workern.
/ˈwəːkə/, U.S. /ˈwərkər/ I. A creator, cause, or source.† 1. With reference to God: the maker or creator (of the universe, humanity, etc.). Chiefly with the or possessive adjective. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] > creator
wrightc888
lightOE
sheppendOE
sheppera1175
wroughtc1275
creatorc1300
shaper1303
maker1340
workera1382
authora1413
workman1440
workmaster1531
artificer?1555
re-creator1587
architector1639
architect1659
enlivener1663
God almighty1787
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job xxxvi. 3 My werkere [L. operatorem] I shal proue riȝtwis.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1501 Þe Worcher of þis world.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 102 He, of Natur that wirker wes and king.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 103 He, the wirker, that put in hir sic grace.
1557 New Test. (Geneva) Epist. *ij God the Creatour, moste perfect and excellent worker of all thinges.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. ii. 49 Only the workes and operations of God haue him both for their worker, and for the lawe whereby they are wrought.
a1602 W. Perkins 1st Pt. Cases Conscience (1604) 6 He is the author and worker thereof [i.e. of goodness].
2.
a. A person or agent who performs a deed, or causes or brings about an event, state of affairs, etc.; a doer, an author. Chiefly with of or modifying noun.evil-worker, miracle-worker, wonder-worker, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [noun] > agent or person who causes
causec1374
authora1382
workerc1384
causerc1386
begetterc1390
causac1420
workera1425
upraiserc1440
inspirerc1450
procurer1451
occasioner?c1452
procurator1486
purchaser1548
authorera1556
wielder1570
agent1571
effector1586
effecter1591
authoress1592
effectress1601
effectrix1611
performer1616
inducera1631
causeress1631
causatrix1649
father-in-law1650
pregnatress1651
matter1686
energizer1804
establisher1812
bringer1866
the world > action or operation > doing > [noun] > one who acts or does
wright971
doer1382
workerc1384
actorc1425
performerc1443
factor1461
committer1509
accomplisher1538
setter1548
enurer1556
performancer1621
commissioner1651
facienta1670
performant1809
enactor1837
transactor1863
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xiii. 27 Alle worcheris [L. operarii] of wickidnesse.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 427 God is the cheef and principal and veri worcher of the principal effect.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iii. l. 344 Causer of wer, wyrkar of wykitnes.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. iii. 103 I sall the warrand, and the wirkar [L. auctor] be To mak the baldly vndertak.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer iii. f. cccliv Al your werkes be cleped seconde, & mouen in vertue of the firste wercher.
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Rom. iii. f. viv They can not laye to goddes charge the synnes, wherof themself be wylful workers.
1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence Andria ii. vi, in Terence in Eng. 46 If any thing happen otherwise then well, euen that same varlet is the worker of it.
1623 J. Bingham tr. Xenophon Hist. 107 The workers of the common safetie.
1647 J. Goodwin Hagiomastix 86 Doe they suppose (I say) that such abomination-workers as these, doe not at all..do mischiefe unto his people?
1722 in G. Lamoine Charges to Grand Jury (1992) 165 The People who keep Bawdy Houses, are Workers together with Satan their Master..for the Destruction of Mankind.
a1730 M. Hole Pract. Expos. Church-catechism (1732) II. 762 'Tis in vain to be Professors of Piety, if at the same time we are Workers of Iniquity.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 286 They believe that the devil is the doer or worker of every thing that gives offence.
1843 Tait's Edinb. Mag. 10 606 The worker of all this evil.
1867 W. Morris Life & Death of Jason xvii. 332 She grew to be the sorceress, Worker of fearful things.
1956 Rotarian May 64/3 Pulling together with the workers of good In the glorious service of brotherhood.
2011 H. W. House & T. J. Demy Answers to Common Questions about Jesus xlii. 103 The Qur'an teaches that He was a worker of miracles in His ministry.
b. In extended use: a thing, circumstance, etc., which causes or gives rise to something; a cause, a source; (in early use) spec. a substance which promotes a natural process. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [noun] > agent or person who causes
causec1374
authora1382
workerc1384
causerc1386
begetterc1390
causac1420
workera1425
upraiserc1440
inspirerc1450
procurer1451
occasioner?c1452
procurator1486
purchaser1548
authorera1556
wielder1570
agent1571
effector1586
effecter1591
authoress1592
effectress1601
effectrix1611
performer1616
inducera1631
causeress1631
causatrix1649
father-in-law1650
pregnatress1651
matter1686
energizer1804
establisher1812
bringer1866
a1425 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Wellcome 225) 118 Calidite..is pryncipall makare & wyrkere of degestyoun in þe body.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) ii. §11. 12 Dred is wirkere of vertus.
a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 67 (MED) Mercury is worker of dissolucion of waters.
1577 Hill's Gardeners Labyrinth 62 It [sc. lettuce] procureth slepe, and as the same among other potherbs greatly norisheth, euen so is it a worker and causer of good bloud.
1604 King James VI & I Counterblaste to Tobacco sig. Cv For is it not a very great mistaking, to take Non causam pro causa, as they say in the Logicks? because peraduenture when a sicke man hath had his disease at the height, hee hath at that instant taken Tobacco, and afterward his disease taking the naturall course of declining, and consequently the patient of recouering his health, O then the Tobacco forsooth, was the worker of that miracle.
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Coxcombe iv. iii, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Oo3/2 You can say well: if you be mine, Wench, you must doe well too, for words are but slow workers.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. iii. 73 What a worker of hypocrisy this sight..would appear to be!
1913 Luther League Rev. Jan. 23/2 What a worker of harm to life and character this mighty power of habit can become.
II. A person who, or animal which, works.† 4. Perhaps: a commercial agent. Obsolete. rare.
3.
a. A person who works; esp. a person employed to do work; a labourer; an employee.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > [noun]
man1381
workera1382
labourerc1400
piner1497
pair of hands1598
operator1611
operatist1651
operative1809
operant1831
ouvrier1845
scissorbill1910
rehire1927
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xxxvii. 13 With the werkere, of alle werk [L. cum operario agrario, de omni opere].
