workingn.
/ˈwəːkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈwərkɪŋ/ I. The action of work v.† 5. The action of making something; manufacture, production, construction. Also: the manner or style in which something is made; workmanship. Obsolete.† 10. Muscular activity (peristalsis) in the stomach and intestines, esp. when excessive, painful, or noisy; tenesmus, colic, or borborygmus; an instance of this. Obsolete.
1.
a. The action of doing something; performance or execution of a particular act or deed. Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > [noun]
workingOE
deedc1000
makinglOE
gestsa1340
doing1372
makea1400
workmanshipc1400
faction1447
action1483
performancec1487
performation1504
performent1527
fact1548
practice1553
agitation1573
practisy1573
function1578
affair1598
acture1609
perpetrationa1631
employing1707
the world > action or operation > carrying out > [noun]
workingOE
executionc1374
performinga1425
expedition1445
executing1480
administration1483
performancec1487
performation1504
handiworka1513
performent1527
dispatchment1529
depeaching1540
exploit1548
depeach?a1562
dispatchinga1564
dispatch1581
acting1598
outbearing1605
peraction1623
expediting1643
implement1754
solutiona1859
out-carrying1869
actuation1875
the world > action or operation > doing > practice, exercise, or doing > [noun]
workingOE
hauntinga1325
exercise1393
occupation1432
exercite1485
practicec1487
function1576
exercitation1579
extent1594
gestion1599
prosecution1605
carrying1711
OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 31 Concede..semper nos per mysteria paschalia gratulari ut continua nostræ reparationis operatio perpetua nobis fiat causa laetitiæ : gilef..sym' usig ðerh giryno eostorlico þæt ue giðoncage þætte gibearsciopo user' eftniwawnges wyrcing eco us sie intinga glædnis'.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xii. 10 The worchinge of vertues [L. operatio virtutum].
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 3485 To se the worchinge of the dede.
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 277) (1910) 21 (heading) A maner of wirchyng in fistula in ano.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 41 (MED) Blunderynge, or blunt warkynge, hebefaccio.
c1480 (a1400) St. Mark 50 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 240 Of þe virkine of ferly werkis þat he wrocht.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. AAiiiv In declynyng from yuell, and in dilygent workyng of good.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. liii. 111 Both working of wonders and suffering of paines.
1611 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 530 For ye working of their other endes.
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. ii A working together, cooperation.
1675 A. Browne Ars Pictoria (ed. 2) App. 10 Observe that you be not too Curious in the first Working, but rather make choice of a good Free and Bold Following of Nature.
a1769 R. Riccaltoun Wks. (1772) II. iv. 81 They [sc. the eyes of Adam and Eve] were so shut during the working of the temptation, that they did not mind what they were doing.
1838 S. C. E. Mayo Palfreys iv. 40 This ought not to deter us from the working of good deeds.
1842 Edinb. Rev. July 321 Xavier betook himself..to the working of miracles.
1912 Leaves of Healing 15 June 170 The salvation of the sinful, the healing of the sick, and the working of wonders among the people.
1994 I. Zarifopol-Johnston To kill Text (1995) iv. 91 The house is brought back to life, full of activity and the working of good deeds.
b. spec. (originally and chiefly Freemasonry). Performance or observation of a rite or ceremony. Also: a rite or ceremony. Cf. work v. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > secret society > [noun] > the Freemasons > rite
working1797
1797 T. S. Webb Freemason's Monitor i. Pref. sig. A2v The mode of working, as well in arrangement as matter, will become universally the same.
1821 Amer. Masonic Reg. Sept. 254/2 Its tendency will be, to induce a uniform mode of working in their degrees.
1884 W. J. Hughan Origin Eng. Rite Freemasonry p. iii Although under various Grand Lodges the details of the working differ, the landmarks remain practically identical.
1903 J. T. Lawrence Masonic Jurispr. & Symbolism viii. 75 The more important one [sc. duty] is to see that ceremonies are conducted in accordance with working sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England.
1932 S. M. Hills Freemason's Craft viii. 64 The Articles of the Union..stipulated that there should henceforth be perfect unity of working, and the Lodge of Reconciliation was formed..to agree upon a working.
1999 J. R. Lewis Witchcraft Today 131 Any sort of ritual or working will produce a somewhat altered state of consciousness.
2004 A. de Hoyos in A. de Hoyos & S. Brent Morris Freemasonry in Context ii. xiii. 216 The triangle commonly used in the English Royal Arch workings includes a Hebrew letter set at each corner.
2. Actions or deeds collectively. Now archaic and chiefly in religious contexts.
a. In singular. Now rare. †good working: good works (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > good works > [noun]
workingOE
workOE
meritc1350
work of almsa1400
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > [noun] > proceedings or doings
workingOE
workOE
workOE
doingsa1387
practica1475
gearc1475
proceeding1524
practice1547
activity1570
courses1592
acting1596
motion1667
ongoings1673
energies1747
deed1788
movement1803
OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 170 Quia ego peccaui nimis in cogitatione et in locutione et in operatione : f'ðon ic syngade suiðe in smeaunge & in giriorde uel in sprec & in wyrcinge.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 9 By þe feet ben bitokned þe symple folk of holy chirche þat ben in þe ouenes moweþ of gode wirchyng.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 676 The children of Mercurie and venus Been in hir wirkyng ful contrarius.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 110 To wythstonde alle temptacyouns, & to be perseueraunt in good werkyng.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 11511 They sholde ellys for hunger deye, Ne were I & my werchyng.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Preaching of Swallow l. 1622 in Poems (1981) 64 The hie prudence and wirking meruelous,..off God omnipotent.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. ii. 49 The being of God is a kinde of lawe to his working.
1635 A. Gil Sacred Philos. Holy Script. i. ii. 59 The working of God is infinite..for otherwise there should bee a greaternesse in being, and a lessenesse in working.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 21 Against Wind and Tyde too, there is no Working.
1857 Missionary Herald (Boston) Mar. 88/1 We have great reason for gratitude that we are permitted to see so much of the wonderful working of God among this degenerate and wicked people.
1997 C. H. Kraft I give you Authority v. 129 Satan's working is frequently frustrated by God's.
b. In plural.
ΚΠ
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 38 He ȝeueþ to me, sorowynge and grucchynge pryuely in speche of my pryue worchinges and pryuetees.
a1450 (a1401) Chastising of God's Children (Bodl.) (1957) 92 (MED) Þei seie þei bien nat bounde to no lawes of hooli chirche, and þei bien discharged of al maner wirchynges, and of alle outward uertues.
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 157 (MED) Inquyre if he be acustomed to vse in his werkynges cautelous and couert weyes.
1539 R. Morison Invective ayenste Treason (title page) Wherein the secrete practises, and traiterous workinges of theym that suffrid of late are disclosed.
1613 A. Sherley Relation Trav. Persia 27 [Great] distinction between the effects of the world, and the workings of God..permanency in the last, and no more but apparition in the other.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cxlvii. 134 The Wayes and Workings of Providence are unsearchable.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela IV. xxxi. 174 I leave you to your own Workings.
1874 W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth (new ed.) 220 In the twelfth chapter of Revelation we have depicted a remarkable series of Satan's workings.
1909 W. James Unveiled Heart 70 Almighty and Everliving God,..it is Thy glory to conceal Thy workings.
2006 G. W. LaFantasie Gettysburg Requiem vi. 132 Oates had a decidedly different understanding of God and his workings on earth.
3. The action or an act of doing work or labour (in later use esp. as one's paid employment). Formerly also: †a piece of work that is done; a task (obsolete).
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > work > product of work > [noun]
workeOE
workingc1350
notea1400
piece of work1473
overage1474
workmanship1523
piece1604
opificec1616
jobbie1950
society > occupation and work > working > [noun] > working
workingc1350
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) ciii. 23 Man shal go forþ to his werke, and to his wircheing [L. operationem] vn-to þe euenynge.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11997 (MED) Qui dos þou men sli plaint to mak, For þi wircking on vr sabbat?
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1906) ii. 605 Coterellis, rentis, workyngis, helpis, wardis, relefis.
1494 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 245 For vj dayis wyrken, vj s.
1550 R. Crowley One & Thyrtye Epigrammes sig. Aviiv To se where the treasure will finde them workinge To the profit of the Citye.
1579 R. Rice Inuect. Vices B iij Is Carde plaiyng woorkyng? Is the blasphemie of Goddes moste holie name a woorkynge?
1616 Sir E. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 249 He..wondered at what you had told him of my mother's working, being stone blind.
1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 357 There has been no working in the Gold Mine for this long time.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 271 Such working every other day..would get them a stomach to their meat.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. iii. 147 The working upon the wreck, and the securing the provisions.
1832 P. Egan Bk. Sports 237/1 I like to see the working of the hounds; to see them in difficulty; to mark the threading, the stopping, the eagerness to find.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. iv. 158 The laws of the State forbid their working more than nine months in the year.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 14 Apr. 2/3 Working is agreeable to my nature and to my health.
1914 J. W. Jordan Geneal. & Personal Hist. Beaver County, Pa. II. 813 The Sunday school..felt the beneficial effects of his earnest workings for sixteen years.
1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Dec. 766/2 Widespread realignments of jobs, changes of thinking and attitudes, and alteration of ways of working.
1999 New Statesman 8 Nov. 18/1 So here we are in the book-lined house he keeps for working.
2011 M. Brown Racecar vi. 76 Man, all this working is killing me. I need a break.
4. In singular and plural.† c. The physical functioning of the body or a part of the body; physiological processes. Obsolete.† d. The (influential or powerful) action or operation of a natural force or substance. Obsolete.
a. The operation of a force, quality, action, etc., so as to have an effect or influence; influence, effectiveness (in or on a person or thing). Also occasionally as a count noun. Formerly also: †a result, effect, consequence (obsolete).
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [noun]
workinga1382
impression1390
actiona1398
affection1489
suppressiona1500
operation1525
influence1598
effect1608
manage1608
solicitation1626
attingency1642
influx1644
influency1651
incidence1656
attingence1678
influencing1754
impact1817
the world > existence and causation > causation > effect, result, or consequence > [noun]
proofc1330
worka1382
workinga1382
consequentc1386
effectc1390
processa1400
consequencec1400
sequel1477
efficacea1492
operation1525
branch1526
efficacy1549
trial1559
ensuing1561
repercussion1603
success1606
productiona1610
salutation1609
succeedinga1616
pursuancea1626
spawna1631
income1635
result1638
importance1645
consequency1651
product1651
causal1652
causate1656
consectary1659
propter hoc1671
inference1673
corollary1674
resultment1683
produce1698
recussion1754
development1803
suitea1806
eventuation1813
sequent1838
sequence1853
causatum1879
sequela1883
ramification1925
a1382 Prefatory Epist. St. Jerome in Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) ii. l. 11 Haþ I note what of hydd inward wyrchyng..þe vois ouerȝoten.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iii. pr. xi. l. 2677 Whan þei ben gadred to-gidre al in to a forme and in to oon wirchyng [L. in unam veluti formam atque efficientiam].
a1500 (?c1414) Paraphr. Seven Penitential Psalms 24 Thanne schal the werkyng be ful sene Of ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) i. 34 Whan they began to prayse god; god tornyd tho enemys eche of them agenste other... A maruelous werkyng of goddes seruyce.
1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies Exhort. rdg. Holy Script. sig. ij b [The words of Scripture] haue euer an heauenly spiritual workinge in them.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xxiii. sig. Dd3v Her fayre colour decaied;..and hastily grew into the very extreme working of sorowfulnesse.
1592 T. Tymme Plaine Discouerie Ten Eng. Lepers sig. E2b There is as great defference betwene the working of hypocrisie and the working of grace, as betwene the working of arte, and the operation of nature.
1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron I. iv. 8. f. 169v The powerfull working of loue.
1650 T. Hubbert Pilula 92 What's more invisible then the wind? even such is the working of the Spirit on them that God cals home to himself.
1719 Free-thinker No. 96. 1 The Workings of Superstition are insinuating and slow.
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. xix. 118 The workings of a parent's love upon the truth and conviction of this very hypothesis.
1861 Ld. Brougham Brit. Constit. (ed. 2) xi. 150 (note) The working of clerical prejudice in..a liberal mind.
1875 H. E. Manning Internal Mission of Holy Ghost i. 10 Faith, hope, and charity, are the three primary workings of the Holy Ghost in the soul.
1919 T. H. Davies Spiritual Voices in Mod. Lit. 235 We are called to contemplate the sublime working of love in the human heart.
1985 A. Dulles Catholicity of Church iii. 52 Nature..being rehabilitated by the working of grace.
2011 in P. M. Logan Encycl. of Novel I. 342 His notions of free association and the workings of the unconscious on the conscious mind.
b. The physiological action of a medicine or other substance. Formerly also: †the healing or strengthening power of a medicine or other substance (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > [noun] > action of drug
workinga1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 25 (MED) Þere is a pond, þe water þerof haþ moche worchynge [L. habet efficaciam].
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 45 Þat worchyng shal better done and soner if þe secounde day after þe puttyng to of arsenek be putte to larde wiþ þe emplastre sanguiboetes.
1533 T. Paynell tr. U. von Hutten De Morbo Gallico xv. f. 36 This medicine kepeth his course of workynge many dayes after it is dronken.
1562 W. Turner Herball (1568) ii. 96 The lesse kynde [of Poly] is..more effectuus or stronger in working.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 1v She shal whilest she is in sleepe imbrace hir husband through the working of this stone.
1580 T. Bright Treat. Sufficiencie Eng. Med. 17 These straunge workings of these foreigne drugges in our bodyes.
1621 D. Widdowes tr. W. A. Scribonius Nat. Philos. 38 His Rozen is in smell, taste, and working better then common Turpentine.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 79 After my physicks working.
1694 W. Salmon Pharmacopœia Bateana i. viii. 345/1 It is a good Medicine for the purposes intended... In the working of it you must be sure to provide two or three quarts of Posset-drink..aforehand.
1730 W. Burdon Gentleman's Pocket-farrier 72 Cold Water checks the working of all Physick, and causes Gripings.
1753 J. Bartlet Gentleman's Farriery ii. 15 During the working [of a purge], a horse should drink plentifully.
1861 Punch 30 Nov. 222/1 There doubtless is some interest to the scientific mind in watching the performer through the working of the drug, and noticing the symptoms of his gradual decay.
1878 Organon 1 32 Symptoms belonging to the patient, excited or aggravated by the working of the medicine in the system.
1905 Homeopathic World Apr. 177 He will..put down in writing the result of the working of the medicine taken on the state of the patient.
