working
Noun pluralworkings
Pluralworkings
- 1Present participle of work. Use this form for an action happening right now.
She is working at the bakery this weekend.
The whole team is working hard to meet the deadline.
Note
- 2Able to run or do its job and not broken.
Like a clock that still ticks and tells the right time.
We finally found a working flashlight in the drawer.
She kept the old radio in working condition for decades.
Similarfunctional, functioning, operational, operative
Oppositebroken, inoperative, nonfunctional, defective
- 3Having a job that you are paid for.
Most working people pay taxes from their wages.
She has been a working nurse for fifteen years.
Similaremployed
Oppositeunemployed, jobless
- 4Having to do with a person's job or the time spent at it.
The new manager improved our working conditions a lot.
Their working hours change every week.
- 5Just enough to let you use or do something, but not deep.
Like knowing enough words in a language to order food and ask for directions.
She has a working knowledge of Spanish.
A working understanding of the rules is enough to play.
Similarpractical, functional, basic, serviceable
- 6Real and used in practice, not just an idea.
They turned the old barn into a working farm again.
We need a working plan, not just a dream.
Similarpractical, pragmatic, viable, functional
Oppositetheoretical, abstract
- 7Good enough for now but still needing more work later.
Like a nickname you use until you pick a real name.
We gave the project a working title until we think of a better one.
This is just a working plan, so we can change it.
Similarprovisional, tentative, preliminary, interim
Oppositefinal, definitive
- 8The smaller steps and math you write down while solving a problem.
Like showing your footprints so others can see the path you took.
The teacher asked us to show our working on the test.
He lost points because his working was messy.
Similarcalculations
Note
- 9The act of operating or being in action.
The steady working of the machine kept the factory running.
We felt the working of the brakes as the car slowed.
Similaroperation, functioning, running, action, movement
Note
- 10The way something works inside and how it does its job.
She studied the working of the engine to learn how it ran.
The guide explains the working of the voting system step by step.
Similaroperation, mechanism, functioning
- 11A place where work is done, such as a mine.
Miners climbed down into the working before dawn.
The old working had been abandoned for years.
Similarexcavation, pit
Note
- 12
- 13The bubbling change that turns sugar into alcohol, as in beer.
Like dough rising as tiny bits of yeast bubble away.
The working of the yeast filled the jar with bubbles.
After a few days, the working of the cider slowed down.
Similarfermentation, ferment
- 14When a lake or pond slowly fills up with plant matter.
The working of the lake made the water thick and green by August.
During its working, the pond turns cloudy, and the fish stay deep.
- 15Able to bring about a wanted result, and effective.
Note
Showing meanings only.
working is a form of work
work, verb: To have a job, for example in an office, for a company, as a teacher, or with children. Full entry
- Spelling
- work → working: add -ing
Practice
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Origins
From an Old English word meaning "working," which was a noun form of the verb wyrcan, "to work."
From an Old English word that was the present participle of the verb meaning "to work," traced back to Proto-Germanic.