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) vi. l. 62 Oon of thi workers..That kunyngest is of his felous alle.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. v. 119 The two laste that ben practisiens and werkers ben callyd phisicyens and cyrurgyens.
1540 L. Ridley Comm. vpon Sayncte Paules Epyst. to Ephesyans iv. sig. K.iv These do nat thynke well of workers, for they be called labourers that do worke to the glory of God.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 151 That the Apostles were together workers with God: yet that those same together workemen should be hyred to worke in this Vyneard.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ouvrier, a workeman; an Artificer, or handi~craftsman..& generally, any worker.
1663 A. Cowley Ode Dr. Harvey iii, in Verses Several Occasions 20 He so exactly do's the work survey, As if he hir'd the workers by the day.
1760 Court & City Reg. 224 His Majesty's Mint... Master and Worker. Hon. Wm. Chetwynd, Esq.
1791 A. Bell in J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XIX. iii. 137 The wages of..day-labourers are often regulated by the abilities of the worker, or his employer's necessity.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby x. 93 I spoke of you as an out-of-door worker.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men III. xxxv. 42 There are a great many workers—ladies, priests, clergymen—among them, trying to remove some of the suffering.
1923 Philippine Jrnl. Sci. 23 521 Workers in India believe that, to get the best results, the administration of antileprosy drugs should be pushed.
1974 Times 19 Feb. 13/8 From what is left must be paid highly skilled workers—cutters, finishers, machinists, pattern cutters.
1982 R. Littlewood & M. Lipsedge Aliens & Alienists vi. 137 Hotels and factories are raided..for illegal immigrant workers.
2008 Guardian 4 July (G2 section) 10/1 The chain also recognises older workers' desire for flexible working.
b. A person who works with a particular tool, or in or with a particular material. Also: a maker or manufacturer of a specified thing (now rare).
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. xxxviii. 23 Ooliab..was..a broudrer, & a wyrcher with neeldis [L. plumarius].
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Deeds xix. 24 A man, Demetrie bi name, a worcher in siluer [c1384 E.V. argentarie; L. argentarius].
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Exod. xxxviii. f. lxxiv Sonne of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, a connynge grauer and a worker of nedle worke In Iacincte, scarlett, purple and bysse.
1566 Act 8 Eliz. c. 11 §4 Every Hatmaker that is nowe a maker or worker of Hates.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. ii. 58 All imbroiderers, and workers with the needle.
1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Acupictor, a worker of needle-work.
1718 I. Newton Corr. (1976) VI. 452 If..any worker in Copper will for a trial furnish the Mint with a Ton or two of Copper.
1769 Philos. Trans. 1768 (Royal Soc.) 58 41 Another worker in ivory cut through that tusk which Lord Shelburne gave me.
1800 Proc. Old Bailey 17 Sept. 565/2 I am an attorney; my wife is a worker of muslin shawls.
c1890 Weldon's Pract. Needlework VIII. No. 90. 7/2 Point de reprise is familiar to workers of point lace, and is also used in drawn thread embroidery.
1912 Amer. Econ. Rev. 2 3 The English public schools have enforced fair conditions for the workers of racquet balls.
1954 Sci. Amer. Sept. 52/3 Paleoanthropic man is clearly a tool user, a worker in stone and bone.
2010 Plymouth Herald (Nexis) 27 Nov. 17 They [sc. resident artists] include workers with glass, metal, stone and ceramics as well as painters.
c. With modifying word denoting the material worked with or manufactured, or the place, trade, or sector worked in. For established compounds, as ironworker, office worker, aid worker, etc., see the first element.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > [noun] > maker or manufacturer
maker1297
workera1382
preparatorc1485
opificer1548
preparer1553
manufactora1649
opifex1649
manufacturera1687
faker1688
fabricant1756
fabricator1863
prepper1970
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1969) Isa. lxi. 5 Ȝoure vyne wercheres [L. vinitores] shul ben..prestis.
?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. B.ij Laten workers, and broche makers.
1714 I. Newton Corr. (1976) VI. 55 It is refined by the Copper Workers to that degree as to be pretty well purged from all other base Mettals.
1765 Museum Rusticum 4 76 Mr. Naish, tin-plate-worker.
1809 Proc. Old Bailey 15 Feb. 129/2 Mr. Alley. What is your husband.—A. A ballast worker.
1842 Penny Mag. Apr. 173/2 The pieces of ivory are shaped and prepared by the ivory-worker to the exact size for each key.
1902 Polit. Sci. Q. 17 610 The charity workers and pauper overseers who are dealing with the sub-social classes.
1953 Sci. Monthly June 351/2 A baker or a post-office worker coming out for a breath of fresh air.
1987 Times 5 May 29/3 (advt.) Finance worker required for 28 hours per week.
2010 G. Edgar Cheesemonger xv. 210 Without affordable housing, there will be no people to milk the cows and no cheese workers to cut and wrap your cheese choices.
d. A member of the working class; (in Marxist or socialist contexts) a producer of wealth, as opposed to a capitalist. Frequently in plural: the working class. See also Compounds 5. Also in names of organizations and political parties, as the Socialist Workers Party, etc. See also Industrial Workers of the World n. at industrial adj. and n. Compounds 2, workers of the world, unite! at Phrases.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > in relation to employer or capitalist
man1381
workman1704
worker1848
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [noun]
working manOE
workperson1807
workie1837
worker1848
blouse1865
yardie1893
working stiff1930
1848 C. Kingsley Placard in Lett. & Memories (1899) I. vi. 127 Workers of England, be wise, and then you must be free.
1857 Househ. Words 27 June 603/1 The first great body of workers, namely the clerks [i.e. railway clerks].
1862 S. Smiles Lives Engineers III. 14 They belonged to the ancient and honourable family of Workers—that extensive family which constitutes the backbone of our country's greatness, the common working people of England.