1992 Daily Mail (Nexis) 11 Feb. 25 Topical antibiotics..don't affect the workings of the Pill.
2012 A. R. Bay Beriberi in Mod. Japan i. 17 Sweets..were to be avoided because they interfered with the working of the medicine.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. i. 1097 [Membres] beþ also dyuerse in worchynge, as it fareþ in þe eeren of þe olyphaunt wiþ þe whiche he fighteþ.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 242 That the seid parties of heuen reuliden ful myche the worchingis of bodies here binethe in the louȝer world.
c1450 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Gloucester Cathedral 19) No. 1 f. 2, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Werking(e This ys the wrikyng of the first digestion..of the Stomak.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 80 Alle þe fyue wyttes þat sholde gouerne..alle þe wyrkynges of þe body.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > [noun]
workOE
operationa1393
workmanshipc1400
actionc1405
act?a1425
workinga1425
activityc1485
executiona1530
play1548
workfulness1570
inworking1587
acting1605
agency1606
operancea1625
transaction1663
operancyc1811
outworking1846
mediacy1854
functioning1856
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 4907 Þe wirkyng of þe fire swa brinnand.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 10 In Aperill, quhen cleithit is..The abill ground be wyrking off natur.
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. III. v. viii. sig. Pppp.viii/2 The effecte and woorking of water, and the aire in bodies is merueilous.
1639 R. Ward Animadversions of Warre vii. lviii. 164 According to the disposition or efficatious working of the said Planet, such ill seasons, or such weather must consequently follow.
1649 tr. R. Descartes Disc. Method vi. 100 We might finde out a practicall one [sc. philosophy], by which knowing the force and workings of Fire, Water, Air, of the Starrs, of the Heavens.
e. The functioning of the mind, conscience, etc.; mental or emotional processes.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > [noun] > action, operation of the mind
acta1425
stir1563
working1598
mentation1850
mentalism1874
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > moral philosophy > [noun] > activity of the mind, etc.
function1537
working1598
society > morality > [noun] > moral sense > conscience > operation of conscience
working1598
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. i. 33 Glorie growes guyltie..When for Fames sake..We bend to that, the working of the hart. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) v. vii. 86 I am sicke with working of my thoughts. View more context for this quotation
1708 N. Rowe Royal Convert v. i The secret workings of my Brain, Stand all reveal'd to thee.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. lxiv. 308 Who can account for the workings of an apprehensive mind, when all that is dear and valuable to it is at stake?
1798 S. Lee Young Lady's Tale in H. Lee Canterbury Tales II. 380 A friend..would find a generous pleasure in aiding the workings of an ingenuous nature.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba II. xii. 300 His brain, with busier workings, felt The roar and raving of the restless sea.
a1845 R. H. Barham Hermann in Ingoldsby Legends (1847) 3rd Ser. 337 Workings Of conscience.
1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest III. xii. 138 (note) The Archdeacon now gets very eloquent, and gives us all the inner workings of the mind.
1900 Month May 543 The gladness of nature brought no relief, no respite to the maddened working of her tortured brain.
1990 C. Kenney Remarkable Case of Dorothy Sayers (1991) i. i. 11 Part of the mystery story's appeal lies..in watching the workings of a superior mind.
2013 Huffington Post (Nexis) 25 Sept. I won't speculate on the inner workings of the consciences of everyone who voted to take food away from impoverished Americans.
f. The functioning of a machine, organization, system, etc.; the way that a machine, organization, system, etc., operates. Also in extended use.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > [noun] > proper operation or function
workOE
office1340
helpingc1400
servicea1475
use1509
function1537
working1643
the world > action or operation > [noun] > a form or kind of operation > operations collectively
working1643
1643 Good Newes All Quarters Kingdome 10 He [sc. Archimedes] did expresse the energie and strange working of his Engine very well.
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ ii. xi. 13 To hinder the working of your fire-works.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. ix. 379 It [sc. a candle-rush rope] would not stretch as hempen ones doe, which it seems is a great convenience in the working of such a Mill.
1727 P. Longueville Hermit 154 Quarll took a Hatchet..and ran up the Shrowds, in order to cut down what stop'd the working of the Main-yard.
1797 J. Bramah Let. Infringem. Patent Steam Engine 19 In order to render it [sc. a piston] more perfectly tight than it could be made and maintained during the working of the Engine.
1827 Ann. Reg., Chron. 77/1 The only noise he heard..was the working of a neighbouring pump.
1833 T. Chalmers On Power, Wisdom, & Goodness of God II. i. vii. 173 When we behold the working of a complex inanimate machine, [etc.].
1851 C. Kingsley Yeast ix. 161 The workings of his lungs pumped great jets of blood out.
1873 Act 36 & 37 Victoria c. 71. §58 Any grating..placed so as..to interfere with the effective working of any mill.
1884 F. R. Stockton Lady or Tiger? 14 His majesty..was greatly interested in the workings and development of this trial.
1884 C. W. Dilke in A. Cawston Street Improv. London (1893) 101 The working of the byelaws in Birmingham under the 90th section of the Public Health Act.
1912 Eng. Hist. Rev. Jan. 43 Some changes in the working of the chancery.
1920 W. A. M. Goode Econ. Conditions Central Europe i. 12 In full working the cotton mills of Russia consumed about 1,500,000 bales of cotton per annum.
1938 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 102 96 An exposition of current theory and a description of the working of the modern money machine.
1994 P. Ormerod Death Econ. (1995) ii. 33 The ability of orthodox economics to understand the workings of the economy at the overall level..is manifestly weak.
2011 Church Times 23 Dec. 26/4 A splendid model illustrated the working of a wheel-hung bell.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacture or production > [noun]
makinglOE
workinga1382
forge1390
fashion1463
facture1574
workmanship1578
fabrication1602
manufaction1602
opificec1616
manufacture1622
makec1631
manufactorya1641
manufact1647
manufacturage1665
manufacturing1669
production1767
mfg.1854
artificing1866
process work1881
machine-production1898
metal-bending1964
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacture or production > [noun] > style or manner of
makea1325
workinga1382
Paris work1423
facturec1425
opificec1616
technica1782
technique1883
technic1905
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xxxviii. 32 The crockere sittende at his werk, turnende with his feet the whel..with oute noumbre is al the werking of hym [L. operatio eius].
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iii. l. 49 We han a wyndow in worching [c1400 C text a worchyng] wol stonden vs ful heiȝe.
1452 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 282 (MED) iij sengulere Principalls in werkyng in inbowyng and in Scantlyon accordyng to the Principalls.
1496 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 278 For werking of the irne werk to the samyn hous, vj li. xij d.
1535 in J. Gage Hist. & Antiq. Hengrave, Suffolk (1822) 51 For working of ij doores.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 63 A thousand such tryfelyng thyngys, wych other we myght wel lake, or els at the lest our owne pepul myght be occupyd wyth the workyng therof.
1569 Aldeburgh Rec. in Notes & Queries (1920) 12th Ser. 7 184/1 Pd to Rodger coke and his man for workynge in the seatts at Churche.
1601 Act 43 Eliz. c. 10 (title) An Acte for the true workinge and makinge of Wollen Clothe.
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island iv. xx. 42 Two streets..Of severall stuffe, and severall working fram'd.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ii. 21 I shall now shew you the working of a Spring-lock.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 55 The difference between the working of a Vault and a Wall.
6. Mathematical calculation; the process of performing the necessary mathematical operations required for some purpose; esp. (in singular or, in later use, plural) a detailed account of the successive steps taken or calculations made in solving an arithmetical or mathematical problem.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > [noun] > mathematical enquiry > process of calculating
accountinga1387
workingc1400
work1557
approximation1695
calculating1710
composition1827
figuring1859
extension1861
complementation1946
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §35. 43 (heading) This is the workinge of the conclusioun, to knowe yif þat any planete be directe or retrograde.
?c1400 in J. O. Halliwell Rara Mathematica (1839) 61 (MED) Þat leves after þi wirkyng es þe heght fro A poynte to þe heght of þe thyng.
1543 R. Record Ground of Artes 123 Ye same yt appeareth of ye other working before.
1654 J. Eyre Exact Surveyor 75 Which by the working according to the former directions, will be found to be about 63 yards.
1787 Four First Rules Arithm. 40 In the working of sums in this Rule, observe if any Thing should remain after the whole Number is divided.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes II. viii. 232 The observation every day at noon, and the subsequent working of the vessel's course.
1883 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 Nov. No marks are to be allowed in the arithmetic paper unless the candidate shows up the ‘working’ of the sums as well as the final result.
1918 School Sci. & Math. Oct. 620 A mistake in the working of a sum might keep him digging a fortnight without sleep.
2007 S. H. Lim et al. Math Insights 3B Workbook viii. 45 Show all workings in the space given.
7. The action or fact of operating or doing work on something, as the management or control of a vehicle or machine, the shaping of a substance, the cultivation of land, the exploitation a mine, etc.; (also) an instance of this. Also: the fact of being operated or worked on.Sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense 4f. †in (the) working: (while) in the process of being worked on or operated (obsolete).
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > [noun] > performing practical operations > upon something
working?a1425
subaction1626
subagitation1653
manipulation1801
manipulating1868
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > use or control > [noun]
handlinga1250
working?a1425
managing1579
wielding1581
wieldance1634
managery1654
manipulation1801
manoeuvre1834
operation1872
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 105 Þei ben square & poynted of here owne kynde..withouten worchinge of mannes hond.
1449–50 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1449 §57. m. 18 No manere of merchaundises..of the growyng nor wurkyng of the landes and parties that the said duke..occupied.
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 5v Whan the backe and the bellye [of the bow] in woorkynge, be muche what after one maner.
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. iii. i. f. 95v/1, in R. Holinshed Chron. I Because it [sc. brown bread] is dry and brickle in the working..some adde a portion of rye meale.
a1618 W. Raleigh Apol. Voy. Guiana 57 in Judicious & Sel. Ess. (1650) The working of a Myne there.
a1642 W. Monson Naval Tracts (1704) i. 190/1 They could not discern the Lord General's Working, but stood their Course as before directed.
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xiii. 222 A piece of Ivory..strong enough to bear working till they bring it to as small a Cilinder as they can.
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xi. 201 When the Treddle comes down in working.
1795 Local Act 35 Geo. III c. 156 §30 Nothing in this Act..shall..prevent the working or scouring of the same..Mines.
1845 P. Barlow Manuf. in Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 546/2 This scraping, or working, as it is termed,..renders the skin soft and pliant.
1855 Technologisches Wörterbuch II. 600/1 Working of a blast-furnace (the mode of action to which the quality of iron is subjected).
1880 F. Francis Bk. Angling (ed. 5) vi. 225 You must..flip your fly to and fro to shake the water out and so dry it for another cast. This sometimes will require seven or eight ‘flips’ or workings to effect.
1894 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 23 273 If they [sc. flints] possess definite characteristics of form, of wear, of weather, of material, of working.
1959 U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper No. 317. 156/2 Much can be inferred about this [sc. mining methods] from..signs of working which still are in evidence in the caves.
1990 W. A. Armstrong in F. M. L. Thompson Cambr. Soc. Hist. Brit. 1750–1950 I. ii. 87 Substantial tenant farmers, directly responsible for the working of the land.
2008 R. F. Kenney Lady of Steel v. 50 He would be under constant observation to see if he could really manage the working of the loom.
8. The process of liquor undergoing fermentation; an instance of this. Cf. work v. 6.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [noun] > fermentation
fervence14..
spurgingc1440
working1548
bustle1674
zymurgy1868
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. ix. f. lixv Put newe wyne into newe vesselles, whiche maye beare the strength of the wyne, nor start a sunder with the boiling and working of the wyne [L. effervescente musto].
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Aestus mustulentus, the fomyng or sprincling vp of newe wine, in ale we call it workyng.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §992 Staying the Working of Beere.
1669 W. Charleton Mysterie of Vintners in Two Disc. 149 Sickly commotions, or (to speak in the dialect of Wine-coopers) Workings.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 561 It will set your Wine in a gentle working, and purifie it in twenty four Hours.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Wash With respect to the..workings of this liquor, great regard is to be had to the containing vessel.
1826 D. Booth Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 103 Conclude the fermentation in from 40 to 50 hours, and when it is cleansed do not fill up too frequently, for it will work off with great rapidity: rather, by moderate fillings, encourage its working.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §1324 Unless the weather be very severe, the working (as it is called) proceeds equally well with that removed to the vaults or cellars.
1920 Pure Products Sept. 428 The alcohol which has been produced in the cider during its working.
1987 A. Jacob Henry More: Immortality of Soul p. xcviii He juxtaposes the more acceptable scientific example of magnetic motion to that of the working of wines.
2003 I. S. Hornsey Hist. Beer & Brewing viii. 508 The butt..encouraged better ‘working’ of the beer contained within it.
9. Agitated or turbulent movement of water, esp. the sea (now rare). Also (in later use chiefly): the straining, pitching, or rolling of a vehicle (esp. a ship) or its parts, so as to cause wear or damage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > [noun]
winOE
disturbance1297
perturbingc1395
motiona1398
stirrage1513
turmoil1526
disquietness1535
buskling1546
jumbling1562
agitation1569
working1575
tumult1580
commotion1592
emotion1594
turbulence1598
bransle1603
pother1603
tumultuousnessa1617
unevennessa1637
unquietudea1639
disquietal1642
tumbling1660
disquietude1709
rouse1764
maelstrom1834
peacelessness1852
stir-up1900
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > [noun] > agitated movement
hurla1400
working1575
purl1650
tottling1864
bobble1880
roil1893
wind shadow1909
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [noun] > rolling and pitching
working1575
rolling1578
travail1687
roll1697
pitching1714
sally1718
labouring1748
pitch1751
tumblification1833
send1836
porpoising1974
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > straining movement of hull
working1748
1575 G. Fenton Golden Epist. f. 46v There is no Sea without working, no Warre without daunger.
1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda 1st Bk. Hist. Discouerie E. Indias i. xxix. 73 The Seas went so high..they thought it unpossible for the shippes to escape;..by the working of them it was thought, that sometime they did hoyse up theyr shippes aboue the Element.
1640 E. Reynolds Treat. Passions xxi. 220 In the Sea when a storme is over, there remaines still an inward working and volutation.
1662 R. Venables Experienc'd Angler iii. 34 The working of the Lough makes it sandy.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. iv. 157 The water the Pink had made by her working and straining in bad weather.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 739 The working of a sea Before a calm.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §301 By the continual working of the carriage [sc. a carrier's cart], two of them had been broken.
1842 J. Grantham Iron as Material for Ship-building 25 Several of her bolts..being started or drawn, and rendered quite useless by the working of the ship.
