work|force /wɜː r kfɔː r s/ (workforces )
1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The workforce is the total number of people in a country or region who are physically able to do a job and are available for work. □ …a country where half the workforce is unemployed.
2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The workforce is the total number of people who are employed by a particular company. □ …an employer of a very large workforce.
work|horse /wɜː r khɔː r s/ (workhorses )
1 N‑COUNT A workhorse is a horse which is used to do a job, for example to pull a plough.
2 N‑COUNT If you describe a person or a machine as a workhorse , you mean that they can be relied upon to do a large amount of work, especially work that is dull or routine. □ [+ of ] …the Wellington bomber, the great workhorse of the war. □ She was never late, a real workhorse, who never complained.
work|house /wɜː r khaʊs/ (workhouses ) N‑COUNT In Britain, in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, a workhouse was a place where very poor people could live and do unpleasant jobs in return for food. People use the workhouse to refer to these places in general. □ …a struggling Shropshire family which lived in fear of the workhouse.
work|ing ◆◆◆ /wɜː r k I ŋ/ (workings )
1 ADJ [ADJ n] Working people have jobs which they are paid to do. □ Like working women anywhere, Asian women are buying convenience foods.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Working people are ordinary people who do not have professional or very highly paid jobs. □ The needs and opinions of ordinary working people were ignored.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] A working day or week is the amount of time during a normal day or week which you spend doing your job. [mainly BRIT ] □ For doctors, the working day often has no end. □ Automation would bring a shorter, more flexible working week. in AM, usually use workday , work week 4 ADJ [ADJ n] A working day is a day on which people go to work. [mainly BRIT ] □ Tuesday is the first working day after the three day holiday weekend. in AM, usually use workday 5 ADJ [ADJ n] Your working life is the period of your life in which you have a job or are of a suitable age to have a job. □ He started his working life as a truck driver.
6 ADJ [ADJ n] The working population of an area consists of all the people in that area who have a job or who are of a suitable age to have a job. □ Almost 13 per cent of the working population is already unemployed.
7 ADJ [ADJ n] Working conditions or practices are ones which you have in your job. □ The strikers are demanding higher pay and better working conditions.
8 ADJ [ADJ n] Working clothes are designed for doing work in, and are intended to be practical rather than attractive.
9 ADJ [ADJ n] A working relationship is the relationship you have with someone when you work with them. □ The vice-president seems to have a good working relationship with the president.
10 ADJ [ADJ n] A working farm or business exists to do normal work and make a profit, and not only for tourists or as someone's hobby.
11 ADJ [ADJ n] The working parts of a machine are the parts which move and operate the machine, in contrast to the outer case or container in which they are enclosed.
12 ADJ [ADJ n] A working model is one that has parts that move.
13 ADJ [ADJ n] A working knowledge or majority is not very great, but is enough to be useful. □ This book was designed in order to provide a working knowledge of finance and accounts.
14 ADJ [ADJ n] A working title or definition is one which you use when starting to make or do something, but which you are likely to change or improve. □ His working title for the script was 'Trust the People'.
15 N‑PLURAL The workings of a piece of equipment, an organization, or a system are the ways in which it operates and the processes which are involved in it. □ [+ of ] Neural networks are computer systems which mimic the workings of the brain.
16 in working order → see order ➌
wo rk|ing ca pi|tal N‑UNCOUNT Working capital is money which is available for use immediately, rather than money which is invested in land or equipment. [BUSINESS ]
wo rk|ing cla ss (working classes ) N‑COUNT [with sing or pl verb] The working class or the working classes are the group of people in a society who do not own much property, who have low social status, and who do jobs which involve using physical skills rather than intellectual skills. □ …increased levels of home ownership among the working classes. ● ADJ [usu ADJ n] Working class is also an adjective. □ …a self-educated man from a working class background. □ The group is mainly black, mainly working-class.
wo rk|ing group (working groups ) N‑COUNT [with sing or pl verb] A working group is the same as a working party . □ [+ on ] There will be a working group on international issues.
wo rk|ing me n's clu b (working men's clubs ) N‑COUNT A working men's club is a place where working people, especially men, can go to relax, drink alcoholic drinks, and sometimes watch live entertainment.
wo rk|ing par|ty (working parties ) N‑COUNT [with sing or pl verb] A working party is a committee which is formed to investigate a particular situation or problem and to produce a report containing its opinions and suggestions. [mainly BRIT ] □ They set up a working party to look into the issue. in AM, usually use working group
wo rk-in-pro |gress N‑UNCOUNT In book-keeping, work-in-progress refers to the monetary value of work that has not yet been paid for because it has not yet been completed. [BUSINESS ] □ …two million pounds' worth of work-in-progress.