1867 L. Levi Wages & Earnings Working Classes 6 Some have limited the meaning to such as are in receipt of weekly wages, and some would limit the term ‘workers’ to such as are employed in the production of wealth. It might seem also a condition of such appellation that the person should stand in the capacity of servant or worker for others... On the other hand, we must remember that in many occupations the workers are paid by the month or quarter.
1885 E. B. Bax Relig. Socialism (1886) 125 This, then, is the empire which the blood and sinew of you, workers, are squandered to maintain and extend.
1907 Fabian News 19 94/1 The middle classes are more class-conscious than the workers.
1928 E. Paul & C. Paul tr. K. Marx Capital xxi. 627 This continuous reproduction or eternalisation of the worker is an indispensable condition of capitalist production.
1970 H. Arendt On Violence 72 Plutocracy [is] the bourgeois regime and democracy the regime of the workers.
2013 Financial Mail (Johannesburg) (Nexis) 14 June It is backed by the workers, as well as many in the professional and middle classes.
e. U.S. Politics. A person who works for a political party or organization, esp. to procure or mobilize voters. Cf. party worker n. at party n. Compounds 3a, precinct worker n. at precinct n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > [noun] > party machine > party worker or hack
party hack1848
worker1873
party worker1874
tadpole1880
precinct worker1881
1873 ‘M. Twain’ & C. D. Warner Gilded Age xliv. 399 In Washington he was..clerk of two house committees, a ‘worker’ in politics.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lxiii. 451 He..is forward to render service by voting as his leader wishes, and by doing duty at elections. He has entered the large and active class called, technically, ‘workers’, or more affectionately, ‘the Boys’.
1938 Calif. Hist. Soc. Q. 17 315 Every plodding Republican worker was tired.
2010 S. W. Schmidt et al. Amer. Govt. & Politics Today (new ed.) vii. 240 Associations with large memberships, such as labor unions, are able to provide workers for political campaigns, including precinct workers to get out the vote, volunteers to put up posters.., and people to staff telephone banks.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > businessman > [noun] > business agent
broker1377
officerc1390
factor1432
worker1560
commission man1733
gomashta1747
1560 T. Gresham in J. W. Burgon Life & Times Sir T. Gresham (1839) I. 323 The cheiffe sercher (whome ys all my worcker, and conveyer of all my velvets).
5.
a. A draught animal. Now chiefly Australian.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > work animals > draught animal
field beasta1382
plough-beast1454
ploughware1465
plough1505
worker1617
wheeler1813
poler1860
1617 MS Accts. Toke Estate (Kent) f. 9 One payer workers at £15.
1788 A. Young Ann. Agric. 10 Index 599 Bulls better workers than oxen.
1797 J. Mathews Cause & Progress of Scarcity & Dearness Cattle 166 Of true Somersets, Gloucesters, or Wiltshire bred poor oxen, or heifers—workers—ten yokes were not to be found on the hill.
1847 Bell's Life in Sydney 20 Mar. 3/1 Seed any workers this morning? I'se a missed two..both on 'em was hobbled.
1869 G. Buckand in Rep. Commissioner Agric. & Arts Ont. for 1868 39 The oxen, as workers, are not excelled, if equalled, by any breed.
1959 H. G. Lamond Sheep Station 74 The horse-paddock [was] an area large enough to necessitate workers being hobbled and belled at night so they could be easily got next morning.
1999 Scunthorpe Evening Tel. (Nexis) 2 Mar. 20 They had 10 horses, four were for breeding and six Polish type horses were workers.
2006 Hobart (Tasmania) Mercury (Nexis) 14 Feb. 32 The Standardbred was originally bred as a harness horse and a worker, but has become a very popular horse for many other purposes.
b. gen. Any working animal; an animal that does works of a specified quality.
ΘΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > work animals
superintendent1575
user1828
worker1844
1844 J. W. Carleton Hyde Marston I. 74 It's not fair to keep the double thong always going with a free worker.
1874 Kennel Club Cal. & Stud Bk. 1 161 Bell and Lilly..the latter being a small, mean-looking white bitch, but a very good worker.
1903 Farmers' Bull. (U.S. Dept. Agric.) No. 177. 15 These magnificent birds [sc. homing pigeons]..are good workers, always active and hunting about.
1922 R. Leighton Compl. Bk. Dog vii. 94 Because a dog is a show dog, it is therefore and of necessity no good as a worker.
2000 J. Andersen Latchkey Dog 2 The dog, who was for centuries a worker, has now become a waiter.
6.
a. In emphatic use: a person who works hard. Frequently opposed to idler, dreamer, etc.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > [noun] > one who engages in an activity or occupation > one who is not idle or slothful
bee1535
worker1624
one of the world's workers1851
grafter1900
eager beaver1942
1624 C. Levett Voy. New Eng. viii. 37 Except for every three loyterers, he haue one worker.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxviii. 136 A dreamy, neutral spectator..when he should have been a worker.
1889 G. B. Shaw Fabian Ess. Socialism 6 Rent..paid..by a worker to a drone.
1912 J. Brownlee Char. Building in School x. 201 Are you now a worker or an idler?
1986 E. Jay & R. Jay Critics of Capitalism xiii. 221 Shaw..divides the world, not into rich and poor, exploiter and exploited, but into workers and idlers.
2010 Tampa Tribune (Nexis) 26 Mar. 25 We're workers, not dreamers, as are most Republicans.
b. With modifying adjective: a person who does work or another activity with the specified level of effort, application, speed, etc. Frequently in hard worker (cf. hard adj. 21b).
Π
1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix i. 255 Hard workers therefore have little time..to turne Dancers.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 357 Lazy people, and no good workers.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 5 A good Grieve is better than an ill Worker.
1792 R. Heron tr. J.-F. Marmontel in tr. New Coll. Moral Tales III. 41 I know very well that you are a hard worker, and very useful to your father.