1892 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. (ed. 2) 414 The working of the frames of locomotives signifies the loosening of their joints, due to the strains communicated to them by the engines.
1901 Scotsman 6 Nov. 10/5 Owing to the working of the masts the deck was opening up.
1984 D. Williamson in A. Smith Sc. Short Stories 184 These big thick stems of seaweed that break away with the heavy storms, with the working of the sea.
2002 L. G. Knapp Stratford & Sea v. 179 They found several boxes of tea soaked, from leaks caused by the working of the foremast.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorders of stomach > [noun] > gastric disturbance
working1577
undulation1681
gastricity1796
collywobbles1823
all of a rejumble1866
tummy upset1926
Delhi belly1942
Spanish tummy1967
tummy bug1969
1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande ii. f. 4v/1, in R. Holinshed Chron. I Beyng moderately taken..it [sc. Aqua vitæ] kepeth..the belly from wirtchyng.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. xxii. xxxix. 865 Therefore if by gripings, a tenesmus, the murmuring and working of the guts, you suspect in a pestilent disease, that nature endeavours to disburden it self by the lower parts,..then must it be helped forward by art.
1650 T. Venner Treat. Tobacco in Via Recta 407 So..as to cause a violent and sickly working both upward and downward.
1717 J. Floyer Treat. Asthma i. 9 A loose Stool frequently happens from the great working in the Belly, occasion'd by the Fit.
1765 London Mag. May 236/2 It [sc. the rectum] receives nerves from the same intercostal, which serve to perpetuate the peristaltic, or worm-like motion, or working of the guts, without our knowledge or even consent.
1833 J. Forbes et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. I. 557/2 The patient feels weaker after each evacuation, yet experiences some relief from the pain, tension, and flatulent working in the bowels.
1891 S. Dyer Dial. W. Riding Yorks. 88 Bellywark, in English is stomach ache, gripes, or the working of the guts (Borborygm).
11. Gradual or laborious movement or progress, esp. against resistance or impediment. Chiefly with adverbial or adjectival complement. See also Compounds 1.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > [noun] > gradual movement
working1683
edging1879
creepage1903
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 80 It will so enrage the Oyl, and raise the Scum, that it might endanger the working over the top of the Kettle.
1802 J. Playfair Illustr. Huttonian Theory 401 The working of water collected from the rains and the snows.
1912 D. Wallace Packing & Portaging xii. 103 A band..to hold the packages in place and prevent their working down toward ends of roll.
2003 D. Poyer Country of our Own (2005) 91 I'm to tell him if I note a worsening of the fracture or any working loose of the sleeving-bolts.
12. Energetic or convulsive movement of the face or features, esp. as the result of strong emotion. Also in plural in same sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > face with expression or expression > [noun] > grimace or distortion > making
frowningc1400
mowing1440
frouncing1530
writhing1577
mopping1615
working1770
girning1900
1770 P. Hiffernan Dramatic Genius i. 6 The blacking screens, and renders incommunicable to spectators, all impassioned working of the countenance.
1800 W. Wordsworth Pet-lamb 18 I unobserved could see the workings of her face.
1844 E. M. Sewell Amy Herbert I. xi. 201 The working of her forehead showed the storm that was gathering.
1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son lii. 513 Lighting a candle, which displayed the workings of her mouth [sc. ‘mumbling and munching’] to ugly advantage.
1907 H. Wyndham Flare of Footlights xxix. 261 Another change came over her face. The convulsive working ceased.
1995 Times 13 June 47/7 [She] seems to specialise in agonised working of the mouth with occasional lip-biting.
2007 M. McAllister High Crag Linn vi. 63 Thomasin was shuddering. She pressed her lips tightly and fought the working of her face, but it was no good.
13. A scheduled journey made, or a route taken, by a train or other public service vehicle. Cf. work v. 17.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > [noun] > operation of railways
train service1853
rail service1855
working1927
1927 Railway Mag. 60 35/2 In the opposite direction there are similar through workings from Hyndland.
1954 in P. B. Whitehouse Railway Anthol. (1965) vii. 176 The Up working was due through about 7.0 p.m. and generally consisted almost entirely of timber traffic.
1978 M. Keeley et al. Birmingham City Transport 181 City—Bull Ring—Coventry Road—Lyndon End. Short working of 94.
1982 Railway Mag. Nov. 508/1 A reader who visited Scarborough..noted a wide variety of locomotive classes in use on summer-holiday workings.
2012 Buses Apr. 47/3 Such a bus could have been used on a high frequency service from Barmouth up the coast to Llanbedr, offering short workings on the service to Harlech.
II. Concrete senses.
14. Ornamentation or decoration; a piece or example of this; = work n. 15b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > [noun]
crafteOE
workOE
working1536
finishing1663
fancy work1842
ornamentation1851
arts and crafts1888
1536 Reg. Riches Cathedral of Sarum in E. Ledwich Antiquitates Sarisburienses (1771) 193 Curiously ornate with dyvers workings and chasings.
1707 London Gaz. No. 4373/4 A..Purse, worked round with 3 distinct Rows of Gold Working.
1844 E. Parkinson Compl. Confectioner 87 The Saxon [architecture] is after the same style, into which are introduced some ornamental workings.
1870 Mrs. H. Wood George Canterbury's Will II. ii. 37 The beautiful day-cot of polished ebony, with its inlaid workings of silver.
1920 Jewelers' Circular 12 May 85/1 The blue border and blue embroidered workings on the pale grey silk of the glove.
1989 P. Brett Building Terminol. i. 57 Tracery, the ornamental working of Gothic mullions and transoms used in windows, screens, panels and vaults.
15. In singular and (more usually) in plural. A place underground where coal or another mineral, a metal, etc., has been worked or is being worked; a mining excavation. Also: a mine; a quarry. Cf. coal-working n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun]
minea1393
work1474
mineral?a1500
minery1567
balc1600
groove1666
bargh1693
winning1708
working1708
wheal1830
show1898
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 13 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) It is the Over-Man's Business to place the Miners in their Workings.
1761 J. Smeaton Reports (1812) I. 18 15 fathoms..down to the workings of the 5 quarter coal.
1767 Ann. Reg. 1766 86 The foul air in an old working took fire.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 969 Many water-logged fissures come to be cut by the workings.
1872 Echo 8 Oct. 3 An explosion..occurred in a part of the working which extends in a northerly direction beneath the town.
1912 Times 10 July 8/1 Another explosion..took place,..while a rescue party was below in the workings.
1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill ix. 290 This was in an old working, a cavern with..crumbling sides supported by black, rotting timbers.
2001 Review (Rio Tinto plc) Dec. 19/2 Renco has identified an encouraging new area accessible from current workings on the east side of the mine.
16. In plural. The components, mechanisms, or moving parts inside a machine, device, etc., which enable it to function. Also (and recorded earliest) in figurative contexts; cf. sense 4f.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > [noun]
work1570
parta1677
workings1744
machinery1758
machine part1888
componentry1959
1744 J. Ralph Hist. Eng. I. 1050/2 Those who have not seen the Inside Workings of State Machines, are very apt to conclude, that when they see the exterior, they see all.
1828 Q. Rev. July 169 No one can conceive its completeness, who has not witnessed the workings of the power-loom, or seen the mechanism by which..steam is made to effect the..process of tambouring.
1855 Daily Scioto (Ohio) Gaz. 6 Nov. We witnessed the operation of this machine, and after a thorough examination of its workings, are convinced of its practical utility in large printing establishments.
1905 Smart Set Nov. 103 I have found quite a little to interest and amuse me, having investigated the inside workings of a clock.
1957 Billboard 9 Dec. 92/3 A display model with plexiglass front which permitted visitors to see the workings of the new device.
1997 A. Barnett This Time vii. 236 The inner workings of the Government machine..should not be exposed to the gaze of those ready to criticise.
2014 Tel. Herald (Dubuque, Iowa) (Nexis) 23 Mar. e9 Clean the dryer's lint screen before every load and periodically have the machine's workings and vent cleaned.
Phrases
working to rule n. (plural workings to rule) engagement in a form of industrial action in which employees undertake their contractual duties and no more; an instance of this; the action or an act of carrying out a work-to-rule (work-to-rule n. at work v. Phrases 14a).
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [noun] > protest > forms of
rattening1828
polytechnic1835
restriction1852
lockout1853
ca'canny1896
restrictive practice1896
go-slow1920
hartal1920
lock-in1920
working to rule1920
work-to-rule1920
cacannyism1921
job actionc1926
slowdown1926
gherao1967
work-in1967
work-to-contract1969
sick-out1970
sick-in1974
siege action1977
1920 Times 30 Apr. 15/6 The adoption of a policy of ‘working to rule’ by any considerable body of railwaymen may easily cause serious dislocation of the railway services.
1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 84 The inconveniences of lightning-strikes, ca' canny policy (deliberate restriction of output) and working-to-rule.
1951 Engineering 2 Nov. 568/3 Similar working-to-rule methods..were put into operation by lightermen at the Port of London.
1972 Spectator 29 July 163/2 Selective strikes and workings-to-rule may be organised.
2013 Northern Echo (Nexis) 1 Mar. 15 The ongoing industrial action includes working to rule and non-compliance with a new performance management system.
Compounds
C1. With adverbs, forming nouns corresponding to phrasal verbs at work v. (in various senses of the phrasal verbs).
working off n.
Π
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iii. 33 They also engrave upon stone, and imprint with it; but with this difference in the working-off; that the paper being black, the Sculpture remains white.
1836 Penny Cycl. V. 240 By being careful in the operation of working off, a thinner paper is employed.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xxxii. 355 Let him have his humour... It may be the working off of his madness.
1929 H. Read Sense of Glory (1930) 157 In no sense is his art..a working-off of repressions.
1994 R. Bottomley Rocking Horses 18/2 The ‘working-off’ process was basically a final shaping of the horse.
2010 N. Frumkin Recession Prevention Handbk. xiii. 338 The working off of the backlog of demand for household durable goods.
working over n.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > amending > restoration > [noun] > restoration to sound, proper, or normal state
reparation1389
restaurationa1393
redressing1426
repaira1500
instaurationa1603
recovery1669
working over1695
repristination1753
restoration1765
reconditioning1800
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > inspection, survey > [noun] > with a view to repairs, etc.
going-over1672
working over1695
overhale1748
overhauling1769
overhaul1826
rehaul1895
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > [noun] > beating > instance of
threshingOE
fustigation1428
breeching1520
trouncingc1550
bace1575
firking1594
belting1602
knave's grease1602
oil of baston1604
oil of birch1604
oil of hazel1604
oil of holly1604
oil of whip1604
lamb-pie1607
lamming1611
drubbing1650
vapulation1656
warming1681
floggation1688
working over1695
cullis1719
thrashing1720
halberd1756
licking1756
dressing1769
leathering1790
nointing1794
dusting1799
teasing1807
hiding1809
whopping1812
thrumming1823
toco1823
flaking1829
teaser1832
lathering1835
welting1840
pasting1851
towelling1851
whaling1852
hickory oil1855
swishing1859
slating1860
going-over1881
six of the best1912
belt beating1928
ass-kicking1943
stomping1958
seeing to1968
butt-kicking1970
1695 T. Byfield Short Disc. Small-pox 6 To let any of it [sc. blood] out, is as if we should do so to Liquors in Fermentation, which every Body knows would hinder their Working over.
1705 W. Yworth Compl. Distiller i. 17 Make not strange of this working over of Molasses a second time.
1867 W. D. Whitney Lang. & Study of Lang. iv. 145 Wisdom which comes in the main by the working over of conceptions already acquired and named.
1932 Montana Standard 10 Mar. 9/2 Mangin gave Bell, third seeded American entrant, a working over in a two-set practice match.
1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin viii. 55 A girl with too much make-up..gave her eyebrows a working over.
1997 ‘Q’ Deadmeat 428 The crooks were all wondering who the newcomer was, the guy who was giving Joey Blade a good working over.
working up n.
Π
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball v. lxxviii. 646 Suche medicines..are vsed agaynst the Dropsie, the Iaundise, belching or working vp [Du. opworpinge] of the stomacke, and gripinges or frettinges of the belly.
1678 T. Rymer Trag. Last Age 76 If the Poet observe not these measures, the working up of a Scene, is plainly the tormenting of nature, and holding our ears to the Grindstone.
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 101 There is yet a kind of yest observable in it's nature, which may be necessary to the fermentation and working up of virtue.
1816 J. Scott Paris Revisited vi. 136 All..is done..under the force of artificial impulse, causing what is called a working-up.
1893 Daily News 6 Feb. 7/4 Best steel working-up sheets.
1913 Athenæum 10 May 528/1 A working-up to a strong climax.
1922 F. E. Penny Swan's Curse xiv. 128 Her actions were a preliminary working-up of evil passion by concentrating her thought on the contemplated crime.
2007 J. Ferris And then we came to End Prol. 4 He began to cough, and from our own offices we heard the working-up of solidified lung sediment.
C2.
a. General attributive (chiefly in sense 3), as working age, working arrangement, working conditions, working method, working practice, etc.
Π
1588 J. Harvey Discoursiue Probl. conc. Prophesies Ep. Ded. sig. A4 [New prophecies which] feede the working humor of busie and tumultuous heads, continually affecting some innouation, or other.
1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix i. 256 He that hath no working time, tis equall he should have no dancing time.
a1681 R. Allestree 40 Serm. (1684) I. iv. 62 We..have bin unfruitful under the whole latitude of all thy working methods.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 83 The working Part of this Day.
1783 Let. 1 Oct. in Jrnl. House of Commons (1792) XLVII. 372/2 The Working Time that is now lost in making up the Bundles.
1821 R. Owen Rep. to County of Lanark 46 These new farming and general working arrangements may be formed by one, or any number of landed proprietors, or large capitalists.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xxxv. 290 I'm in a working humour now,..so don't disturb me if you please.
1858 R. W. Emerson Eloquence in Atlantic Monthly Sept. 389/2 The solid result depends on a few men with working talent.
1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 218 The working system of the Thames Company is contract between owner and ship~builder.
1904 Windsor Mag. June 16/1 A simple working arrangement is usual based on a percentage division of the gross receipts between the two.
1912 Nature 26 Dec. 460/1 Formulæ and tables selected from the working methods of practical photographers.
1946 ‘G. Orwell’ in Partisan Rev. Summer 321 There is resentment against long hours and bad working conditions.
1970 New Yorker 29 Aug. 45/1 Jews and pagans would never get to Heaven, with the exception of..Moses, who had a close working arrangement with Allah.
