Work - Worm

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Coloq. To work at , to be engaged in or upon; to be employed in. -- Coloq. To work to windward (Naut.), to sail or ply against the wind; to tack to windward. Mar. Dict.
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Work (wûrk), v. t. 1. To labor or operate upon; to give exertion and effort to; to prepare for use, or to utilize, by labor.
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He could have told them of two or three gold mines, and a silver mine, and given the reason why they forbare to work them at that time. Sir W. Raleigh.
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2. To produce or form by labor; to bring forth by exertion or toil; to accomplish; to originate; to effect; as, to work wood or iron into a form desired, or into a utensil; to work cotton or wool into cloth.
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Each herb he knew, that works or good or ill. Harte.
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3. To produce by slow degrees, or as if laboriously; to bring gradually into any state by action or motion. “Sidelong he works his way.” Milton.
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So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains
Of rushing torrents and descending rains,
Works itself clear, and as it runs, refines,
Till by degrees the floating mirror shines. Addison.
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4. To influence by acting upon; to prevail upon; to manage; to lead. “Work your royal father to his ruin.” Philips.
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5. To form with a needle and thread or yarn; especially, to embroider; as, to work muslin.
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6. To set in motion or action; to direct the action of; to keep at work; to govern; to manage; as, to work a machine.
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Knowledge in building and working ships. Arbuthnot.
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Now, Marcus, thy virtue's the proof;
Put forth thy utmost strength, work every nerve. Addison.
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The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,
Where they were wont to do. Coleridge.
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7. To cause to ferment, as liquor.
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Coloq. To work a passage (Naut.), to pay for a passage by doing work. -- Coloq. To work double tides (Naut.), to perform the labor of three days in two; -- a phrase which alludes to a practice of working by the night tide as well as by the day. -- Coloq. To work in , to insert, introduce, mingle, or interweave by labor or skill. -- Coloq. To work into , to force, urge, or insinuate into; as, to work one's self into favor or confidence. -- Coloq. To work off , to remove gradually, as by labor, or a gradual process; as, beer works off impurities in fermenting. -- Coloq. To work out . (a) To effect by labor and exertion. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Phil. ii. 12. (b) To erase; to efface. [R.]
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Tears of joy for your returning spilt,
Work out and expiate our former guilt. Dryden.
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(c) To solve, as a problem. (d) To exhaust, as a mine, by working. -- Coloq. To work up . (a) To raise; to excite; to stir up; as, to work up the passions to rage.
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The sun, that rolls his chariot o'er their heads,
Works up more fire and color in their cheeks. Addison.
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(b) To expend in any work, as materials; as, they have worked up all the stock. (c) (Naut.) To make over or into something else, as yarns drawn from old rigging, made into spun yarn, foxes, sennit, and the like; also, to keep constantly at work upon needless matters, as a crew in order to punish them. R. H. Dana, Jr.
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Workable (?), a. Capable of being worked, or worth working; as, a workable mine; workable clay.
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Workaday (?), n. See .
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Workbag (?), n. A bag for holding implements or materials for work; especially, a reticule, or bag for holding needlework, and the like.
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Workbasket (?), n. A basket for holding materials for needlework, or the like.
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Workbench (?), n. A bench on which work is performed, as in a carpenter's shop.
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Workbox (?), n. A box for holding instruments or materials for work.
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Workday (?), n. & a. [AS. weorcdæg.] A day on which work is performed, as distinguished from Sunday, festivals, etc., a working day.
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Worker (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, works; a laborer; a performer; as, a worker in brass.
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Professors of holiness, but workers of iniquity. Shak.
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2. (Zoöl.) One of the neuter, or sterile, individuals of the social ants, bees, and white ants. The workers are generally females having the sexual organs imperfectly developed. See , and White ant, under .
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Workfellow (?), n. One engaged in the same work with another; a companion in work.
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Workfolk (?), n. People that labor.
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Workful (?), a. Full of work; diligent. [R.]
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Workhouse (?), n.; pl. Workhouses (#). [AS. weorchūs.]
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1. A house where any manufacture is carried on; a workshop.
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2. A house in which idle and vicious persons are confined to labor.
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3. A house where the town poor are maintained at public expense, and provided with labor; a poorhouse.
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Working, a & n. from .
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The word must cousin be to the working. Chaucer.