1877 Oxf. & Cambr. Undergraduate Jrnl. 25 Jan. 173/2 Cowles not only has the knack of getting work out of his men, but is a very hard worker himself, though not a pretty oar.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. vi. 207 The full happiness of that time to me cannot be explained except to consistently hard workers.
1927 Musical Q. 13 297 The legend that Beethoven was a very slow worker.
1986 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 12 Aug. b11 In compulsory labor education schools,..lazy workers are taught the value of honest toil.
2005 J. Weiner Goodnight Nobody xxiii. 196 She was very bright,..and a hard worker, and she turned in her papers on time.
7. In many bees, ants, wasps, termites, and other eusocial animals: an individual of a morphologically distinct caste which performs tasks for the colony such as foraging, nest-building, and the rearing of young, and is usually non-reproductive or sterile; (in plural) the caste represented by these, constituting the bulk of the colony. See also Compounds 3.In eusocial bees, ants, and wasps, the worker caste typically consists of sterile females; in termites and in eusocial mole-rats, workers are of both sexes.Cf. earlier working bee at working adj. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > defined as social insect or association of > worker
labourer1609
worker1744
mule1797
nurse1818
acolyte1874
1744 tr. G. A. Bazin Nat. Hist. Bees viii. 154 When the covering of wax is once put upon a cell, the maggot there inclos'd, of whatever sort it be, whether female, worker [Fr. ouvrière] or drone, has no farther need of any foreign assistance.
1747 W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 73 As soon as the Queen has deposited a Parcel of Eggs, the Workers take them under their Protection.
1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1817) II. xvii. 32 The workers or larvæ [of termites], answering to the hymenopterous neuters, are the most numerous and at the same time most active part of the community.
1821 J. G. Dalyell tr. F. Huber New Observ. Nat. Hist. Bees (ed. 3) ii. i. 231 Fertile workers lay none but male eggs..; advancing another step, they may remain absolutely sterile, while they are not the less females originally.
1873 J. G. Wood Insects at Home 371 The worker [of the bumble bee Bombus lucorum] is scarcely half the size of the perfect female, but is coloured after the same fashion.
1954 F. C. Lane All about Insect World 75 The queen bee..places fertile eggs which will hatch thousands of workers and a few queens.
1970 D. J. Borror & R. E. White Field Guide to Insects 88 The 4 castes usually present [in termite colonies] are the reproductive caste, supplementary reproductives, workers, and soldiers.
1987 M. Reiss & H. Sants Behaviour & Social Organisation iv. 45 The remaining mole rats, males and females, are divided into ‘workers’ and ‘non-workers’. Workers dig, forage, transport soil and build nests for the breeding female. Non-workers assist in the care of the young.
2010 Independent 30 Oct. 21/2 I got my first nucleus soon after—a queen bee and workers in five frames.
III. A piece of apparatus or machinery. (See also butter worker n. at butter n.1 Compounds 3, woodworker n. (b) at woodwork n. Derivatives.)† 8. A cask in which liquor ferments. Cf. work v. 6a. Obsolete. rare.† 10. Papermaking. A machine in which rags are worked to pulp; = washer n.1 5b. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > wine-making > [noun] > fermentation > fermenting vessel
worker1594
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 70 Let your vessel bee such as hath alreadie conteined some muste or other liquor that hath wrought therin, (for he that knoweth not the vse of a worker is but a slender artist).
9. Textiles. Any of the small cylinders that comb out wool, tow, etc., in a carding-machine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > combing > machine > roller or cylinder
can1795
worker1818
breast1825
worker card1837
licker-in1850
swift1853
1818 A. Rees Cycl. (1819) XXXVIII. at Woollen Manufacture The teeth of the workers take the wool from the great cylinder.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 167 Each pair of cylinders consists of a worker and a cleaner somewhat less in size than its fellow, and turning in the reverse direction of the drum.
1865 Inst. Mech. Engineers: Proc. Aug. 119 Carding machines have for a long time been made with cylinders as much as 5 feet diameter, and a considerable number of pairs of workers and strippers.
1904 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 2 Aug. 1195/1 The card-clothing teeth on the auxiliary cylinder and worker being arranged point to point.
2003 W. Albrecht et al. Nonwoven Fabrics iv. 148 The carding process between the main drum and the worker is determined by the speed difference between the two rollers and the forces acting on the fibres.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > for washing rags
washer1825
washing-engine1825
worker1853
1853 Technologisches Wörterbuch I. 272 Halbzeug-holländer, worker, washer.
11. Tanning. A knife used to remove hair from hides. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for working with skins or leather > [noun] > for removing flesh or hair
fleshing-iron1547
pilling knife1688
grainer1839
slicker1852
worker1860
scraper1865
beaming machine1874
beaming-tool1874
flesher1885
slater1885
shaver1897
1860 R. Hunt Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 5) III. 848 The hide is placed on a convex beam, and the hair is then taken off by means of a concave tool, having two handles, called a ‘worker’, which, moved rapidly up and down over the surface of the hide, rubs off the hair.
1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) viii. 137 The flesh sides are gone over with the ‘worker’.
1910 Mod. Amer. Tanning II. 373 Stock is unhaired on the inclined beam with a knife known to the trade as a worker.
12. Lacemaking. Any of the bobbins that is worked horizontally over and under the bobbins holding vertical threads. Also: the thread held by such a bobbin, corresponding to a weft thread in weaving. Cf. passive n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > lacemaking > bobbin(s)
bone1599
bobbina1661
worker1883
passive1907
1883 Girl's Own Paper 13 Jan. 237/1 The thick stitch is made by arranging a certain number of bobbins so that they hang down upon the pillow and remain in that position (these are called hangers), and taking two other bobbins across these and working them in alternately over and under the hangers; these last bobbins are known as workers, as they really make the stitch.
1907 A. P. Moody Devon Pillow Lace ii. 134 The inside bobbin on the left hand will be the worker, and needs a longer thread than its fellows.