1986 Financial Times 4 July i. 8/7 Companies..had introduced flexible working practices.
1991 Economist 3 Aug. 37/3 In the first quarter of the next century the number of people of working age will start to decline. At the same time the number of old people will be increasing.
2004 Dog & Kennel Aug. 19/3 In a working environment..the dogs practically self-train.
b. attributive, with the sense ‘used for work’.Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately at Compounds 3.
working instrument n.
Π
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 305 Lyncent [read lyncet], werkynge instrument for sylke women, liniarium.
1607 J. Murray Godly & Fruitfull Serm. 15 It [sc. truth] is both the Charter, and working instrument of this liberty.
1793 J. Bousell Near Approaching Day Pref. p. vi I called with a raised voice to those sleepy spirits to arise..with swords in one hand and working instruments in the other.
1895 H. C. Prince Story of Christine Rochefort xi. 156 I do not deny God; it is the church I deny and denounce as claiming to be his working instrument on earth.
2005 J. Blommaert Discourse Pref. p. xi With the astonishing Regenstein Library as my working instrument.., the writing conditions were just ideal.
working stone n.
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1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 410/1 Lapis oprerarius... A working stone: a stone that serueth to worke withall, as the whetstone.
1706 J. Stevens New Spanish Dict. i. at Abeja The Old Woman wishes her Son Bees, Sheep, a Working Stone,..and a Place in the Church.
1856 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 19 245/1 The diagonal position of the working stones is a decided advantage.
2010 V. J. Stone World's Best Massage Techniques ii. 56/1 You can hold a hot stone in different ways when you use it as a working stone.
working tool n.
Π
1550 J. Heywood Hundred Epigrammes xxx. sig. Biii Thou handledst no caruyng nor workyng toole.
1690 J. Child Disc. Trade ix. 155 Not to hinder any Man from keeping as many Servants as he can, nor Loomes, working-Tooles, &c.
1728 J. Woodward Lett. Method of Fossils 30 in Fossils of All Kinds A people so barbarous, and destitute of all Working-Tools.
1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour i. 3 Employing a second stone as his working-tool,..he struck off splinters from the first stone.
1969 Surv. Iron Castings (Council Ironfoundry Assoc.) 43/1 The engineering designer..must know the details of his working tools.
2003 Oxoniensia 67 72 His working tools included eight pairs of shears,..one press and one rack.
c. attributive, with the sense ‘worn for work; designed or suitable for wear at work’ (cf. work n. Compounds 1d).
working apron n.
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a1685 M. Evelyn Mundus Muliebris (1690) 10 The Working Apron too from France, With all its trim Apurtenance.
1769 Lady M. Coke Jrnl. 4 May (1892) III. 67 I had but just time to throw off my Working Apron.
1997 Times 16 Dec. 1/6 Butchers in working aprons paraded with a forerib of beef outside the House of Commons.
working clothes n.
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1651 Humble Petition & Appeal Fielder 13 The said Fielder was in another Room, having his working Clothes on.
1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 309 Dressed in ordinary working clothes of varied colours.
2004 C. Oxlade How we use Cotton 17 Working clothes are often made from tough denim fabrics.
working dress n.
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1697 J. Lead Fountain of Gardens II. 382 Not any of those Inhabitants are found in any working dress.
1771 B. Franklin Autobiogr. (1905) 254 I was in my working dress.
1853 S. Moodie Life in Clearings 59 Her coloured flannel working-dress.
1994 H. Payne Man, Woman & Dream (2000) 121 Sandy answered the door in her working dress.
d. attributive, with the sense ‘relating to or necessary for the running of a business, etc.’, as working costs, working expenses, etc.See also working capital n. at Compounds 3.
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1813 Rep. Comm. Petition Country Bakers 12 in Parl. Papers 1812–13 (H.C. 82) III. 401 There was a subscription made at Exeter to defray the Bakers working expenses.
1844 Dundee Courier 29 Oct. After deducting near 45 per cent. for working costs, a return of 7 per cent. might with certainty be relied on.
1868 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 46 Returns for working expenses.
1905 ‘G. Thorne’ Lost Cause x A contribution to the working fund.
1912 Times 19 Dec. 19/2 The working costs, including the London expenses.
1998 M. Schiffler Econ. Groundwater Managem. Arid Countries ii. iv. 221 The WAJ's total revenue in 1993 was JD [= Jordanian Dinar] 35 million, while working expenditure was JD 39 million.
2011 Pioneer (India) (Nexis) 11 Sept. The working expenses of the Railways have increased.
C3. Some compounds included here may be interpreted as uses of working adj.† working big adj. and n. Mining Obsolete (a) adj. large enough for a person to work in; (b) n. a space of this size.† working-shop n. Obsolete = workshop n. 1a.† working stool n. Obsolete a frame on which embroidery or tapestry is worked; = stool n. 6.† working tube n. Glass-blowing Obsolete a blowing iron.
working arch n. now historical an arch of masonry at the mouth of a blast furnace; cf. tymp arch at tymp n. 1b.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > parts of furnace > [noun] > openings for metal or crucible
tympa1650
working arch1824
tap-hole1825
working door1839
tapping-hole1861
slag notch1882
1824 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. V. 125/1 The fold, fauld, or working-arch, by which the hearth is approached.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 132 Fauld, the tymp-arch or working-arch of a furnace.
2009 APT Bull. 40 51/2 A working arch at the base, in one of several shapes, gave access to the stone hearth.
working barrel n. Engineering the cylindrical chamber in which the plunger or piston of a pump moves to and fro or up and down.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > pump > [noun] > cylinder
working barrel1735
tube1877
1735 M. Clare Motion of Fluids 71 A Row of Pistons are always bearing against the working Barrel.
1813 T. Martin Circle Mech. Arts 495/2 The piston is solid and its rod passes through a collar of leather in the plate, and closes the upper end of the working barrel.
1946 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 94 375/1 The oldest method is by pumping, the plunger and working-barrel being placed near the bottom of the well.
2011 W. Renpu Adv. Well Completion Engin. iii. 145/1 The rod-insert pump has inside and outside working barrels.
working beam n. Mechanics (now chiefly historical) a pivoted beam in a steam engine or similar mechanism, which transmits motion from a piston to a crank or wheel; = beam n.1 11.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [noun] > parts of > levers
working beam1744
beam1759
lever1759
side lever1804
lever-beam1824
walking beam1824
sway-beam1839
grasshopper-beam?1865
1744 J. T. Desaguliers Course Exper. Philos. II. 474 There is a Slit in the perpendicular working Beam.
1854 J. P. Muirhead Origin & Progress Mech. Inventions J. Watt I. Introd. p. lxxviii The cylinders were..furnished with a working-beam.
1992 C. Giles & I. H. Goodall Yorks. Textile Mills iv. 138/2 In most new engines a working beam of cast iron was held in place by an entablature beam.
working bee n. chiefly North American, Australian, and New Zealand a gathering or meeting at which work is done; cf. bee n.1.
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1870 J. B. Ellis Free Love & its Votaries v. 107 The workers frequently..organize a ‘working-bee’, at which a considerable quantity of work is done.
1883 ‘A Lady’ Facts, or Experiences Recent Colonist N.Z. viii. 68 The ladies of the community..meet for a common cause... Working bees are then got up.
1944 A. J. McIntyre & J. J. McIntyre Country Towns Victoria 118 The actual work necessary for, say, gardens, is sometimes carried out by the men of the town and district, in a ‘working bee’ led by the Progress Association.
1956 W. R. Bird Off-trail in Nova Scotia i. 23 We were told much of working bees, barn raisings, the making of maple sugar.
2012 D. McKay Global Filipinos i. 24 Villagers note who attends their working bee so as to repay them with future cooperation.
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1730 F. Place Remarks Mines Swinard in Jrnls. House of Commons (1803) 22 191/1 It is a regular Spar Course; the deepest Place wrought is about Seven Fathom, where it is working big; and, in some Places, is Four or Five Foot over, mixed with good Ore.
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis iii. iii. 161 If it is not a working big,..he breaks down, if in an end, or digs up, if under his feet, all the poor part.
1850 J. Weale Rudim. Dict. Terms Archit. iv. 546/2 Working-big, in mining, signifies sufficiently large for a man to work in.
1858 26th Ann. Rep. Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Soc. (List of Premiums & Prizes) 3 The relative expense of driving levels in granite or killas, ‘working big’, and of ordinary height.
working box n. (a) Mechanics (in certain types of pump) a hollow chamber, closed with a valve, which is moved to and fro inside a cylinder in the manner of a piston (cf. box n.2 8) (now historical); †(b) a box for storing or holding materials for sewing, etc. (cf. workbox n. at work n. Compounds 3) (obsolete)
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > piston > [noun]
piston1704
plunger1722
working box1773
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > box, bag, or case
work basket1579
workbox1605
housewife1735
work bag1745
working box1773
housewife-case1817
1773 C. Clarke Philos. Invest. Steam in Fire-engine 18 In every lifting pump there is a box fixed a little below the greatest descent of the working box or lifter.
1778 J. Woodforde Diary 9 Sept. (1924) I. 235 It..looks when covered like a working Box for Ladies.
1838 in Notes & Queries 11th Ser. 1 423 My small inlaid Working Box.
1840 J. A. Clark Glimpses of Old World II. xix. 335 A working-box with some needle-work on the lid wrought by the Queen's own fingers.
1875 Manufacturer & Builder Sept. 214/1 Another style of pump is that shown in Fig. 5, which gives a sectional view of a plumber's hand force-pump, where, instead of the working-box or bucket, a solid plunger is used.
1970 Trans. Hawick Archaeol. Soc. 14 The most interesting feature of this well..was in the recovery..of the bottom section of the pipe complete with clack valve and its leather hinge in the working box of what is believed to be of mid-18th century, or earlier, vintage.
working breast n. a surface at which mining or quarrying is carried out; cf. working face n.
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1853 Z. Thompson App. Hist. Vermont 43/1 The quarry presents a working breast, rising about 35 feet above the lake.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 167 Put, to convey coal from the working breast to the tramway.
1981 A. F. C. Wallace St. Clair i. 14 Air was expected to flow..across the face of every working breast.
working canvas n. now rare any type of canvas used as a ground (ground n. 6a) for embroidery.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric for specific purpose > [noun] > for embroidery or tapestry
groundc1386
champa1450
cammes1540
canvas1611
working canvas1612
Penelope canvas1851
Aida1877
1612 Bk. Customs & Valuation in A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 319 Linning cloth..working canves for cusheonis.
1789 tr. J. Hellot in tr. J. Hellot et al. Art of dying Wool, Silk, & Cotton i. ii. 12 Worsted for working canvas, tapestry, and for all stuffs exceeding forty Sols an ell, must be dyed true.
1878 Peterson's Mag. Dec. 450/1 The cloth is of fine Java canvas, woven in cotton, and known as working canvas.
1913 Woman's Home Compan. Dec. 57/1 Embroidery cotton and working canvas.
working capital n. the part of the capital of a business, organization, etc., that is available for use, (now) esp. for day-to-day trading operations; (Accounting) the excess of current assets over current liabilities.
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society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal > types of
stock1598
artificial capital1772
circulating capital1776
natural capital1785
money capital1791
working capital1798
reserve1819
authorized capital1825
current asset1826
loan capital1848
capital asset1851
water1867
capital equipment1893
refugee capital1926
risk capital1927
hot money1936
venture capital1943
risk money1944
exposure1975
1798 Theory National Debt 16 The working capital of the nation, deprived of the loan from the monied interest, would then be 300,000,000l.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 May 2/1 To underwrite,..syndicate, or otherwise provide working capital for bona fide mining companies.
1990 R. Izhar Accounting, Costing, & Managem. i. xiii. 183 A common cause of a negative working capital is overtrading.
2002 D. Goleman et al. Business: Ultimate Resource 862/2 The leading cause of business failure is not lack of profitability, but rather lack of working capital.
working card n. (a) a card certifying that its holder is able or entitled to work; (b) a card certifying that its holder is a member of a particular trade union; a union card.
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society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employee's documents
union card1852
working card1855
work card1878
pie card1895
card1913
society > occupation and work > working > association of employers or employees > [noun] > trade union > union card
union card1852
working card1855
card1890
pie card1895
1855 Liverpool Mercury 4 May 15/2 He [sc. the secretary of the Liverpool Typographical Society] would make him a temporary member and give him a working card.
1874 Internat. Typogr. Union Proc. 34 Subordinate Unions are recommended to..enforce the ‘working-card’ system.
1915 Railway Carmen's Jrnl. July 446/1 The working card is the child's identification card. It shows that he is entitled to work.
2003 D. Dicaire Jazz Musicians of Early Years 113 He was denied a working card by the local musician's union.
working committee n. a committee established to perform a specific task; spec. = working party n. 3.
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society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > types of association, society, or organization > [noun] > other types of association, society, or organization
invisible college1647
rota1660
working party1744
free association1761
working committee1821
Ethical Society1822
bar association1824
league1846
congress1870
tiger1874
cult1875
Daughters of the American Revolution1890
community group1892
housing association1898
working party1902
development agency1910
affinity group1915
propaganda machine1916
funding body1922
collective1925
Ku-Klux1930
network1946
NGO1946
production brigade1950
umbrella organization1950
plantation1956
think-tank1958
think group1961
team1990
1821 Edinb. Rev. Mar. 241 The difficulty of obtaining every where a due supply of working committees will be prodigious.
1902 Insurance Engin. Mar. 274 A working Committee and Advisory Board were appointed for the purpose of suggesting a line of investigation.
2000 A. Glaeser Divided in Unity ii. 129 Seven working committees were assembled, one to address each different aspect of police work.
working copy n. a copy of a book or other document used or annotated by someone working on its contents.
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society > communication > book > copy > [noun] > other types of copy
fine paper copy1789
review book1796
advance copy1837
reading copy1847
manifold1852
review copy1859
press copy1891
working copy1897
file copy1899
binding copy1936
desk copy1942
ideal copy1949
society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > transcript or copy > used or annotated by someone working on contents
working copy1897
1897 W. C. Hazlitt Confessions of Collector vi. 100 I would gladly pay him a guinea for it, and find him a working copy into the bargain.
1967 N. S. M. Cox & M. W. Grose Organization Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer iv. 95 We can..print the dictionary in two forms; one form is referred to as the ‘Working Copy’ edition, intended for the use of our own editorial staff.