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Coloq. Working beam . See , n. 10. -- Coloq. Working class , the class of people who are engaged in manual labor, or are dependent upon it for support; laborers; operatives; -- chiefly used in the plural. -- Coloq. Working day . See under , n. -- Coloq. Working drawing , a drawing, as of the whole or part of a structure, machine, etc., made to a scale, and intended to be followed by the workmen. Working drawings are either general or detail drawings. -- Coloq. Working house , a house where work is performed; a workhouse. -- Coloq. Working point (Mach.), that part of a machine at which the effect required; the point where the useful work is done.
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Working-day (?), a. Pertaining to, or characteristic of, working days, or workdays; everyday; hence, plodding; hard-working.
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O, how full of briers in this working-day world. Shak.
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Workingman (?), n.; pl. Workingmen (�). A laboring man; a man who earns his daily support by manual labor.
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Workless, a. 1. Without work; not laboring; as, many people were still workless.
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2. Not carried out in practice; not exemplified in fact; as, workless faith. [Obs.] Sir T. More.
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Workman (?), n.; pl. Workmen (#). [AS. weorcmann.]
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1. A man employed in labor, whether in tillage or manufactures; a worker.
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2. Hence, especially, a skillful artificer or laborer.
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Workmanlike (?), a. Becoming a workman, especially a skillful one; skillful; well performed.
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Workmanly, a. Becoming a skillful workman; skillful; well performed; workmanlike.
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Workmanly, adv. In a skillful manner; in a manner becoming a skillful workman. Shak.
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Workmanship, n. 1. The art or skill of a workman; the execution or manner of making anything.
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Due reward
For her praiseworthy workmanship to yield. Spenser.
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Beauty is nature's brag, and must be shown . . .
Where most may wonder at the workmanship. Milton.
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2. That which is effected, made, or produced; manufacture, something made by manual labor.
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Not any skilled in workmanship embossed. Spenser.
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By how much Adam exceeded all men in perfection, by being the immediate workmanship of God. Sir W. Raleigh.
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Workmaster (?), n. The performer of any work; a master workman. [R.] Spenser.
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Workmen's compensation act. (Law) A statute fixing the compensation that a workman may recover from an employer in case of accident, esp. the British act of 6 Edw. VII. c. 58 (1906) giving to a workman, except in certain cases of “serious and willful misconduct,” a right against his employer to a certain compensation on the mere occurrence of an accident where the common law gives the right only for negligence of the employer.
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Workroom (?), n. Any room or apartment used especially for labor.
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Workship, n. Workmanship. [R.]
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Workshop (?), n. A shop where any manufacture or handiwork is carried on.
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Worktable (?), n. A table for holding working materials and implements; esp., a small table with drawers and other conveniences for needlework, etc.
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{ Workways (?), Workwise (?) }, adv. In a working position or manner; as, a T rail placed workwise, i.e., resting on its base.
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Workwoman (?), n.; pl. Workwomen (�), n. A woman who performs any work; especially, a woman skilled in needlework.
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Workyday (?), n. [See , .] A week day or working day, as distinguished from Sunday or a holiday. Also used adjectively. [Written also workiday, and workaday.] [Obs. or Colloq.]
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Prithee, tell her but a workyday fortune. Shak.
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World (?), n. [OE. world, werld, weorld, weoreld, AS. weorold, worold; akin to OS. werold, D. wereld, OHG. weralt, worolt, werolt, werlt, G. welt, Icel. veröld, Sw. verld, Dan. verden; properly, the age of man, lifetime, humanity; AS. wer a man + a word akin to E. old; cf. AS. yld lifetime, age, ylde men, humanity. Cf. , .]
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1. The earth and the surrounding heavens; the creation; the system of created things; existent creation; the universe.
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The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. Rom. 1. 20.
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With desire to know,
What nearer might concern him, how this world
Of heaven and earth conspicuous first began. Milton.
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2. Any planet or heavenly body, especially when considered as inhabited, and as the scene of interests analogous with human interests; as, a plurality of worlds. “Lord of the worlds above.” I. Watts.
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Amongst innumerable stars, that shone
Star distant, but high-hand seemed other worlds. Milton.
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There may be other worlds, where the inhabitants have never violated their allegiance to their almighty Sovereign. W. B. Sprague.
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3. The earth and its inhabitants, with their concerns; the sum of human affairs and interests.
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That forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe. Milton.
