WORKS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does works mean? 

• WORKS (noun)
  The noun WORKS has 4 senses:

1. buildings for carrying on industrial labor

2. everything available; usually preceded by 'the'

3. performance of moral or religious acts

4. the internal mechanism of a device

  Familiarity information: WORKS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WORKS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Buildings for carrying on industrial labor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

industrial plant; plant; works

Context example:

they built a large plant to manufacture automobiles

Hypernyms ("works" is a kind of...):

building complex; complex (a whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structures)

Domain member category:

gas system (facility (plant and equipment) for providing natural-gas service)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "works"):

bottling plant (a plant where beverages are put into bottles with caps)

brewery (a plant where beer is brewed by fermentation)

distillery; still (a plant and works where alcoholic drinks are made by distillation)

factory; manufactory; manufacturing plant; mill (a plant consisting of one or more buildings with facilities for manufacturing)

mint (a plant where money is coined by authority of the government)

packing plant; packinghouse (a plant where livestock are slaughtered and processed and packed as meat products)

recycling plant (a plant for reprocessing used or abandoned materials)

refinery (an industrial plant for purifying a crude substance)

saltworks (a plant where salt is produced commercially)

disposal plant; sewage disposal plant (a plant for disposing of sewage)

smelter; smeltery (an industrial plant for smelting)

wine maker; winery (an establishment where wine is made)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Everything available; usually preceded by 'the'

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

full treatment; kit and boodle; kit and caboodle; whole caboodle; whole kit; whole kit and boodle; whole kit and caboodle; whole shebang; whole works; works

Context example:

for $10 you get the full treatment

Hypernyms ("works" is a kind of...):

entireness; entirety; integrality; totality (the state of being total and complete)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Performance of moral or religious acts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

deeds; works

Context example:

the reward for good works

Hypernyms ("works" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The internal mechanism of a device

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

workings; works

Hypernyms ("works" is a kind of...):

mechanism (device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

 Context examples 

The eighth house works on a performance basis—the better you do, the more money you make.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

CNTO 328 works by blocking inflammation and tumor growth.

(CNTO 328, NCI Dictionary)

You need to choose the one that works for your family.

(Child Care, NIH)

This group is compared to the group that receives the new treatment, to see if the new treatment works.

(Control group, NCI Dictionary)

In a clinical trial, measuring the DFS is one way to see how well a new treatment works.

(DFS, NCI Dictionary)

Still, your mind works true, and argues not a particulari ad universale.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In a clinical trial, measuring the overall survival is one way to see how well a new treatment works.

(Overall survival, NCI Dictionary)

“I’d like to see how it works.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Your mind works a lot like a computer.

(Memory, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

Know how your device works. Keep instructions close by.

(Medical Device Safety, Food and Drug Administration)