1995 T. Wood Clean Kill iv. 33 It was a bible, with annotated margins, a working copy for a minister or a serious student.
working cylinder n. Mechanics (in an engine) a cylinder in which a gas or other fluid acts on a piston, causing it to move; = cylinder n. 6.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [noun] > parts of > cylinders
cylinder1697
working cylinder1787
indicator-cylinder1875
1787 Trans. Soc. Arts 5 209 The working Cylinder was ten inches diameter.
1815 Philos. Mag. 46 121 If the engine, instead of being worked by the pressure of the atmosphere, is to be worked by the action of steam upon the piston, then the working cylinder must..be furnished with a cover.
1949 A. C. Walshaw Heat Engines (ed. 3) xviii. 404 The power developed by the remaining three working cylinders was measured by means of a water-brake.
2000 Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines: Vocab.: Part 1 (B.S.I.) 11/1 The inlet ports and the exhaust ports are at the same end of the working cylinder.
working dinner n. a dinner during which business is discussed; cf. working lunch n.
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the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > main meal or dinner
mealeOE
dinnerc1325
dinea1425
Christmas dinner1581
Sunday dinner1602
corporation dinner1732
Russian dinner1805
boiled dinner1823
pickup1848
Robin Dinner1877
course-dinner1895
shore dinner1895
din-din1905
gala dinner1934
TV dinner1952
working dinner1956
steak dinnera1964
1956 N.Y. Times 1 Feb. 3/6 Officials described this function as a ‘working dinner’ at which the day's discussions would be continued.
1970 Daily Tel. 22 Sept. 1/8 Union chiefs and chairmen of five nationalised industries had a ‘working dinner’..last night.
2001 Irish Times (Nexis) 4 July 8 Mr Ahern will join Mr Blair for a working dinner to discuss plans for crucial negotiations.
working door n. chiefly Metallurgy a door or shutter that covers an opening giving access to a furnace.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > parts of furnace > [noun] > openings for metal or crucible
tympa1650
working arch1824
tap-hole1825
working door1839
tapping-hole1861
slag notch1882
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 325 (caption) The working doors.
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 393 The furnace has a working door at the side, and a charging door at the end.
1922 J. J. Deans Iron Puddler xv. 97 Through this working door I put in the charge of ‘pigs’ that were to be boiled.
1999 U.S. Patent 5,882,578 7/1 The hearth furnace portion has..a working door for drawing off the slag.
2011 Q. R. Skrabec Edward Drummond Libbey iii. 39 The large domed furnace had a working door for each pot of glass, known as a Bocca.
working drawing n. a scale drawing which serves as a guide for the construction or manufacture of something, esp. a building; usually in plural.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > plans of buildings or structures
ground-plot1563
model1570
ichnography1598
skiagraphy1636
plane1639
skiagraph1648
plain1659
plan1664
planography?1668
scheme1703
ground plan1731
working plan1767
working drawing1785
detail1819
floor-plan1867
Z-plan1887
block plan1909
master plan1914
1785 Morning Post 12 May (advt.) Designs for public and private buildings; also directions and working drawings for executing the same at any distance.
1832 C. Babbage Econ. Machinery & Manuf. xxv. 208 The actual execution from working drawings.
1988 D. Rees GCSE CDT—Design & Realisation xix. 192 The working drawing must be precise in dimension and complete in detail.
2000 Building Design 18 Feb. 27/2 (advt.) You will be working on a variety of new build housing types with responsibilities for the preparation of working drawings.
working drift n. Mining a drift or horizontal passage in which mining or excavation is being carried out; cf. drift n. 15.
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1835 J. Holland Hist. & Descr. Fossil Fuel, Collieries, & Coal Trade xi. 218 The air descends into..working drift.
1911 Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 429 At the McDonald mine on the Controller Bay group is a working drift more than 600 feet long.
2003 K. Satai et al. in T. Saito & S. Murata Environmental Rock Engin. ii. 173/2 Kammon tunnel has two main tunnels as well as a working drift.
working face n. (a) a surface that constitutes a principal working part of a device or object; (b) a surface at which work, esp. mining, excavation, or quarrying, is carried out.
Π
1789 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 79 4 By this means the altitude of the object is shewn upon the working face of the quadrant.
1823 Ann. Philos. New Ser. 5 465 The Plymouth caves..were first opened at their lower extremity,..but at a distance from the working face of the quarry.
1881 Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1880–1 16 346 Large thermopile... Face blackened. Area of working face = 15 mm. by 16 mm.
1915 Motor Boating Oct. 35/1 The magnetizer is stated to have several distinct features, the magnetic circuit from working face to working face being unbroken and extremely short.
1957 Brit. Jrnl. Industr. Med. 14 11/2 The temperature at the working face of a caisson reaches such high levels.
1988 Pop. Mech. June 102/1 (caption) Keep the same side of doweling jig on working face of each board to ensure good alignment.
2005 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 13 Feb. viii. 7/2 The cabans,..in a sheltered area away from the working face of a mine, were the cornerstone of slate-worker culture.
working force n. people engaged in or available for work in a particular area, industry, etc.; = workforce n.
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society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > in relation to employer or capitalist > collectively
employed1600
human capital1799
working force1826
labour1830
labour force1844
workforce1910
1826 R. Mills Statistics S. Carolina 317 A permanent capital..with which it might augment its working force, or..hire..the number of hands requisite to complete the reclamation of all the swamps.
1854 Mining Mag. 3 196 The present working force of the mine consists of about ninety-five hands.
1939 Fortune Nov. 39/2 The..expert craftsmanship that puts the permanent, responsible Studebaker working force in a class apart.
2012 South China Morning Post (Nexis) 6 Mar. 8 The loss of a working force will be disastrous to the country's economic development. An ageing population will place a huge burden on the country's younger generation.
working gear n. equipment used for work; (in later use) clothing worn for work.
Π
1638 in F. Collins Wills & Admin. Knaresborough Court Rolls (1905) II. 170 All my loume, working geare and my husbandrie geare.
1890 Cent. Mag. May 122/1 Each enthusiastic amateur was laden with his working gear—great cameras and small.
2012 Irish Times (Nexis) 3 Mar. (Weekend section) 1 Men..wearing their working gear for the day.
working group n. a number of people engaged in the same task; esp. a committee or group appointed to investigate and report on a particular subject and to make recommendations based on its findings; = working party n. 3.
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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > types of body or spec. bodies > [noun] > committee > other types of committee
committee1571
council of war1590
special committee1606
standing committeea1632
Committee of Safety1642
working party1744
finance committee1783
Board (also Court) of county commissioners1806
business committee1825
national committee1826
watch committee1835
working group1888
Central Committee1917
action committee1918
action group1927
ombuds-committee1964
PESC1969
1888 A. Szilágyi in G. Petrik Bibliographia Hungariae I. i. p. xxi The Library established..a working group with the mission to explore systematically all gaps in Petrik's bibliography.
1950 Soviet Stud. 1 261 The..regular working group of collective farm members..averaging about ten people.
1986 Professional Teacher Summer 17/1 A working group was set up to review vocational qualifications.
2010 New Scientist 21 Aug. 10/3 The Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods..provides guidance to US forensic labs.
working headway n. Mining a headway (headway n. 2) in which mining is being carried out.
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1835 J. Holland Hist. & Descr. Fossil Fuel, Collieries, & Coal Trade xi. 222 Rendering it nearly impossible for the workmen to prevent its exploding at their lights as they pass and repass along the working headways.
1855 D. T. Ansted et al. Geol., Mineral. & Crystallogr. 242 Running a gallery..above the working headway to the highest place worked.
1917 Ironwood (Mich.) Times 31 Mar. 1/2 Working headways are turned off in pairs, driven ‘narrow’ 75 feet from the slope, and a manway raised for ventilation.
working heat n. a temperature at which work may be performed on a material or with an object; spec. the temperature at which glass is flexible enough to be shaped.
Π
?1770 J. Warltire Conc. Ess. Philos. & Chem. Subj. 37 (table) Working heat for green Glass 2847 [sc. degrees Fahrenheit].
1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 4th Ser. ii. 57 Flint-glass possesses, at the working heat, a degree of tenacity and ductility.
1920 Pop. Sci. Monthly Oct. 56/1 Instead of having to start the forge fire, carry coke, and heat the rivets separately, here is a device by which a number of rivets can be brought to a working heat at once.
2000 D. Francis Shattered (2001) 257 The body of the horse had to be kept at working heat..while one added two pieces of glass for each lower leg and foot.
working hole n. (a) an opening in a furnace at which metal or molten glass is taken out; †(b) an opening for access to a beehive (obsolete rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > [noun] > glass-making furnaces > openings
working hole1735
bocca1799
boccarella1799
tunnel1839
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > honeycomb > cell in
cella1398
room1579
cabin1611
working hole1735
pollen cell1888
1735 J. Barrow Dict. Polygraphicum I. at Furnace In this oven each working hole has but one pot in it.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 577 Semi-circular holes..a little above the top of each pot, called working holes.
1864 Country Gentleman 4 Feb. 82/2 I winter in a large dry cellar, setting the bees as far from the ground as I can get them, leaving the working-holes all open.
1951 Isis 42 289 Two parts anhydrous sodium sulfate, two parts pure chalk or limestone, and one part of charcoal are crushed and mixed.., spread out in a reverbatory furnace, the working holes closed, and heat applied.
2003 S. Davison & R. G. G. Newton Conservation & Restoration Glass (ed. 2) iii. 166/2 The draft..follows this course, emerging at the working holes of the furnace.
working holiday n. a holiday spent engaged in paid or volunteer work which is typically not one's usual occupation; (now) spec. a period spent abroad in which a person (esp. a young person) undertakes such work.
Π
1859 Melbourne Punch 8 10/2 Take in your eccentric way A sort of working holiday On English soil.
1884 Sunday School Hive Sept. 131/2 September is the time for hop-picking; old and young make a working holiday of it.
1974 Rotarian Oct. 40/ Dr. Joseph B. Fontana..is another Rotarian dentist who takes working holidays. In 1973 he contributed his..skills to aid the survivors of the Nicaraguan earthquake.
1994 Onset Mag. (Toronto, Ont.) Aug. 35/3 Even tourists can obtain a ‘working holiday’ visa which allows them to obtain casual, seasonal and part-time work [in Australia].
2012 Gap-year Guidebk. 2013 ii. 83 If you are going to be topping up your travel pot by pulling pints or teaching English, check to make sure your cover includes a working holiday.
working hour n. (in plural) the part of the day (typically) spent at work; (later also) the amount of time spent at work; (in singular) an hour during which work is done.
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society > occupation and work > work > times or periods of work > [noun] > portion of day allotted to work
day1637
working hour1698
work hour1786
business day1796
working day1796
business end1828
eight hours1845
core time1972
1698 R. Gaselee Capt. G. St. Lo his Proc. against Me 1 Every Morning and Evening..both before and after the common Working hours.
1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley vii. 162 After working hours the evening before.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men II. xxi. 106 His pay by the piece..gave him, as already stated, tenpence for every working hour.
1919 Bridgemen's Mag. May 253/1 The serious effects of long working hours upon the health of women.
1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 180 At peak production, the Halifax group turned out one complete aircraft every working hour.
1987 A. Miller Timebends (1988) ii. 177 Seeing a movie during working hours still felt vaguely sinful.
2007 E. Flint Legal Careers 71 When we were expecting our second child, I looked for ways to reduce my working hours.
working life n. (originally) †a life characterized by work; an active or laborious life (obsolete); (later) the part of a person's life spent working; cf. work life n.
Π
1583 T. Tymme tr. A. Marlorat Catholike & Eccles. Expos. Gospell Marke & Luke 194 Some beinge ledde by Ambition, and other some by Idlenesse..despise a workinge Life [L. activa vita] as much, as if it did pull backe from Heauen.
1864 C. Knight (title) Passages of a Working Life during half a century.
1960 P. Larkin Let. 8 Aug. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 317 After perhaps a week of boredom and depression at the dreariness of my working life I have cheered up somewhat.
2011 Daily Tel. 30 Nov. 25/2 The young..have no prospect of guaranteed final salary pension schemes and..face a longer working life.
working load n. the greatest load that can be borne during working or use; spec. the greatest load that a structural member or a load-bearing structure can safely bear on a regular basis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > maximum weight anything is designed to bear
working load1824
1824 Prize-ess. & Trans. Highland Soc. Scotl. 6 136 8 to 10 tons; being the estimated working-load of an able horse.
1875 R. F. Martin tr. J. Havrez On Recent Improvem. Winding Machinery 19 A round steel rope would bear a working load of 13·158 kilogs per square millimetre.
1930 Engineering 21 Feb. 241/2 This working load is equivalent to one-half the proof load.
1966 R. A. Heinlein Let. 4 Sept. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 126 I've still got to do some electrical work tonight—calculate the maximum working loads..and try to see if I can use a four-wire, three-phase cable underground.
2005 Ships Monthly Oct. 18/1 The ships built to carry such cargos must be specifically designed to take high working loads.
working lunch n. a lunch during which business is discussed (cf. working dinner n.); (also) a lunch eaten while working.
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the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > midday meal or lunch
noonmeatOE
noona1225
midday meala1425
noon meal?c1460
Sunday dinner1602
nooning1649
luncheona1652
noon dinner1656
nummit1777
tiffin1800
sandwich lunch1828
lunch1829
twelve hours1844
free lunch1848
midday dinner1852
Sunday lunch1854
nooning-meal1865
Mittagessen1876
business lunch1880
tray lunch1936
pub lunch1954
working lunch1954
liquid lunch1970
three-martini lunch1972
1954 Lowell (Mass.) Sunday Sun 19 Dec. 55/3 They met privately at the Hotel Matigonon, the French premier's official residence, after a working lunch with aides and deputies.
1982 R. Davies High Spirits xiii. 133 The worst of them [sc. committees] have what they call working lunches, where they are made to devour bad food and drink disgusting coffee while discussing projects from which all hope has been drained away.
1985 Guardian 1 Mar. 23/4 Individuals who want a working lunch at their desk.
2008 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 26 July a14 Chavez flew to Madrid..for a brief meeting with Zapatero and a working lunch to discuss business ties between the two countries.
working pit n. Mining a pit in a working; a pit that is being actively mined.
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1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 17 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) One Viewer serves for three or four Working Pits.
1848 R. C. Taylor Statistics of Coal 299 Three detached coal basins, to the west of Appleby, have several working-pits sunk in the lower shale.
2000 J. Du Brul Medusa Stone 403 The tunnel leading to the working pit was about a mile and a half long.
working place n. a place where work is done; (formerly) spec. † = workshop n. 1a (obsolete); (in later use chiefly) the place in a mine at which excavation is carried out.Cf. workplace n.
