working substance

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noun

a substance, usually a fluid, that undergoes changes in pressure, temperature, volume, or form as part of a process for accomplishing work.

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Origin of working substance

First recorded in 1895–1900

Words nearby working substance

working order, working papers, working party, workingperson, working storage, working substance, working week, workingwoman, work-in-progress, work it, work-life balance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use working substance in a sentence

Scalise spoke briefly, adding little of substance, saying that the people back home know him best.
The Price of Steve Scalise’s Silence|Jason Berry|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
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
In withdrawing aside sorrow remaineth: and the substance of the poor is according to his heart.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
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
Its backbone should be the study of biology and its substance should be the threshing out of the burning questions of our day.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
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

British Dictionary definitions for working substance

working substance

working fluid

noun

the fluid, esp water, steam, or compressed air, that operates an engine, refrigerator, etc

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