1977 D. Southard Bobbin Lacemaking i. 44 You have been making a twist in a passive and a twist in the worker pair with each stitch.
2012 K. Ledbetter Victorian Needlework 170 Half of the bobbins in a design are called hangers [printed hangars] or passive bobbins and half are called workers or active bobbins.
Phrases
workers of the world, unite! and variants: (in Marxist or socialist contexts) a slogan used to exhort the workers (sense 3d) in all countries to act in unison to bring about a revolution or to protect the interests of the working classes; also in extended and allusive use. [A loose rendering (probably for alliteration) of German Proletarier aller Länder vereinigt Euch!, lit. ‘Proletarians of all countries, unite!’, the closing words of K. Marx & F. Engels Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei (1848) 23 (compare quot. 1850).]
Π
1850 tr. K. Marx & F. Engels Manifesto German Communist Party in Red Republican 23 Nov. 190/3 The Proletarians have nothing to lose in it save their chains. They will gain a World. Let the Proletarians of all countries unite!]
1885 E. M. Geldart tr. K. Marx & F. Engels in G. Zacher Red Internat. 3 The Proletariat have nothing to lose... They have the whole world to win. Workers of all countries, unite!
1890 Manifesto (Bloomsbury Socialist Society) May 1 Our cause..is the cause of all those who labour. We..repeat the words of the old Communist manifesto—‘Workers of the world, Unite!’
1903 Indianapolis Sun 24 Apr. 1/7 The latter party has dropped the name democratic, and will be known simply as the socialist party, with the motto ‘workers of the world unite’.
1936 G. Greene Journey without Maps i. iii. 64 ‘Workers of the World Unite’: I thought of the wide shallow slogans of political parties..; why should we pretend to talk in terms of the world when we mean only Europe or the white races?
1981 Newsweek (Nexis) 21 Sept. 54 The delegates approved resolutions that called for..the right of Polish workers to manage their own factories... Taunted Solidarity leader Lech Walesa: ‘We want to apply the slogan, “Workers of the World, Unite!”’
2011 J. A. Hall in M. Mann Power in 21st Cent. iv. 64 ‘Consumers of the world, unite’ is less morally striking than ‘Workers of the world, unite.’
Compounds
C1. With adverbs, in compound agent nouns corresponding to phrasal verbs at work v., as worker out, worker up, etc. (see work v. Phrasal verbs 1).
Π
1632 J. Mabbe tr. J. de Santa Maria Christian Policie xxvi. 235 Vnus quisque est artifex fortunæ suæ : Euery man is the worker out of his own fortune [no direct equivalent in Sp. original].
1656 H. Seaman Second ed. New Almanack, or Nocturnall Revised 10 He be no very good worker up.
1698 in Acts & Laws Massachusetts-Bay (1724) 116 Tanners, Curriers, and Dressers, or Workers up of Leather.
1729 T. Stackhouse Compl. Body Divinity iv. ii. 644 To the humble and the mortified Christian, to the diligent Worker out of his own, and zealous Promoter of other Mens Salvation.
1774 W. Greaves Reasons for Law to prevent Unnecessary Removals of Poor 12 Those workers up of the natural productions and riches of our happy island.
1829 E. Irving Church & State Responsible to Christ iv. 129 The worker-in of the new dynasty.
1835 J. Duncombe Dens London Exposed i. 1 The worker-up of novels.
1867 Dwight's Jrnl. Music 17 Aug. 82/1 What is left, by the Parisian workers-over of the text, of the comic humor of Juliet's nurse?
1965 I. H. Seeley Building Quantities Explained xvi. 237 It is necessary for the ‘worker-up’ to look through the dimension sheets, before he commences abstracting.
2010 Bega District (Hong Kong) News (Nexis) 13 Dec. I was their matron, their friend, their worker-out of problems.
C2. (In sense 3.)
a. General attributive, as worker meeting, worker organization, worker party, worker productivity, worker rights, etc. Cf. Compounds 5a.
Π
1899 Westm. Rev. Aug. 164 A Worker party in embryo has already appeared in the old country.
1925 Port Arthur (Texas) News 14 June 8/4 (heading) July 4 worker meeting held. Nederland outlines plans for celebration.
1935 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Northwestern 5 June 2/2 [He] said..the bill..was an attempt of union leaders to control worker movements.
1942 Billboard 7 Nov. 69/2 This program will definitely deliver an important impetus to worker morale.
1963 W. Lerner in J. S. Curtiss Ess. Russ. & Soviet Hist. iii. 276 He recounted at length the persecution of Communists, the dissolution of peasant and worker organizations.
1977 Mother Jones July 57/1 LeRoy..[is] a fruit picker living in worker housing near the orchards.
1986 Federal Reg. (U.S.) 22 Oct. 47042/1 A firm's normal obligation to fund worker pensions.
1990 R. Izhar Accounting, Costing, & Managem. ii. xiv. 227 Bonus schemes are usually introduced to increase worker productivity.
2011 V. Carty Wired & Mobilizing ii. 25 Numerous systematic violations of worker rights... included health and safety deficiencies, discrimination against trade unions, forced overtime.
b. Instrumental, as worker-controlled, worker-managed, worker-owned, etc.
Π
1931 New Castle (Pa.) News 30 Oct. 18/3 Successful operation of a worker-owned coal mine has emerged from out the economic chaos.
1934 San Mateo (Calif.) Times 17 Oct. 1/2 The two men..[were] arrested as they distributed..literature which advocates worker-controlled factories and elimination of capitalism.
1965 Bull. Atomic Scientists Dec. 38/1 As the social structure becomes more fluid.., the SPD, formerly a worker-based party, obtains certain advantages.
1989 Psychol. Today Sept. 57/2 Levin, an expert on worker-managed companies.
1991 J. Rifkin Biosphere Politics v. xxxiii. 255 Socially responsible investment, self-managed worker-run enterprises..and the like are attracting considerable attention.
