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(wrk), n.[OE. work, werk, weorc, AS. weorc, worc; akin to OFries. werk, wirk, OS., D., & G. werk, OHG. werc, werah, Icel. & Sw. verk, Dan. vrk, Goth. gawarki, Gr. 'e°rgon, e°rgon, work, "re°zein to do, 'o°rganon an instrument, 'o°rgia secret rites, Zend verez to work. 145. Cf. Bulwark, Energy, Erg, Georgic, Liturgy, Metallurgy, Organ, Orgy, Surgeon, Wright.] 1. Exertion of strength or faculties; physical or intellectual effort directed to an end; industrial activity; toil; employment; sometimes, specifically, physical labor. Man hath his daily work of body or mind Appointed. Milton. 2. The matter on which one is at work; that upon which one spends labor; material for working upon; subject of exertion; the thing occupying one; business; duty; as, to take up one's work; to drop one's work. Come on, Nerissa; I have work in hand That you yet know not of. Shak. In every work that he began . . . he did it with all his heart, a Work (wrk), v. i.[imp. & p. p.Worked (wrkt), or Wrought (rt); p. pr. & vb. n.Working.] [AS. wyrcean (imp. worthe, wrohte, p. p. geworht, gewroht); akin to OFries. werka, wirka, OS. wirkian, D. werken, G. wirken, Icel. verka, yrkja, orka, Goth. warkjan. 145. See Work, n.] 1. To exert one's self for a purpose; to put forth effort for the attainment of an object; to labor; to be engaged in the performance of a task, a duty, or the like. O thou good Kent, how shall I live and work, To match thy goodness? Shak. Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you. Ex. v. 18. Whether we work or play, or sleep or wake, Our life doth pass. Sir J. Davies. 2. Hence, in a general sense, to operate; to act; to perform; as, a machine works well. We bend to that the working of the heart. Shak. 3. Hence, figuratively, to be effective; to have effect or influence; to conduce. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Rom. viii. 28. Thi Work (wrk), v. t. 1. To labor or operate upon; to give exertion and effort to; to prepare for use, or to utilize, by labor. He could have told them of two or three gold mines, and a silver mine, and given the reason why they forbare to work them at that time. Sir W. Raleigh. 2. To produce or form by labor; to bring forth by exertion or toil; to accomplish; to originate; to effect; as, to work wood or iron into a form desired, or into a utensil; to work cotton or wool into cloth. Each herb he knew, that works or good or ill. Harte. 3. To produce by slow degrees, or as if laboriously; to bring gradually into any state by action or motion. "Sidelong he works his way." Milton. So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains Of rushing torrents and descending rains, Works itself clear, and as it runs, refines, Till by degrees the floating mirror shines. Addison. 4. To influence by acting upon; to prevail upon; to manage; to lead. "Work your royal father to his ruin." Philips. 5. To form with a needle a Work n. 1. (Cricket) Break; twist. [Cant] 2. (Mech.) The causing of motion against a resisting force, measured by the product of the force into the component of the motion resolved along the direction of the force. Energy is the capacity of doing work. . . . Work is the transference of energy from one system to another. Clerk Maxwell. 3. (Mining) Ore before it is dressed. スポンサード リンク
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