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society > occupation and work > workplace > workshop > [noun]
workhouseOE
officinec1425
shopc1450
working-house1474
working place?1505
frame housea1555
workshop1556
framing house1559
working-shop1566
shophouse1567
frame building1574
operatory1651
shopping1684
officina1832
atelier1882
craft shop1896
skunk works1960
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > working face or place
witchet1677
face1708
front1717
stope1747
wall1750
web1767
working place1827
wall-face1839
offset1872
wicket1881
upset1883
?1505 tr. P. Gringore Castell of Laboure (new ed.) sig. H.vv She set it [sc. a candle] by my workynge place.
a1550 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (Sloane 1873) (1975) l. 2920 Astrologiers seide it was a grace To fynde a chosen worchinge place, For many thyngis will wondirs do In some placis, and elswere not so.
1554–5 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 176 ij dozen of Russhes for the working places of thoffice.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong L'ouvroir d'vn chacun mestier, ou on besogne, a working place, a shop.
1733 Further Acct. Sufferings Protestants Saltzburg 63 As he was passing by Reimbacher's House, seeing him in his Working-Place, he stopped.
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xxi. 549 Besides the working place.., another unconnected with the busy part of the laboratory, should be appointed.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 960 Each miner continues to advance his room or working-place.
1996 M. A. Beik Miners of Windber i. iii. 69 He and his father had spent an entire workday clearing away rock and slate from their working place.
working plan n. (a) = working drawing n.; usually in plural; (b) Forestry a plan for the management and regeneration of a forest.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > plans of buildings or structures
ground-plot1563
model1570
ichnography1598
skiagraphy1636
plane1639
skiagraph1648
plain1659
plan1664
planography?1668
scheme1703
ground plan1731
working plan1767
working drawing1785
detail1819
floor-plan1867
Z-plan1887
block plan1909
master plan1914
the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [noun] > forestry plan
working plan1895
1767 London Chron. 17 Feb. 3/1 The working Plans for the Foundation of the Piers..may be seen in the Hands of the said Mr. Patrick Miller.
1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad xxxiv. 370 The ghastly desolation of the place was as tremendously complete as if Dorē had furnished the working-plans for it.
1895 W. Schlich Man. Forestry III. iii. 173 Forest working plans regulate, according to time and locality, the management of forests in such a manner, that the objects of the industry are as fully as possible realized.
1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 56/2 A Home Building Bureau..[which will] supply them, at nominal cost, with complete working plans, specifications, bills of materials and equipment.
1967 Appraisal Terminol. & Handbk. (Amer. Inst. Real Estate Appraisers) (ed. 5) 23 Blueprint, a working plan used on a construction job by tradesmen.
2009 Indian Express (Nexis) 21 Oct. Every protected forest area should have a working plan.
working point n. (a) the point or place in a machine at which the work or task it is used for is performed (now rare); (b) a point (as on a graph or chart) corresponding to satisfactory working.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > [noun] > where useful work is done
working point1784
1784 J. Robison Outl. Exper. Philos. 7 Causes which prevent the continual acceleration of machines..resistance by the motion of the impelled and working points.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 51 All the motion which has been accumulated on the fly during the whole progress of its accumulation, is exerted in an instant at the working point.
1906 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 3 Oct. 1212/1 Said inner drill and its shank having an inclosed lubricant-conduit leading to its working point.
1938 A. E. Clayton Performance & Design Direct Current Machines (ed. 2) viii. 177 The working point on the open circuit curve shall be well beyond the knee of the curve.
2000 J. McFall tr. K. Wille Physics of Particle Accelerators iii. 111 A pair of values..must be chosen which avoid optical resonances. This pair of values is termed the working point.
working rate n. (a) the rate at which work is done (cf. work rate n. (a) at work n. Compounds 3); (b) an amount paid for work done.
Π
1822 Repertory of Arts 2nd Ser. 40 217 Locomotive steam-engines..ill sustain the working-rate of horses.
1873 Western Mail (Cardiff) 21 Mar. 2/6 A meeting will be called with the view of arranging the working rate from that date.
1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Sc. Mining Terms 73 Working rate, the rate per ton paid to a miner.
1958 Brit. Jrnl. Industr. Med. 15 124/2 If all the subjects kept to their fastest working rate throughout, they would then have time to suspend their task briefly.
2006 Times 21 Aug. 31/3 In a recession either working hours or working rates must be cut.
working room n. (a) a room in which work is done; a workroom; (b) space in which to work or operate.
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society > occupation and work > workplace > [noun] > space to work
working rooma1651
working space1829
workspace1881
cube1988
society > occupation and work > workplace > workshop > [noun] > workroom
workroom1665
sluttery1711
working room1898
a1651 C. Love Grace (1652) 211 The grave is like the sleeping room in a house, not like the dining room and working room.
1775 B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida App. 9 From Beak's-Key, to the Riding Rocks, and Roques, there is working room plenty, and good anchorage.
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 258 The atmosphere of their working-rooms is so poisonous that birds die after being exposed to it for a fort~night.
1995 R. Combs Office Design Ideas 83/1 A cramped business area with little working room.
2008 Y. Takai Gendered Passages ii. 60 He immediately..stopped all of the other machines in the working room.
working school n. now historical (in Britain and Ireland) a school in which poor children do manual work in exchange for basic education; cf. workhouse n. 2b.
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society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > technical school
school (also college) of industry1695
working school1695
technical school1824
polytechnic1836
junior technical school1929
1695 F. Brewster Ess. Trade & Navigation 66 These Hospitals and Working-Schools will exceed not only all the Charitable Works of this Kingdom, but may be thought above any in Europe.
1787 J. Hawkins Life Johnson 391 Dr. Madden, so well-known by his premiums for the encouragement of Protestant working-schools in Ireland.
2001 S. B. Sundue in P. F. Clement & J. S. Reinier Boyhood in Amer. I. 384/2 Drawing on the example of British ‘working schools’, the young sons and daughters of the poor were identified as the best source of the necessary labor.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > workshop > [noun]
workhouseOE
officinec1425
shopc1450
working-house1474
working place?1505
frame housea1555
workshop1556
framing house1559
working-shop1566
shophouse1567
frame building1574
operatory1651
shopping1684
officina1832
atelier1882
craft shop1896
skunk works1960
1566 T. Becon New Postil ii. f. 154v If any man should come to a mariage feaste fowle & sluttishe out of their working shoppe, no man would gladly receaue such vnto them.
1648 in J. H. Trumbull Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1850) I. 491 In the working shopp..axes, handsaw, beetle rings.
1783 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 73 450 The dust of a working-shop.
1839 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 653 The human mind is like a working-shop, Where Self-Will rears the anvil.
working space n. a space in which work is done; cf. workspace n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > [noun] > space to work
working rooma1651
working space1829
workspace1881
cube1988
society > computing and information technology > hardware > [noun] > memory > used during processing
working space1829
buffer1948
working storage1954
workspace1959
buffer store1962
footprint1993
1829 T. C. Grattan Traits of Trav. I. 165 The working space was enclosed, and the sterile soil beyond it dug up.
1912 Banker's Mag. Feb. 84 The signature file is in a revolving cabinet, located between the two paying tellers' cages and working space.
2009 J. Siegler Fire your Therapist xiv. 223 It occurred to him that he might combine his living space with his working space.
ΚΠ
1380 in A. H. Thomas Cal. Plea & Mem. Rolls London Guildhall (1929) II. 268 (MED) [2] belyes, [4 d.; a] worchyngstol.
1502 in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 7 For the stuff and making of iiij working stoles for the Quene..v s. iiij d.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 290/1 Workyng stole fore a sylkeman, mettier.
working surface n. = work surface n. at work n. Compounds 3.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > table > [noun] > work-top
benchtop1844
working top1905
working surface1913
worktop1924
work surface1927
bench1928
1913 Pop. Mech. June 133/1 The necessity of a proper working surface has often presented itself.
1962 A. Wise Death's-head iii. 23 The electric percolator standing on the formica working-surface.
2007 L. G. Boi Classic Asian Noodles 17 Dust a working surface with cornflour and roll out each ball of dough.
working top n. = worktop n. at work n. Compounds 3.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > table > [noun] > work-top
benchtop1844
working top1905
working surface1913
worktop1924
work surface1927
bench1928
1905 Bull. Amer. Geogr. Soc. 37 487 A tier of eight cases provides a good working top at a convenient height from the floor.
1959 Housewife June 70/2 Table-top refrigerators are popular because they give an additional working top.
2006 D. Shaw Vigilante Incorporated xxxvi. 221 Removing her apron, which she folded neatly before placing it on the working top.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > glass-making equipment > [noun] > shaping equipment
ferret1662
punty1662
puntilion1665
pucellas1701
casting-table1728
marble1745
pinching tongs1765
borsella1823
punt1823
marver1832
pontil1832
punto1839
working tube1841
bullion-bar1852
blowing-iron1855
bullion-rod1862
blowpipec1865
pointel1865
gadget1868
casting-slaba1877
casting-plate1881
glass-cutter1881
sand core1894
polissoir1897
pontil rod1934
blowing-machine1940
blowing-pipe-
blowing-tube-
1841 Penny Mag. Feb. 88/1 The workman..transfers it from the working tube to the punty.
1860 C. Knight Eng. Cycl.: Arts & Sci. IV. 394 The working-tube of the maker is first dipped into a mass of colourless glass.
working tun n. a vat used for fermentation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > brewing > [noun] > vat or vessel for brewing or fermenting
ale fateOE
sesterc1000
bruthen-leadc1275
kimnel1335
tine1337
gyle-fat1341
yeast-fat1367
brew-lead1369
coomb?a1400
gyle-tunc1425
brewing-lead1444
brewing vessel1462
work lead1471
lead1504
brewing copper1551
gyle-tub1568
kier1573
batch1697
ale vat1701
working tun1703
tun1713
brewing tub1766
flat1791
round1806
beck1828
gyle1836
tun-tub1842
stone-square1882
1703 Moore's Englands Interest (ed. 2) iv. 70 Beat in the Yest,..covering your Fat close that it fall not in your working Tun.
1736 Compl. Family-piece i. vi. 200 Shift your first Wort out of the Coolers into a Working-Tun.
1864 R. Kerr Gentleman's House 267 From the working-tun the beer may be carried to the casks in the cellar by a pipe.
2012 R. Wagner Philadelphia Beer i. 23 After the wort cools to body temperature, it is drained into the working tun.
working visa n. = work visa n. at work n. Compounds 3.
Π
1942 Greeley (Colorado) Daily Tribune 28 May 1/6 The proposal to bring Mexican beet workers into the United States on special working visas was made by Senator Murray following the request for labor aid from Montana growers.
1991 Gay Times Mar. 17/1 Christine Moss came to Britain in 1984 with the two year working visa allowed to Commonwealth citizens under the age of 25.
2014 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 4 Feb. 8 The [Immigration Department] ruling requires every potential foreign worker to undergo the biomedical test in their country of origin to get a working visa for Malaysia.
working voltage n. Electrical Engineering = operating voltage n. at operating n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1891 Electr. World 20 June 455/2 The working voltage of the machine can thus be varied from practically zero to its full amount by the rotation of the exciting brushes.
1924 A. J. Allmand & H. J. T. Ellingham Princ. Appl. Electrochem. (ed. 2) vi. 77 The working voltage of an electrolytic cell always exceeds the theoretical decomposition voltage.
2000 P. Scherz Pract. Electronics for Inventors iii. 82 (table) Battery type... Silver-zinc... Maximum voltage... 1.85. Working voltage (practical)... 1.15.
working week n. (a) total number of hours or days worked in a week; (b) the part of the week during which one typically works, as distinguished from the weekend; cf. workweek n. at work n. Compounds 3.
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the world > time > period > a day or twenty-four hours > [noun] > week day > week or six working days
weekOE
working weeka1658
a1658 J. Durham Pract. Expos. X. Commandements (1675) iv. 255 The Sabbath be a bounding day, dividing one working Week from another.
1890 J. E. C. Munro in Rep. Brit. Assoc. 472 If the working week was reduced from 56½ to 48 hours.
1982 Daily Tel. 22 July 12/7 Solutions..are..more flexi-time; shorter working weeks; [etc.].
2008 Guardian 28 Apr. (G2 section) 3/4 The weekend spelled a brief period of repose after the scramble and toil of the working week.
working weekday n. [compare earlier working day n.] a day of the week other than Saturday or Sunday (in earlier use other than Sunday only), regarded as a day for work; = weekday n. 3.
Π
1828 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 21/2 A sermon on a working week-day is..a very great bore indeed.
1869 A. J. Evans Vashti xiv. 184 She remarked that your eyes were, in comparison with other folks', what Sabbath is to working week-days.
2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Nexis) 28 Nov. g3 Voting day is always a Saturday, not a working weekday.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
workingadj.
/ˈwəːkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈwərkɪŋ/ I. Senses relating to work or labour.
1.
a. Of a person: that works or labours; engaged in work; having paid employment. In later use also: engaged in manual or industrial work; working-class.See also working class n., working man n., working woman n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [adjective] > working
workingOE
on duty1667
on-duty1942
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [adjective]
workingOE
labouring1377
manuala1450
mechanicc1550
mechanical1584
manuary1652
blue-collar1929
blue-collared1951
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [adjective] > aching
workingOE
warkingc1340
dull1725
nagging1836
dead1863
achy1864
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke Pref. Quod operantem agricolam oporteat de fructibus suis edere : þætte ðæm wyrcende londbuend gerises of wæstmum h[is] þætte getta.
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iii. xxxvii. 250 & þa þa winnendan & þa wyrcendan Langbearde [L. laborantesque Langobardos] he mid bliðelicre onsyne grette.
1639 G. Plattes Discov. Infinite Treasure Pref. sig. C4v How the working poore may be imployed in these new improvements.
1699 R. Cocks Diary 4 Jan. in Parl. Diary (1996) 29 We ought to take care that our provisions may bear such rates that our working people and those that buie from them may be able to subsist.
1752 W. Douglass Summary First Planting Brit. Settlem. N.-Amer. II. x. 137 The Charge of our present 70 Missionaries will maintain and educate about one thousand working Children.
1770 B. Franklin Conversat. Slavery 26 Jan. in Papers (1973) XVII. 39 Your working Poor are not indeed absolutely Slaves.
1830 Poor Man's Guardian 31 Dec. 4/2 The evils that beset the working population.
1864 J. Ramsbottam Phases of Distress 23 Honest wortchin' folks one sees By scores reawnd th' Poor-law Office dur.
1871 S. Smiles Character i. 25 The common body of working-people.
1913 A. R. MacEwen Hist. Church in Scotl. I. xviii. 388 There must have been innumerable parishes which had no working parish priests.
a1923 W. P. Ker Molière in Coll. Ess. (1925) I. 352 Respectable advice to working playwrights.