2006 A. Steffen et al. Worldchanging (2008) 54/2 Food co-ops are community groceries, often structured as worker-owned or member-owned businesses.
c.
worker control n. control or management of a business or organization by its workers; = workers' control n. at Compounds 5b.
Π
1920 Evening Gaz. (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 21 Sept. There seems at least a fair chance that..Italian manufacturers..will..acquiesce without too great a struggle in a tryout of worker control of industry.
1944 F. E. Parker & H. I. Cowan Cooperative Assoc. Europe ii. 47 Workers' productive associations..differ widely in the extent of worker control which is the distinguishing feature of this type of association.
1986 Labour/Le Travail 18 234/2 The bishops' proposals for economic decentralization and worker control.
2014 Sunday Independent (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 19 Jan. 2 The union's criticism that the party..did not..favour nationalisation with worker control of national resources.
worker cooperative n. a cooperative owned and managed by its workers; = workers' cooperative n. at Compounds 5b.
Π
1945 H. Elfenbein Socialism from where we Are 94 The requisite change for correcting this flaw would have to transform them from consumer cooperatives to worker cooperatives.
1984 R. Jackall & H. M. Levin (title) Worker cooperatives in America.
1996 Which? Guide to starting your own Business (new ed.) iii. 48 A worker co-operative is owned and controlled by its employees; a consumer co-operative by its customers.
2013 J. M. Green Pragmatism & Social Hope 214 Labor unions and worker cooperatives working in coalition with government leaders.
worker director n. an employee who is elected as a director on the board of a company in order to represent the workforce.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > businessman > [noun] > director > type of
co-director1694
company director1739
managing director1834
worker director1913
outside director1941
systems operator1956
1913 G. D. H. Cole World of Labour x. 331 Co-partnership..makes a great point of..provision for the representation of the workers on boards of directors... This would be all very well, were not the worker-directors..in a hopeless minority.
1968 Economist 3 Aug. 53 The proposal—that worker-directors should be put on the boards of a number of nationalised industries..—is a waste of time.
1980 Whitaker's Almanack 583/2 Sir Keith Joseph announced the ending of the Post Office worker-director experiment.
2005 Irish Times (Nexis) 11 July 16 The extent to which the worker directors see their role as being the voice of the workers in the boardroom, rather than having a primary duty towards the company itself or..the shareholders.
worker participation n. participation of employees in decision-making or management within the business or organization for which they work.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > management methods or systems > [noun] > participation of workers in management
co-determination1920
worker participation1922
Mitbestimmung1950
1922 Garment Worker 23 June 8/3 The much-heralded Whitley Councils of England, with their recognition of worker-participation in industry, have generally proved good or bad, according to the intelligence and aggressiveness of the workers and their representatives.
1945 R. A. Gordon Business Leadership in Large Corporation xi. 256 The idea of such worker participation has been anathema to management.
1973 Guardian 19 June 17/4 Mr Heath's..flourish of the worker participation banner.
2008 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 30 Apr. wk2 Long before collaboration and worker participation became the norm, Washington was pushing decision-making down throughout his organization.
worker-peasant adj. (with reference to communist countries) of, relating to, or belonging to both industrial and agricultural workers; spec. designating an organization, system, etc., in which these classes of worker cooperate or combine. [After Russian raboče-krest′janskij (1917 or earlier) < raboče- , combining form of rabočij (adjective) relating to industrial workers (a derivative of rabota work) + krest′janskij (adjective) relating to peasants (a derivative of krest′janin peasant (compare Christian n.)); with reference to China compare Chinese gōng-nóng (1875 or earlier; < gōng worker, work (see gung ho n.) + nóng farmer, farming), in communist use probably reinforced by association with the Russian expression.]
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [adjective] > type or method of labour relations
Whitley1917
worker-peasant1922
worker-peasant-soldier1963
1922 Soviet Russia Dec. 281/2 (caption) M. Kalinin, worker-peasant President of the Soviet Republic.
1935 Pacific Affairs 8 280 The Communist Party has stubbornly maintained that the peasant Red Armies were ‘worker-peasant’ armies.
1968 in J. Gray & P. Cavendish Chinese Communism in Crisis 210 All enterprises with suitable conditions should introduce in a big way the worker-peasant labour system.
1987 N. Sibal Yatra I. 292 The alternative..is based on a worker-peasant alliance coming to power.
2004 A. Matin-Asgari in S. Cronin Reformers & Revolutionaries in Mod. Iran ii. 40 One [faction]..saw Iran ready to move towards a Soviet-type worker-peasant government.
worker-peasant-soldier adj. (with reference to the People's Republic of China) of or relating to industrial workers, peasants, and soldiers; belonging to the industrial, agricultural, or military class.Esp. with (now historical) reference to the Maoist doctrine that, when universities and colleges reopened in the latter stages of the Cultural Revolution, students from industrial, agricultural, or military backgrounds should be admitted irrespective of academic qualifications. [After Chinese gōng-nóng-bīng (1925 or earlier (already in 1892 as part of a longer compound); < gōng-nóng (see worker-peasant adj.) + bīng soldier, army). Compare Russian Sovety rabočix, soldatskix i krest′janskix deputatov councils of worker, soldier, and peasant deputies (1917).]
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [adjective] > type or method of labour relations
Whitley1917
worker-peasant1922
worker-peasant-soldier1963
1963 tr. Ho Ch'i-fang in China Q. No. 13. 244 There were works of fiction which placed the cadres of the worker-peasant-soldier classes in a very bad light.
1972 China Q. No. 50. 377 The re-opening of universities and colleges, with the selection of worker-peasant-soldier students who had been recommended by the masses.
1976 tr. J. Tuan in Yenan Seeds 19 Spring was very much in the air in the Worker-Peasant-Soldier Theatre.
