# work out

Pronunciation: say "wurk OWT" US /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/, UK /ˌwɜːk ˈaʊt/

## Phrasal verb

1. To take physical exercise, especially by lifting weights.
   - Simple: To do exercise, especially by lifting weights.
   - _He works out before every shift, mostly with free weights._
   - _Many athletes work out twice a day during the off-season._
2. To turn out well or succeed, resulting in a satisfactory situation.
   - Simple: To end well, or to happen the way you hoped.
   - _Their plan to open a second café worked out better than anyone expected._
   - _If the timing works out, we'll stop in Denver on the way._
3. To make sense of something, coming to understand what it means or how it works.
   - Simple: To come to understand something that was not clear at first.
   - _It took her a week to work out the old map's strange symbols._
   - _Detectives are still trying to work out the motive behind the break-in._
4. To find a figure, total, or answer by calculation.
   - Simple: To find an amount or answer by doing math.
   - _The accountant worked out the tax due on each property._
   - _Use the formula to work out the area of the triangle._
5. To resolve something, such as a problem or dispute, by finding a solution to it.
   - Simple: To solve a problem or settle a disagreement.
   - _Negotiators worked out the remaining disputes over fishing rights late Sunday night._
   - _We need to work out the scheduling conflict before the conference opens._
6. To come to a decision about something.
   - Simple: To make up your mind about something.
   - _She's trying to work out whether to accept the offer or wait for a better one._
   - _The couple worked out who would keep the dog before they moved._
7. To develop or devise something in detail, such as a plan, a scheme, or an argument.
   - Simple: To plan or develop something carefully, with all its details.
   - _The committee spent months working out the new budget, line by line._
   - _Before writing a word, the novelist works out every twist of the plot._
8. To bring something about or make it happen through work or effort.
   - Simple: To make something happen by working hard at it.
   - _The preacher told the congregation that each of them must work out their own salvation._
   - _Through decades of patient struggle, the small nation finally worked out its own independence._
9. Of a calculation or set of figures, to come out with the correct result.
   - Simple: Of a sum or a set of numbers, to come out right.
   - _The auditor flagged the report because the totals didn't work out._
   - _Check each column; if the figures work out, the books are balanced._
10. To strengthen a particular part of one's body through exercise.
   - Simple: To make a part of your body stronger by exercising it.
   - _Pilates classes work out the core muscles that support the spine._
   - _She's been working out her back and shoulders to help her posture._
11. To smooth something out or bring it to perfection, removing its remaining flaws.
   - Simple: To make something smooth or perfect by fixing its small problems.
   - _The bakery spent a month working out the kinks in its new sourdough recipe._
   - _Test pilots flew the prototype for months to work out the remaining flaws in its handling._
12. The literal pairing of work and out, each in its ordinary sense, rather than any idiomatic meaning.
   - Simple: The usual meanings of work and out used together, not as a special phrase.
   - _The mechanic worked out the rusted bolt with a wrench and plenty of oil._
   - _Several reporters work out of the paper's bureau in the state capital._
13. To earn wages by working away from one's own farm. *(US)*
   - Simple: To earn money by working somewhere away from your own farm.
   - _To pay off the mortgage, she kept the farm going and worked out as a schoolteacher in the next county._
   - _Young men from the homesteads would work out on the railroad crews each summer._
14. In mining, to extract all the mineral from a deposit that can be profitably removed.
   - Simple: To dig out all the minerals in a place that can be taken at a profit.
   - _Once the seam was worked out, the mine closed and the town slowly emptied._
   - _Developers turned the worked-out clay pit into a nature reserve._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/work-out (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).