WORK AT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does work at mean? 

• WORK AT (verb)
  The verb WORK AT has 1 sense:

1. to exert effort in order to do, make, or perform something

  Familiarity information: WORK AT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WORK AT (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

To exert effort in order to do, make, or perform something

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

work at; work on

Context example:

the child worked at the multiplication table until she had it down cold

Hypernyms (to "work at" is one way to...):

work (exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "work at"):

belabor; belabour (to work at or to absurd length)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

If I break you in, I'll be doing plenty of your work at first.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis (FAMS) Mobility: I am able to work (include work at home).

(FAMS - I Am Able to Work, NCI Thesaurus)

Chemopreventive agent may work at different stages and may inhibit the initiation, promotion, transformation, and/or progression of the malignant process.

(Chemopreventive Agent, NCI Thesaurus)

It was truly hard work at first.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Oh! sister, pray do not ask her now; for Fanny is not one of those who can talk and work at the same time.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

On the issue of this question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman’s chambers in the Temple.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The criminal always work at one crime—that is the true criminal who seems predestinate to crime, and who will of none other.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“Aha! are you there?” cried the soldier, “get to your work at once! Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The Woodman set to work at once, and so sharp was his axe that the tree was soon chopped nearly through.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Your partner may feel he or she is required to do a greater share of the work at home or on the job, depending on who is being vocal toward you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)