1984 Compar. Educ. 20 108 Students were selected from the worker-peasant-soldier ranks drawn from the countryside.
2000 Y. Jiang & D. Ashley Mao's Children ii. xviii. 130 I graduated in 1977 as one of the last of the Worker-Peasant-Soldier student cohort.
worker priest n. [after French prêtre-ouvrier (see priest-worker n. at priest n. Compounds 6)] (originally) a Roman Catholic priest in post-Second World War France who earned his living by doing manual or industrial work (now historical); (more widely) any priest engaged, typically part-time, in secular work.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > kinds of priest > [noun] > worker-priest
worker priest1949
1949 Commonweal 29 July 385/2 We must bow our heads in deep humility before the heroism of the worker priest.
1959 Manch. Guardian 4 Aug. 3/3 Five worker-priests..believed to be the only ones in the Church of England..do manual work, live on their factory earnings and receive no ecclesiastical stipends.
1998 M. Powell God Off-Broadway iv. 91 The Worker Priests movement..began in France in 1943 in a desperate effort to win back the workers to the Church and to combat the strong influence of communism in the factories.
2001 Belfast Tel. (Nexis) 22 Jan. Dawson..serves a remote Scottish community as a policeman and an Episcopal worker priest.
C3. (In sense 7.)
a. General attributive and appositive, as worker-brood, worker-wasp, etc.; instrumental, as worker-laid adj., etc.
Π
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xxiv. 394 When all the worker-brood was removed from a hive, and only male brood left.
1873 J. G. Wood Insects at Home 351 By this time the number of worker-wasps has increased so much that a second tier of cells is needed for their energies to be expended on.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xiii. 278 White Ants... After she has worker-daughters to help her and feed her, she often swells up to a length of three or four inches, her abdomen becoming grossly distended with food and ova.
1991 Adv. Insect Physiol. 23 128 Within the worker caste there is usually a further division of labour such that individuals vary in their probabilities of performing the different tasks associated with social living.
2004 Science 18 June 1719/2 In honeybees, worker-laid eggs..are usually removed from the nest by other workers.
b.
worker ant n.
Π
1831 J. Rennie Insect Misc. iii. xii. 293 We have just been observing a worker ant (Myrmica rubra) which had begun to move about for the first time.
1967 Bull. Entomol. Res. 57 428 At least ten worker ants were collected from each infested farm.
2012 Independent 24 July 27/3 The ants we see scurrying along the ground during the year are sterile female worker ants.
worker bee n.
Π
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xix. 138 The instinct and industry of the worker-bees.
1952 J. A. Ramsay Physiol. Approach Lower Animals viii. 146 Worker bees graduate from tending the young to building combs.
2011 National Trust Mag. Summer 30/2 A worker bee can fly two miles (3km) to collect nectar.
worker cell n.
Π
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xix. 161 The instinct of the queen invariably directs her to deposit worker eggs in worker cells.
1960 D. C. Braungart & R. Buddeke Introd. Animal Biol. (ed. 5) xii. 190 Queen cells also may be constructed about an egg after it has been laid in a worker cell.
2004 Backwoods Home Mag. July 20/2 Sheets of beeswax with the cell bases of worker cells [are] embossed on both sides.
worker comb n.
Π
1838 E. Bevan Honey Bee (new ed.) xvi. 188 The decoy-hive..should be furnished with as many worker-combs as can be spared.
1949 G. H. Cale in R. A. Grout Hive & Honey Bee (rev. ed.) ix. 260 (caption) The worker comb is cut to fit the inside of the frame and tied temporarily into position.
2011 A. Matheson & M. Reid Pract. Beekeeping New Zealand (ed. 4) iv. 54 The wax used to make the base of the cells of natural worker comb is 0.18mm thick.
worker grub n.
Π
1825 Lett. on Entomol. vi. 61 If a worker grub be put in a royal cell, its cocoon will be incomplete.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xiii. 269 There is an abundant brood of worker-grubs.
2009 D. L. Flanegan Hidden Myst. Honeybee v. 33 The worker bee..selects a regular worker grub less than three days old to become a queen.
c.
worker major n. Entomology (in ants with workers of different types) a subcaste composed of the largest workers, having large heads and frequently functioning for defence; such a worker, esp. a soldier ant.
ΚΠ
1858 F. Smith Catal. Hymenopterous Insects Brit. Mus. vi. 2 In describing the workers of this genus [sc. Formica] we have used the terms Worker major and Worker minor.
1924 J. A. Thomson Sci. Old & New xliv. 259 While the umbrella-ant workers are busy.., some of their fellows, with enormously large heads, simply walk about looking on; they have been called ‘worker-majors’.
2011 G. Gordh & D. Headrick Dict. Entomol. (ed. 2) 1268/2 Soldier, Formicidae: worker majors in certain ants.
worker minor n. Entomology (in ants with workers of different types) a subcaste composed of the smallest workers, having small heads; such a worker.
ΚΠ
1858 F. Smith Catal. Hymenopterous Insects Brit. Mus. vi. 2 In describing the workers of this genus [sc. Formica] we have used the terms Worker major and Worker minor.
1922 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 45 708 The integument..is, as a rule, shining, even on the head of the worker minor.
2008 S. Sheela Handbk. Hymenoptera: Formicidae (Zool. Surv. India) 40 (caption) Solenopsis geminata (Fab.). A. Body profile (Worker minor).
C4. (In branch III.)
worker bobbin n. Lacemaking any of the bobbins that are worked horizontally over and under the bobbins holding vertical threads; = sense 12.
ΚΠ
1883 Girl's Own Paper 13 Jan. 237/3 Cross all the hangers over each other, and work back over and under them as before with the same worker bobbin.
1953 M. Powys Lace & Lace-making iv. 20 This makes the connection and the worker bobbins pass back again across the passives.
