days
plural
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the amount of time that a worker must work for an agreed daily wage.
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a day ordinarily given to working (distinguished from holiday).
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the daily period of hours for working.
working-day
2
American
[wur-king-day]
/ ˈwɜr kɪŋˌdeɪ /
adjective
working day
British
noun
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a day on which work is done, esp for an agreed or stipulated number of hours in return for a salary or wage
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the part of the day allocated to work
a seven-hour working day
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(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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of working day1
First recorded in 1525–35
Origin of working-day2
First recorded in 1470–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“We are working day and night for the survival and relief of every citizen in the affected area by putting the entire state machinery on a war footing,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
"But in the most extreme temperatures, it's simply unsafe for vendors to be out and selling, and when the heat forces them to cut their working day short, the financial impact is immediate."
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Emergency experts working day and night contemplated various entry and exit routes from the nearest accessible access point, about 75 feet away from where Gil was trapped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
Her working day varies throughout the week, with staff briefings and department meetings taking place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
I spent the rest of the working day and all the working portions of the next two days keeping myself feverishly busy.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
South Korea’s working-day adjusted exports surged 60.7% year over year in May, headline exports rose 53.2% — the strongest unadjusted gain since 1984 — and semiconductor exports jumped a record 169.4%.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
Throughout the previous year, once indispensable working-day hosts like Ellen DeGeneres, Maury Povich, Wendy Williams, and Dr. Oz all bid goodbye to their time slots, either to retire or to seek other career paths.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2025
At these parks, New Yorkers enjoyed wild rides, animal attractions, and large stage productions designed to help them forget the struggles of their working-day lives.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014
Said he at the top of the editorial page: "O, how full of briers is this working-day world!"
From Time Magazine Archive
The working-day began in the fields at 5 sharp.
From Our Army at the Front by Heywood Broun
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
