word|play /wɜː r dple I / also word play N‑UNCOUNT Wordplay involves making jokes by using the meanings of words in an amusing or clever way.
wo rd pro |cess|ing also word-processing N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Word processing is the work or skill of producing printed documents using a computer. [COMPUTING ]
wo rd pro |ces|sor (word processors ) N‑COUNT A word processor is a computer program or a computer which is used to produce printed documents. [COMPUTING ]
wo rd wra p|ping N‑UNCOUNT In computing, word wrapping is a process by which a word which comes at the end of a line is automatically moved onto a new line in order to keep the text within the margins. [COMPUTING ]
wordy /wɜː r di/ ADJ If you describe a person's speech or something that they write as wordy , you disapprove of the fact that they use too many words, especially words which are very long, formal, or literary. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ The chapter is mostly wordy rhetoric.
wore /wɔː r / Wore is the past tense of wear .
work ◆◆◆ /wɜː r k/ (works , working , worked )
1 VERB People who work have a job, usually one which they are paid to do. □ [V prep/adv] He works for the U.S. Department of Transport. □ [V prep/adv] I started working in a recording studio. □ [V ] Where do you work? □ [V + as ] He worked as a bricklayer's mate. □ [V ] I want to work, I don't want to be on welfare.
2 N‑UNCOUNT [oft in/out of N ] People who have work or who are in work have a job, usually one which they are paid to do. □ Fewer and fewer people are in work. □ I was out of work at the time. □ She'd have enough money to provide for her children until she could find work.
3 VERB When you work , you do the things that you are paid or required to do in your job. □ [V ] I can't talk to you right now–I'm working. □ [V prep/adv] He was working at his desk. □ [V n] Some firms expect the guards to work twelve hours a day.
4 N‑UNCOUNT Your work consists of the things you are paid or required to do in your job. □ We're supposed to be running a business here. I've got work to do. □ I used to take work home, but I don't do it any more. □ There have been days when I have finished work at 2pm.
5 VERB When you work , you spend time and effort doing a task that needs to be done or trying to achieve something. □ [V prep] Linda spends all her time working on the garden. □ [V prep] The most important reason for coming to university is to work for a degree. □ [V prep] The government expressed hope that all the sides will work towards a political solution. ● N‑UNCOUNT Work is also a noun. □ There was a lot of work to do on their house. □ We hadn't appreciated how much work was involved in organizing a wedding.
6 N‑UNCOUNT [usu to/at N ] Work is the place where you do your job. □ Many people travel to work by car. □ She told her friends at work that she was trying to lose weight.
7 N‑UNCOUNT Work is something which you produce as a result of an activity or as a result of doing your job. □ It can help to have an impartial third party look over your work. □ Tidiness in the workshop is really essential for producing good work.
8 N‑COUNT A work is something such as a painting, book, or piece of music produced by an artist, writer, or composer. □ In my opinion, this is Rembrandt's greatest work.
9 VERB If someone is working on a particular subject or question, they are studying or researching it. □ [V + on ] Professor Bonnet has been working for many years on molecules of this type. ● N‑UNCOUNT Work is also a noun. □ Our work shows that 10 per cent of families were behind on their rent or mortgage.
10 VERB If you work with a person or a group of people, you spend time and effort trying to help them in some way. □ [V + with/among ] She spent a period of time working with people dying of cancer. ● N‑UNCOUNT [usu poss N ] Work is also a noun. □ [+ among ] She became involved in social and relief work among the refugees.
11 VERB If a machine or piece of equipment works , it operates and performs a particular function. □ [V ] The pump doesn't work and we have no running water.
12 VERB If an idea, system, or way of doing something works , it is successful, effective, or satisfactory. □ [V ] 95 per cent of these diets do not work. □ [V adv] A methodical approach works best.
13 VERB If a drug or medicine works , it produces a particular physical effect. □ [V ] I wake at 6am as the sleeping pill doesn't work for more than nine hours. □ [V prep/adv] The drug works by increasing levels of serotonin in the brain.
14 VERB If something works in your favour, it helps you in some way. If something works to your disadvantage, it causes problems for you in some way. □ [V prep] One factor thought to have worked in his favour is his working class image.
15 VERB If something or someone works their magic or works their charms on a person, they have a powerful positive effect on them. □ [V n + on ] As Foreign Secretary, he had to work his charm on leaders from Stalin to Truman.
16 VERB If your mind or brain is working , you are thinking about something or trying to solve a problem. □ [V ] My mind was working frantically, running over the events of the evening.
17 VERB If you work on an assumption or idea, you act as if it were true or base other ideas on it, until you have more information. □ [V + on ] We are working on the assumption that it was a gas explosion.