2001 H. Toomer Antique Lace 21/2 (caption) The lacemaker, working with two worker bobbins, hooks one worker thread from the current work into a previously made loop.
worker card n. Textiles (now rare) = sense 9.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > combing > machine > roller or cylinder
can1795
worker1818
breast1825
worker card1837
licker-in1850
swift1853
1837 N.-Y. Spectator 16 Oct. 1/5 The worker cards of a carding machine.
1894 C. Vickerman Woollen Spinning 159 We call one of each of the pairs of top rollers a ‘worker’ card, in distinction from the adjoining one, which is a stripper.
1914 G. R. Smith Scribbling & Carding §55. 98 When one card is to strip another, our object is to mate the worker card so that the stripper will enter and strip its mate most easily.
C5.
a. Compounds with workers' or workers (chiefly in sense 3d), as workers' committee, workers' flat, workers' movement, workers' rights, etc.
Π
1874 Rep. Inspectors Factories 1873 136 in Parl. Papers (C. 937) XIII. 1 The cotton manufacturers could have been induced to compromise the whole question for a 57 hours bill, and the workers committee for a 56.
1906 N.Z. Parl. Deb. 138 269/2 I do not believe in workers' flats. I think that one of the worst things we could possibly do is to encourage men engaged in casual employment to live in a congested condition in the towns.
1922 E. M. Fergusson Church-School Admin. iv. 94 The whole company of workers should then be firmly organized into a workers' council.
1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 39 We'll turn all the churches into workers' clubs.
1935 Time 17 June 38/1 The Depression-born movement of workers' theatres.
1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. viii. 51 The Red Army is still showing what a workers' republic can do.
1961 G. F. Kennan Russia & West iv. 55 Was it thinkable, it was asked, that a workers' government should accept aid from capitalist governments?
1995 Our Times Aug. 43/2 An industrial skyline encircled by vast workers' neighbourhoods.
1997 Bangkok Post 26 Feb. i. 5/6 The workers marched..to the US embassy to ask that Cambodia not be granted special trading status unless factory owners respect workers rights.
2001 Sleazenation Dec. 53/1 Discernable anarchist tendencies began to influence the burgeoning workers' movement of the later nineteenth century.
b.
workers' comp n. colloquial = workers' compensation n. [Originally as a graphic abbreviation.]
ΚΠ
1936 Illawarra (Austral.) Mercury 28 Feb. 13/4 ( (heading) Workers' comp. commission.
1974 S. Terkel Working v. 291 I currently have a worker's comp suit going.
1983 Kiplinger's Personal Finance Mag. May 78 If the contractor doesn't carry workers' comp, a worker injured on your property could sue you.
2007 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail (Nexis) 11 Oct. 1 a Union Standard Insurance Co. said it would write commercial property and casualty lines of business, including workers' comp.
workers' compensation n. money awarded to an employee in compensation for injury suffered while at work; an insurance scheme that provides for this; frequently attributive.
ΚΠ
1894 Reynolds's Newspaper 7 Jan. There is a provision giving workers' compensation in case of dangerous employment where every precaution is not taken.
1902 London Standard 30 May 8/2 The doubtful exemption of farmers from the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act.
1967 Industry Wage Surv. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) 84 Payments may be full or partial, but are almost always reduced by Social Security, workers' compensation, and private pension benefits payable to the disabled employee.
2004 New Yorker 28 June 81/2 Schwarzenegger..turned instantly to another campaign promise, workers'-compensation reform.
workers' control n. control or management of a business or organization by its workers; spec. = autogestion n.
Π
1909 Manch. Guardian 28 Oct. 8/7 (headline) Ruskin College. A scheme of complete workers' control.
1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inq.) iii. xviii. 228 Consultation with a body of workers will improve and strengthen it [sc. a business]; anything that can accurately be described as ‘workers' control’ will destroy it.
1979 B. E. Brown Eurocommunism & Eurosocialism ii. 58 Autogestion—workers control—was one of the principal demands of the libertarian groups.
2010 Times (Nexis) 17 Sept. 26 Unions would better serve their members if they championed the cause of workers' control.
workers' cooperative n. a cooperative owned and managed by its workers. [Compare German Arbeiterkooperative and its model Russian kooperativy trudjaščixsja (both 1919 or earlier).]
Π
1922 Textile Worker Apr. 22/2 Almost all of the workers' co-operatives in this country have been founded within the past decade.
1965 B. Pearce tr. E. Preobrazhensky New Econ. 220 Workers' co-operatives..essentially do nothing more than rationalize the system of distribution within the state sector.
2010 Toronto Star (Nexis) 30 Jan. l5 I went to our local workers' cooperative and got some bread.
Workers' Educational Association n. an organization providing adult education, esp. to people from working-class or disadvantaged backgrounds; abbreviated WEA.The organization was founded in the United Kingdom in 1903 as the Association to Promote the Higher Education of Working Men and renamed in 1905 (see quot. 1905); branches were established in Australia and New Zealand from 1913.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > [noun] > societies promoting
academy1581
society1625
Royal Academy1768
National Society1812
Workers' Educational Association1905
W.E.A.1910
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > specific societies or organizations > [noun] > other specific associations or organizations
Tityre-tu1623
Peep o' Day Boys1780
law society1821
kongsi1839
B'nai B'rith1862
Molly Maguire1867
Kennel Club1874
Ethical Society1877
Kyrle Society1877
Molly1877
Sierra Club1891
subak1897
Workers' Educational Association1905
senior1906
W.E.A.1910
Lions Club1922
godless1927
F.P.A.a1940
Diners' Club1950
amnesty1961
Sealed Knot1971
Greenpeace1972
lions1972
Gaysoc1976
Group of Eight1977
Group of Seven1977
meeja1983
G71986
G81988
1905 Manch. Guardian 22 Nov. 6/5 The association for the higher education of working men, which will in future be called the Workers' Educational Association.
1936 Notes & Queries 11 July 19/2 What is gained from the University Extension, the Workers' Educational Association, or a year of study at Ruskin College?
2012 Illawarra (Austral.) Mercury (Nexis) 28 July 8 De Santi offered a course of 10 bush dancing sessions at Dapto, through the Workers' Educational Association (WEA).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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