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:
It said teams were working "day and night" to keep services running, but "unfortunately it is not a simple task".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 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
Higher prices for chips and oil products, along with an extra working day, likely supported trade in March, Citigroup economist Jin-Wook Kim said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Her shoulders, back, and hands ached when she stopped for lunch, and they hurt even more by the end of the working day.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
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 Vandyck dress, with its voluminous folds, is, however, more appropriate to the inhabitants of palaces, than to the ordinary occupants of this working-day world.
From Dress as a Fine Art With Suggestions on Children's Dress by Mary Philadelphia Merrifield
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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.
