18 VERB If you work a particular area or type of place, you travel around that area or work in those places as part of your job, for example trying to sell something there. □ [V n] Brand has been working the clubs and the pubs since 1986, developing her comedy act.
19 VERB If you work someone, you make them spend time and effort doing a particular activity or job. □ [V n adv/prep] They're working me too hard. I'm too old for this. [Also V n]
20 VERB If someone, often a politician or entertainer, works a crowd, they create a good relationship with the people in the crowd and get their support or interest. □ [V n] The Prime Minister has an ability to work a crowd–some might even suggest it is a kind of charm.
21 VERB When people work the land, they do all the tasks involved in growing crops. □ [V n] Farmers worked the fertile valleys.
22 VERB When a mine is worked , minerals such as coal or gold are removed from it. □ [be V -ed] The mines had first been worked in 1849, when gold was discovered in California.
23 VERB If you work a machine or piece of equipment, you use or control it. □ [V n] Many adults still depend on their children to work the computer.
24 VERB If something works into a particular state or condition, it gradually moves so that it is in that state or condition. □ [V adj] A screw had worked loose from my glasses.
25 VERB If you work a substance such as dough or clay, you keep pressing it to make it have a particular texture. □ [V n] Work the dough with the palm of your hand until it is very smooth.
26 VERB If you work a material such as metal, leather, or stone, you cut, sew, or shape it in order to make something or to create a design. □ [V n] …the machines needed to extract and work the raw stone.
27 VERB If you work a part of your body, or if it works , you move it. □ [V n] Each position will work the muscles in a different way. □ [V ] Her mouth was working in her sleep.
28 N‑COUNT [with sing or pl verb, usu n N , N n] A works is a place where something is manufactured or where an industrial process is carried out. Works is used to refer to one or to more than one of these places. □ The steel works could be seen for miles.
29 N‑PLURAL Works are activities such as digging the ground or building on a large scale. □ …six years of disruptive building works, road construction and urban development.
30 → see also working
31 PHRASE If someone is at work they are doing their job or are busy doing a particular activity. □ The salvage teams are already hard at work trying to deal with the spilled oil. □ Television cameras were invited in to film him at work.
32 PHRASE If a force or process is at work , it is having a particular influence or effect. □ It's worth being aware of the psychological forces at work during the evening.
33 PHRASE If you say that you will have your work cut out to do something, you mean that it will be a very difficult task. □ [+ for ] The new administration has its work cut out for it. □ He will have his work cut out to get into the team.
34 PHRASE If something is in the works , it has already been planned or begun. [mainly AM ] □ He said there were dozens of economic plans in the works. in BRIT, usually use in the pipeline
35 PHRASE You can use work to talk about how easily or quickly a particular task is done. For example, if a person or thing makes short work of doing something or makes light work of it, they do it quickly and easily. □ An aerosol spray will make short work of painting awkward objects. □ This horse made light work of the cross-country course.
36 PHRASE If you put someone to work or set them to work , you give them a job or task to do. □ By stimulating the economy, we're going to put people to work. □ Instead of sending them to prison, we have set them to work helping the lemon growers.
37 PHRASE If you get to work , go to work , or set to work on a job, task, or problem, you start doing it or dealing with it. □ He promised to get to work on the state's massive deficit. □ He returned to America where he set to work on a new novel.
38 PHRASE If you work your way somewhere, you move or progress there slowly, and with a lot of effort or work. □ Rescuers were still working their way towards the trapped men. □ Many personnel managers started as secretaries or personnel assistants and worked their way up.
39 to throw a spanner in the works → see spanner
▸ work in or work into PHRASAL VERB If you work one substance into another or work it in , you add it to the other substance and mix the two together thoroughly. □ [V n P ] Gradually pour the liquid into the flour, working it in carefully with a wooden spoon. □ [V P n] Work in the potato and milk until the mixture comes together. □ [V n P n] Work the oil gradually into the yolks with a wooden spoon.
▸ work off
1 PHRASAL VERB If you work off energy, stress, or anger, you get rid of it by doing something that requires a lot of physical effort. □ [V P n] She went for a brisk walk to work off her frustration. □ [V n P ] If I've had a bad day I'll work it off by cooking.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you work off a debt, you repay it by working. □ [V P n] The report proposes that students be allowed to work off their debt through community service. □ [V n P ] There were heavy debts. It would take half Edward's lifetime to work them off.