1964 Bks. & Bookmen Mar. 45/3 I have always resented the portrayal of working people as morons or caricatures of sub-intelligence.
1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) i. 3 At the other end of the scale more and more people discover they are the new working poor, or live off the state in semi-poverty.
2008 Wall St. Jrnl. 10 Oct. a15/1 Mr. Obama will give 95% of American working families a tax cut.
b. spec. Designating a person (esp. a woman) who is in paid employment, as opposed to one who remains at home full-time to look after children, do housework, etc. Frequently in working mother, working mum.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > [adjective] > trained in theoretic part of occupation > following occupation as livelihood > of a woman
working1855
1855 Chambers's Jrnl. 21 Apr. 242/1 The Paris ‘asylums’..where the working-mothers are in the habit of leaving for the day their children.
1888 N.Y. Charities Directory (ed. 3) 237 Messiah home for little children... Provides a home for children dependent upon working mothers.
1933 D. C. Peel Life's Enchanted Cup xv. 183 It was, perhaps, because she had known what it was to study in the intervals of tending children..that she could sympathise with working mothers.
1978 F. Weldon Praxis xx. 174 Praxis gave up her job: Ivor did not want a working wife.
1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. j 3/2 There were studies showing juvenile delinquents springing from single-parent or working-mother homes.
1993 Rochestarian Dec. 12/2 A tired argument about latchkey kids and working parents not being home to monitor TV viewing.
2005 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 1 Jan. (Homefront section) 6/3 You don't have to be a superwoman to be a full-time working mum and create a beautiful garden.
2.
a. Designating an animal which is put to work, esp. in an agricultural context (as a draught animal, a sheepdog, etc.). Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [adjective] > labouring
labouring1377
working1577
worked1707
wrought1725
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dogs used for specific purposes > [adjective] > of sporting or hunting dog
working1577
flying1684
pointing1745
faulting1837
short-running1853
short-working1853
gun-shy1884
trencher-fed1887
trial-bred1948
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [adjective] > working
working1577
mill-horse1729
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bos taurus or ox > [adjective] > working
working1577
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 11 Marcus Varro deuideth his husbandry necessaries into three partes: vowels,..halfe vowels, where his woorking cattell [L. iumenta operi] be: and mutes.
1613 Liber Deposit. infra Archidiacon. Colcestrensem (MS) f. 29 The herbadg or pasture of anye workeing cattell.
1661 G. Bishop New Eng. Judged 146 Seven Yearlings, and two Working Oxen.
1701 R. Cocks Diary 5 May in Parl. Diary (1996) 110 We are the poor working horses that do all the work and live poorly.
1773 Pennsylvania Gaz. 21 Apr. Suppl. 1/2 To be sold..several pair of working oxen.
1831 J. Morton Gloucestershire Hill-farm 19 in Farm-rep. Two colts are generally bred from the mares to keep up the stock of working-horses.
1897 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 744/1 Notwithstanding the care most people take to buy pups of ‘good working parents’, it is the blood that tells.
1898 Daily News 5 Jan. 2/4 Working homers, wonderful for their speed, such as are used on Government ships.
1936 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Jan. 73/2 The American husband (in fiction) is losing his working-dog quality, his ambition to toil.
1953 D. Bryant Cat Bk. vi. i. 217 Working cats render a great service and get nothing, or almost nothing, in return. These are the cats kept on farms, in stores and warehouses, and in some homes to control mice.
1982 G. Hammond Fair Game xi. 99 This was her first introduction to the truly fulfilled dog, the working dog doing the job for which it was bred.
2010 J. W. Apps Horse-drawn Days i. ii. 29 A working horse may drink ten to twelve gallons of water per day.
b. Of a vessel: used for various kinds of work, as fishing, transporting freight, etc., rather than leisure or recreation. Cf. workboat n. (b) at work n. Compounds 3.
Π
1733 Statute 6 Geo. II c. 29 in Statutes at Large (1786) V. 635 Penalty on working Lighters not weighed and marked.
1766 Enq. Great Scarcity Timber 73 The..Barges, and Wherries employed between Gravesend and Windsor; which said Working Boats..do not exceed Eight thousand.
1897 Columbian Cycl. IV. at Boat n. The racing and exercise boats are simply developments of the working craft: they are very narrow and long.
1995 Stornoway Gaz. 13 July 8/1 The vessel was, in its former incarnation, a working tuna fishing boat, but has now been decked out to a high specification.
2010 Canal Boats Apr. 78/2 An interesting proposal..is to set up a group to build a half-size aluminium replica of a trow, the working barge of the Severn.
3. Designating a social insect of the worker caste (see worker n. 7). Esp. in working bee.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [adjective] > belonging to division Petiolata > of or relating to ants > relating to worker
working1637
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [adjective] > belonging to division Petiolata > belonging to division Anthophila > of or belonging to bees > relating to worker
working1637
1637 R. Remnant Disc. Bees i. iii. 9 They are the working Bees.
1646 R. Crashaw Steps to Temple 115 The working Bees soft melting Gold, That which their waxen Mines enfold.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Queen-bee Not only these common or working bees, but also the drones, or male bees.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 106 In the principal species of the Solitary Wasps, the insect is smaller than the working wasp of the social kind.
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xxvii. 511 Royal cells capacious enough for the education of one of more queen-grubs selected out of the unhoused working grubs.
1870 A. Pettigrew Handy Bk. of Bees i. iii. 29 The Working Bees. The common working bees are twenty-one days in their cells, and live nine months.
1872 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 7 2/1 It is quite possible that these [openings] may have escaped my notice, as that required for a working termite to pass through is so exceedingly small.
1938 Bulletin (Sydney) 2 Feb. 21/1 Where pumpkin-beetles are active a sharp rise in the mortality of working bees follows.
2000 V. G. Gorshkov et al. Biotic Regulation of Environment ii. 47 One may speak about a population..of working ants in an anthill or working bees in a beehive.
4. Designating a craftsman or tradesman that works as an apprentice or journeyman, as opposed to a master (cf. master n.1 and adj. Compounds 1d). Also in more general use: designating an employee of a low or subordinate rank. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [adjective] > expert or on own account > not
working1656
1656 Hannam's Last Farewell to World 8 Hee hires a chamber in Bearbinder-Lane..and there kept himselfe privately and unknown pretending to be a working gold-smith.
1708 London Gaz. No. 4436/3 He is by Trade a Working-Goldsmith.
1793 Matthews's New Bristol Directory 1793–4 78 Tanner, George, Working-cutler, Maryport-street.
1839 in Orders Council Naval Service (1856) I. 478 The Working Petty Officers of the Royal Navy.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vii. 58 A working-jeweller population.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People x. §2. 747 Benjamin Franklin, who had risen from his position of a working printer in Philadelphia to high repute among scientific discoverers.
1908 Church Times 20 Mar. 374/1 Working House~keeper,..required by gentleman, to work..small house.
1917 Domest. Engin. 27 Oct. 135/1 The difference between the working or journeyman plumber and the contracting or merchant plumber should be complete.
5. Nautical. Of a sail, rig, etc.: that is used most of the time or can be used in most weather conditions.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [adjective] > used most of the time
working1802
1802 Repertory of Arts 2nd Ser. 1 326 The sail is managed without dipping, and is used chiefly as a working sail on lug-sail vessels.
1870 Hunt's Yachting Mag. June 274 The Vindex and Vanguard..shifted their balloon topsails for their working ones.
1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 450/2 Racing or working rigs.
1911 Mariner′s Mirror 1 114 A working topsail is a sail which can be carried on a wind in a fresh breeze.
1997 Classic Boat May 50/3 (caption) The area of the working sails was 614 sqft.
2004 G. O. Jones Herreshoff Sailboats iv. 63/1 They reset the working topsail, lashing the head to the topmast.
6. Serving as the basis for further work; (of a theory, hypothesis, etc.) that is sufficient for present purposes but is likely to be developed or refined later; provisional; (of a document, drawing, etc.) serving as a draft; preliminary, unfinished.Not always distinguishable from attributive uses of working n. (cf. working n. Compounds 3).
ΘΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective] > of theory: forming a basis
working1827
1827 Lancet 14 July 469/1 Having now described the parts of the foot separately, we shall attempt as concisely as possible, to explain his ideas of their combined action: his plan, his working theory.
1842 Art-union Sept. 204/1 A part of this ‘working’ outline..is now nailed to the wet wall.
1859 R. H. Hutton in National Rev. July 211 If it be only a working hypothesis, to keep us, while confined in the human, from blindly and unconsciously dashing ourselves against the laws of the divine.
1873 E. Tomkins Machine Constr. & Drawing xl. 109 It is usual to put drawings of machinery in ink, whether working or finished drawings.
1875 H. J. S. Maine Lect. Early Hist. Inst. xiii. 400 He wishes to alter..them according to a working rule gathered from his reflections.
1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 8 No one asks more of Evolution at present than permission to use it as a working theory.
1947 Gastroenterology 9 610 My working diagnosis in this case was Henoch's Purpura.
1979 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. The preliminary working documents for the Puebla conference..had to be withdrawn.
1986 N. H. Frijda Emotions i. 4 The provisional or working definition of emotional phenomena thus becomes the following: [etc.].
2011 R. S. Bradley Global Warming & Polit. Intimidation iii. 42 We considered our temperature reconstruction a ‘working hypothesis’, based on the best data we could assemble at the time.
7. Of a level of knowledge or expertise in a specified area: sufficient for the purposes of day-to-day use. Esp. in working knowledge.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > of skill: adequate
working1837
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > [adjective] > sufficient for its purpose
working1837
the mind > language > a language > using or speaking languages > [adjective] > skilled in a language or languages > of level of skill
working1837
phrasebook1898
tourist1938
1837 Papers Central Soc. Educ. 142 He may then acquire a working knowledge of mathematics which may do for the processes of astronomy or mechanics.
1885 J. S. Keltie Geogr. Educ. 48 Pupils leave school with a sound working knowledge of geography.
1927 Pop. Mech. Mar. 405/1 To get a working understanding of the law of averages for your own purposes..you begin by keeping records.
1974 ‘S. Harvester’ Forgotten Road i. 11 He had a working acquaintance with dialects of most Kafir valley tribes, even Khowar and the almost extinct Domali language.
1985 Times 21 Mar. 33/2 (advt.) A working knowledge of an additional language would be an added advantage.
2001 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 9 Aug. 11 Medical secretaries, who require particular skills in managing patients and a working knowledge of medical terminology.
II. Senses relating to action, doing, causation, or motion. † 10. Of a thing (material or immaterial): that produces a desired or intended effect; powerful, efficacious; spec. (of words or events) stirring. Obsolete.
8. As the second element in compounds: that does, causes, or produces what is expressed or implied by the first element.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [adjective] > creating, fashioning, shaping, or forming > producing
workingOE
yielding1556
producent1566
begetting1582
producing1603
emanative1651
progenerative1694
productional1899
OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 103 Si quis culpabilis per aliquid maleficium aut per herbas maleficas et diabolicas peccatum suum..detegere uoluerit : gif huoelc synnig ðerh huoelc yfeluoerc uel ðerh wyrto yfelwyrcendo & dioublica synn his..giwoeria uælle.
c1175 ( Homily (Cambr. Ii.1.33) in A. M. Luiselli Fadda Nuove Omelie Anglosassoni (1977) 149 Þar beoð..þa unrihtwise mæssepreostas mid þam unrihtwisum bisceopum, & þa unrihtwurcende munecas mid þam unrihthæmendum nunnum.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. v. sig. Q6v Outrageous anger, and woe working iarre.
1595 W. Covell Polimanteia sig. Yv Glittering hate-working gold.
1618 T. Adams Happines of Church ii. 317 A still euill-working poyson.
1650 S. Eaton Friendly Deb. on Weighty Subj. To Rdr. sig. Av Be exhorted in the fervent Love of the Love-working Spirit, to understand what you receive, and to receive what you convincingly understand.
1750 W. Shirley Edward Black Prince ii. i. 16 Do not awake..Such Tumult-working Thoughts within a Mind On Madness verging.
1767 F. Fawkes tr. Theocritus Idylliums xvii. 165 She past not Acheron's woe-working flood.
1801 C. Lucas Infernal Quixote II. 379 Amazonia followed them with unusual nimbleness, as if conscious of the peace-working effects of her parent's sceptre.
1881 N. Amer. Rev. Aug. 137 The young ones of a race in his opinion miscreated by an evil-working chance.
1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo vii. 183 Blind, havoc-working bombs.
1993 A. Higgins Lions of Grunewald xviii. 107 All the self-deluding yarns of miracle-working cures.
2005 H. L. Parish Monks, Miracles & Magic 152 A religion of clerical conjurors and magic-working saints.
9. † a. Of a person or part of the body: that does something; active. Obsolete.
Π
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer ii. f. cccxlv He..that neyther han lyfe ne soule, ne ordynaunce of werchynge lymmes.
1577 H. Bull tr. M. Luther Comm. 15 Psalmes (new ed.) 255 We reiect the working person when we come into the presence of God, and looke vnto that person which is altogither passiue.
1706 S. Clay Epist. Elector Bavaria 4 Preluding Cannons tell th'approaching Storm, And working Armies take a dreadful Form.
b. Of the brain or mind: actively engaged, energetic. Now rare.In later use coloured by sense 12.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > [adjective]
workinga1568
acting1595
performing1595
applicative1607
operative1816
a1568 R. Ascham Rep. & Disc. Affaires Germany (?1570) f. 29 He was once..geuen to drinckyng, but now he had cleane left it..and therefore had a wakyng and workyng head.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. iii. sig. C3v A woman..of so working a minde,..it was happie shee tooke a good course.
1635 Bp. F. White Treat. Sabbath-day Ep. Ded. 9 They command whatsoever their own working-heads affect.
1646 J. Whitaker Danger of Greatnesse 14 He had a working head, and a dextrous hand.
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xxviii. 476 The working-heads of the enemies of that State.
1781 Orpheus, Priest of Nature i. 11 No interruption checks his working head; A thousand schemes revolving, He essays A thousand paths.
1820 J. Keats Ode to Psyche in Lamia & Other Poems 120 A rosy sanctuary will I dress With the wreath'd trellis of a working brain.
1871 R. H. Horne Great Peace-maker (1872) 19 His working brain, His industry, his patience and resolve.
1969 M. Stanier Ruins of Time 37 I have a very working head. Never idle.
2002 A. Motion Public Prop. 57 The stricken gaze Which..masks a working brain that sees the years And years ahead.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [adjective]
frameeOE
goodeOE
mightyOE
vailanta1325
sicker1338
mightful1340
suffisant1340
virtuousa1387
effectivea1398
effectuala1398
worthya1398
availingc1420
effectuous?a1425
operant?a1425
substantialc1449
virtual?a1475
substantious1483
available1502
efficacious1528
energial1528
working1532
operatory1551
operatoriousa1555
stately1567
feckful1568
efficace?1572
shifty1585
operative1590
instrumental1601
efficable1607
speeding1612
effectuating1615
officious1618
availsome1619
prevailable1624
valid1651
perficient1659
affectuous1664
implemental1676
virtual1760
efficient1787
sufficient1831
slick1833
roadworthy1837
practician1863
positive1903
performant1977
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndales Answere i. p. lix Maye the bodyly water as well be a workynge instrument vppon the vnbodyed and vnbodyly soule.
?1536 tr. Erasmus Serm. Chylde Jesus i. sig. A.iiv Iesus Christ..whose lyuely and workynge speche is more percyng then any .ii. edged swerd.
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. B5 You see my Lord, what woorking woordes he hath.
1622 J. Taylor Shilling B 4 A gentle working Potion.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII Prol. 3 Things..Sad, high, and working, full of State and Woe. View more context for this quotation
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 15 Childish men, who have not the art to qualifie and prepare these working mineralls.
1654 E. Johnson Hist. New-Eng. 16 This was the first working providence of Christ to stir up our English Nation.
a1709 J. Lister Autobiogr. (1842) 43 Some working physic that might be likely to..remove the distemper.
1837 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 489/2 He had been at chapel, and heard a most powerful—a most working discourse from Rev. Mr A.
11. Of the sea, waves, etc.: agitated, turbulent, tossing. Chiefly poetic. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > state of sea > [adjective] > agitated
wilda1250
unpeaceablea1398
troubly1398
troubleda1425
trouble1509
working1558
disquiet1587
fretful1616
ruffled1640
fretteda1854
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos v. sig. L.iiiv Eneas on his waye this whyle with ships the seas did sheare, Amids the working waues [L. fluctusque atros] of northen wind.
1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades vii. 123 Much like the Ocean waue, Which working storme, not green, but black doth make ye colour haue.
1621 W. Mason Handf. Ess. v. 23 The billowes of the working-sea that cannot rest.
1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 clxxi. 44 On Biscay's working Bay.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xii. 265 Oars they seize, Stretch to the stroke, and brush the working seas.
1743 T. Martin Poem Late Action Dettingen 7 The working Ocean's driven to and fro.
1835 R. Browning Paracelsus ii. 50 This working sea Which parts me from that happy strip of land.
1934 D. Thomas in New Verse No. 9. 12 The dry Sargossa of the tomb Gives up its dust to such a working sea.
1996 S. King Desperation ii. ii. 250 The wind gusted hard enough to make the brick building creak like a ship in a working sea.
12. Functioning, operating; capable of operating, functional; spec. (esp. of a machine or machine part) that is set or kept in motion. Also with modifying word: that functions, operates, moves, etc., in the specified manner.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > [adjective] > in operation
workfulOE
operant?a1425
operative?a1425
inworking1587
energetical1595
afloat1604
working1609
energetic1629
active1641
energizing1751
energic1786
operating1825
functioning1835
running1842
functionating1884
functional1892
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xxi. 142 But are you flesh and bloud? Haue you a working pulse, and are no Fairie? View more context for this quotation
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια i. xvii. 29 I define an Action with Galen, a motion of the working Parts, or a motion of the Actor.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms at Vaisseau qui se manie bien A good working ship; a ship that is easily managed and steered.
1790 Act 30 Geo. III c. 21 §1 To make, erect,..Water Wheels, Fire Engines, Mills, Machinery, Working Gears,..for raising..Water from the said River Wenson.
1828 J. Levers Brit. Patent 5741 The movements of all the working parts of an ordinary Levers' machine are well understood.
1874 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 393 A continuous-working reverberatory furnace.
1888 Ophthalmic Rev. 7 38 This gentleman..had only the one working eye.
1913 Machinery May 677/1 The various working mechanisms of the machine and their relation to each other.
1950 I. Berlin in Foreign Affairs 28 373 The organization of society as a smoothly-working machine.
2002 T. Pratchett et al. Sci. of Discworld II xxviii. 314 A working time machine is still a long way off.
13. Of liquor: fermenting. Cf. work v. 6.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [adjective] > fermenting
working1645
fermenting1697
1645 Mercurius Ecclesiasticus 5 Right laid his wronged breeches doewn Upon the very self-same Cowme, wherein the working Ale was.
1675 J. Evelyn in J. Rose Eng. Vineyard 44 Some replenish their working Wines with Water only.
1706 D. Baker Hist. Job v. 105 Close-stop'd Vessels fill'd with working Wine.
1743 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer II. (ed. 2) 126 Beating or Thwacking the Yeast into working Ale or Beer.
1842 Lancet 14 May 216/1 The fermentation was complete, being also distinguished by a vinous smell, as in ordinary working liquors.
1918 Constructive Q. 6 558 Working wine..was put into leather sacks made of goatskins. No man would ever put fermenting wine into an old dried-up wine-skin.
1997 S. Robishaw Homesteading Adventures xiv. 181 You have to allow the gasses to escape from the working wine.
14. Of the face, features: moving energetically or convulsively, esp. as the result of strong emotion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > face with expression or expression > [adjective] > distorted
writhen?a1425
girning1447
mowinga1529
writhed1568
mumping1594
antic1595
frowned1598
screwed1609
sour1611
wreathed1645
fluish1674
working1717
screwed-up1728
frownful1771
grimacing1804
quirked1931
1717 T. Vernon in J. Dryden et al. tr. Ovid Metamorphoses viii. 294 He dreams of Viands delicate to eat..Chaws with his working Mouth, but chaws in vain [L. oraque vana movet].
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xi. 75 That little witch, I have been watching her eyes, and every working muscle of her saucy face.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice III. ix. iii. 118 The smile vanished at once, as her eyes met his changed and working countenance.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xi. 103 The working lip was loosened; and the tears came streaming forth.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iv. vii. 222 ‘I heard of the outrage,’ said Bradley, trying to constrain his working mouth.
1910 W. H. Osborne Running Fight xv. 225 His mouth quivered while hot tears dropped from his working face.
1992 R. E. Feist & J. Wurts Mistress of Empire (1997) 715 Spittle leaked from his working lips, and his eyes bulged.
Compounds
Some examples included here may be interpreted as attributive uses of working n. (cf. working n. Compounds 3). working majority n. a majority, in a deliberative or legislative body, which is large enough to secure the passing of measures.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > [adjective] > of a majority: sufficient
working majority1827
1827 Atlas 25 Nov. 745/2 It is believed that the influence of the Court..may so far retrieve the fortunes of the general election as to leave the Ministers a working majority in the Chamber of Deputies.
1858 Penny Cycl. 2nd Suppl. II. 495/2 With the command of a working majority of about a hundred in the House of Commons, Sir Robert Peel entered on the greatest period of his political career.
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. xxiv. 131 It was not impossible that the servants of the Crown might, by prudent management, succeed in obtaining a working majority.
1922 Good Housek. June 28/1 In order to obtain harmony we must have a working majority in Congress.
2010 B. Leaming Churchill Defiant xi. 124 Polls suggested that the Conservatives were likely to secure a working majority of thirty to forty seats.
working memory n. (a) an effective or functioning memory; (Psychology) the part of memory involved in retaining transitory information for a short period and manipulating it; short-term memory; (b) Computing a part of a computer's memory that is used by a program for the storage of intermediate results or other temporary items.
ΚΠ
1874 F. Galton Eng. Men of Sci. ii. 112 In other words, it is a capital working memory. I never tried to learn pages of poetry, &c.; in this I should probably have failed.
1902 A. M. Stewart Crown of Sci. (ed. 3) xiv. 199 Our working memory is only a fragment of what we hold in the secret recesses of our mind.
1927 Classical Jrnl. 23 17 Holding in his working memory all these items, the pupil is directed to comprehend the sentence without associating it with the vernacular.
1955 Financial Times 24 Oct. 5/6 The machine..can undertake mathematical operations at speeds which compare favourably with those taken by much larger machines..despite the fact that its working memory, where information is temporarily stored during calculations, is relatively small.
1965 Neuropsychologia 3 89 The proposal is for a ‘working memory’ rather than a recent memory, i.e. for a mechanism that pulls from permanent storage those neural patterns useful to handling current inputs.
1992 New Scientist 21 Nov. (Secret Life of Brain Suppl.) 4/3 Your conversation depends on another brand of memory: working memory, which enables us to hold fleeting material in our heads so that we can build and understand complex sentences.
2012 Observer (Nexis) 18 Mar. 21 The computer on which I'm writing this has four gigabytes (GB) of it, which is roughly 6,000 times the working memory of the original PC.
working partner n. a partner in a business who takes an active part in its management.Opposed to sleeping partner n. at sleeping adj. 5a, silent partner n. at silent adj. and n. Compounds 2, limited partner n. at limited adj. and n. Compounds.
Π
1783 Westm. Mag. Sept. 455/1 My father..has left the laborious part of the business to a working partner, and built a villa on this Common.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. iv. vii. 146 I..became the working partner in a new firm.
1852 G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes I. viii. 282 The working partner gets one third of the wool and of the increase, while the proprietary partner..follows some other profession.
1920 Oil Trade Jrnl. Mar. 143/1 A kind of partnership, including, as a sleeping partner, the British government, and as working partners the two principal British oil consolidations.
1996 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 21 May d2/4 The working partners..own about three-quarters of the firm's capital, with the limited partners holding the rest.
2005 Vanity Fair Apr. 240/2 To finance a flotation, Wasserstein told the working partners, they would have to take pay cuts.
working relationship n. the relationship between people who interact because of their work; (also) a level of cooperation sufficient to allow work to be done, progress to be made, etc.; a functional or effective relationship.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > [noun] > between persons, communities, etc. > other specific types
working relationship1866
I and Thou1937
1866 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 379/1 The working relationship between man and man.
1919 S. Huddleston Peace-making at Paris ii. 25 To make a temporary treaty which would give us a working relationship with Germany.
1996 M. Kingwell Dreams Millennium iv. 144 Most of us still lack a working relationship with the Net.
2006 Independent 13 July (Extra section) 9/2 I'd already built up a good, close, working relationship with a small group of vanilla farmers in the mountains.
working storage n. Computing a part of a computer's memory that is used by a program for the storage of intermediate results or other temporary items; working memory n. (b).
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > hardware > [noun] > memory > used during processing
working space1829
buffer1948
working storage1954
workspace1959
buffer store1962
footprint1993
1954 Computers & Automation Dec. 23/1 Working storage... Like a work~sheet in pencil and paper calculation.
1971 N. Chapin Computers xv. 445 In the operand data structures, programers commonly distinguish between constants that are not part of the program, working storage (for intermediate results and status or progress indicators), and input-output buffer areas.
1983 D. H. Sandars Computers Today v. 113 This total earnings figure is copied (instruction, 08) in address 15, which is the working storage area.
2004 Statist. Sci. 19 474 The constraints for data reduction may relax somewhat, allowing more working storage.
working title n. originally U.S. a temporary or provisional title given to a film, book, or other product or project.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > matter of book > [noun] > title > working title
working title1915
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > [noun] > working title
working title1990
1915 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Daily Republican 24 Sept. 8/5 Henry Otto is producing a three reel feature with the working title of ‘The Test’ at the Universal studios.
1940 R. Chandler Let. 27 June in D. Gardiner & K. S. Walker Raymond Chandler Speaking (1962) 211 The title of my book is not The Second Murderer. I used that for a while as a working title, but I didn't like it.
1977 G. Fisher Villain of Piece iii. 32 I was now busy turning the whole caboodle into a series of four articles... I gave it a working title: ‘My Life with Britain's Top Villain’.
1990 M & M Europe Sept. 22/2 The series, called Riviera (but with a former working title of Monte Carlo), will be aimed at young, wealthy viewers.
2004 Independent 20 Sept. (Review section) 5/5 This project—working title, Zsquared—isn't a one-off.
Derivatives
ˈworkingly adv. now rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [adverb]
welleOE
sickerly1340
effectuallya1398
speedfully1398
effectuously1424
workingly?a1425
sickerc1450
trimly?a1513
trima1547
purposely1560
operatively1601
tightly1601
virtually1604
feckfullya1614
prevailingly1615
effectively1656
efficaciously1703
efficiently1828
tellingly1832
availingly1853
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adverb] > diligently or industriously
yerneOE
laborously?a1425
laboriouslyc1487
industriously1561
eidently1567
workingly1859
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.:Wallner) iii. 139 He giffeþ a maner of coctyng wiþ þe roote of aristologie rotunde & oile, strongly y-brynned, which was not custumed to me; Neþerlez, þise bene said wirchingly [?c1425 Paris of verray worchinge; L. operabiliter].
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) V. 233 God is replenishingly every where; but most contractedly, and workingly in the Temple.
1642 J. Eaton Honey-combe Free Justific. 269 Christ..in the residue of his whole life, afterwards fulfilled the whole Law, actually, workingly and perfectly.
1859 J. C. Atkinson Walks, Talks Two Schoolboys xiv. 291 Such pretty birds..hammering away so cheerfully and workingly.
1916 Sci. Conspectus 6 36/1 Temperatures with which we are workingly familiar.
1975 D. S. Schwartz in Energy & Crisis & Proposed Alternatives: Panel Discuss. before U.S. House of Representatives Ways & Means Comm. (94 Congr., 1st Sess.) II. 1087 Let me give you some facts to empirically underpin my contentions that in the petroleum industry you do not have a workingly competitive market.
ˈworkingness n. rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [noun]
mainOE
mightOE
strengthOE
efficace?c1225
bootingc1300
effectc1390
powera1393
boota1400
efficacity1430
operationc1450
valure1483
feck1495
efficacy1527
effectualness1545
effectuousnessa1576
validity1593
effectiveness1607
workingness1611
efficaciousnessa1628
operativeness1627
efficiency1633
effectualitya1641
energy1668
availablenessa1676
availment1699
potentialness1727
affectingnessa1774
effectivity1838
efficience1865
well working1879
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Operosita, workingnesse or operation.
1989 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 21 Apr. a30/1 In the last generation, the workingness of wives has exploded... These wage-earners are entitled to the presumption that they have honestly earned their pay.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.OE
adj.OE