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4. In a more restricted sense, that part of the earth and its concerns which is known to any one, or contemplated by any one; a division of the globe, or of its inhabitants; human affairs as seen from a certain position, or from a given point of view; also, state of existence; scene of life and action; as, the Old World; the New World; the religious world; the Catholic world; the upper world; the future world; the heathen world.
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One of the greatest in the Christian world
Shall be my surety. Shak.
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Murmuring that now they must be put to make war beyond the world's end -- for so they counted Britain. Milton.
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5. The customs, practices, and interests of men; general affairs of life; human society; public affairs and occupations; as, a knowledge of the world.
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Happy is she that from the world retires. Waller.
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If knowledge of the world makes man perfidious,
May Juba ever live in ignorance. Addison.
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6. Individual experience of, or concern with, life; course of life; sum of the affairs which affect the individual; as, to begin the world with no property; to lose all, and begin the world anew.
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7. The inhabitants of the earth; the human race; people in general; the public; mankind.
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Since I do purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any purpose that the world can say against it. Shak.
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Tell me, wench, how will the world repute me
For undertaking so unstaid a journey? Shak.
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8. The earth and its affairs as distinguished from heaven; concerns of this life as distinguished from those of the life to come; the present existence and its interests; hence, secular affairs; engrossment or absorption in the affairs of this life; worldly corruption; the ungodly or wicked part of mankind.
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I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. John xvii. 9.
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Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John ii. 15, 16.
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9. As an emblem of immensity, a great multitude or quantity; a large number. “A world of men.” Chapman. “A world of blossoms for the bee.” Bryant.
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Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company. Shak.
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A world of woes dispatched in little space. Dryden.
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Coloq. All . . . in the world , all that exists; all that is possible; as, all the precaution in the world would not save him. -- Coloq. A world to see , a wonder to see; something admirable or surprising to see. [Obs.]
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O, you are novices; 't is a world to see
How tame, when men and women are alone,
A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew. Shak.
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-- Coloq. For all the world . (a) Precisely; exactly. (b) For any consideration. -- Coloq. Seven wonders of the world . See in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. -- Coloq. To go to the world , to be married. [Obs.] “Thus goes every one to the world but I . . . ; I may sit in a corner and cry heighho for a husband!” Shak. -- Coloq. World's end , the end, or most distant part, of the world; the remotest regions. -- Coloq. World without end , eternally; forever; everlastingly; as if in a state of existence having no end.
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Throughout all ages, world without end. Eph. iii. 21.
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Worldliness (?), n. The quality of being worldly; a predominant passion for obtaining the good things of this life; covetousness; addictedness to gain and temporal enjoyments; worldly-mindedness.
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Worldling (?), [World + -ling.] A person whose soul is set upon gaining temporal possessions; one devoted to this world and its enjoyments.
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A foutre for the world and worldlings base. Shak.
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If we consider the expectations of futurity, the worldling gives up the argument. Rogers.
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And worldlings blot the temple's gold. Keble.
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Worldly, a. [AS. woroldlic.]
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1. Relating to the world; human; common; as, worldly maxims; worldly actions. “I thus neglecting worldly ends.” Shak.
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Many years it hath continued, standing by no other worldly mean but that one only hand which erected it. Hooker.
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2. Pertaining to this world or life, in contradistinction from the life to come; secular; temporal; devoted to this life and its enjoyments; bent on gain; as, worldly pleasures, affections, honor, lusts, men.
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With his soul fled all my worldly solace. Shak.
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3. Lay, as opposed to clerical. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Worldly, adv. With relation to this life; in a worldly manner.
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Subverting worldly strong and worldly wise
By simply meek. Milton.
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Worldly-minded (?), a. Devoted to worldly interests; mindful of the affairs of the present life, and forgetful of those of the future; loving and pursuing this world's goods, to the exclusion of piety and attention to spiritual concerns. -- Worldlymindedness, n.
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Worldly-wise (?), a. Wise in regard to things of this world. Bunyan.
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World-wide (?), a. Extended throughout the world; as, world-wide fame. Tennyson.
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world-wide web (?), n. The collective total of all computer installations that are connected to the internet and provide access to other computers connected to the internet, using , to computer files called web pages, which may have text, graphics, audio or animated video data, as well as pages which may provide data or information in all those forms.
Syn. -- Web, the web, WWW.
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Worm (wûrm), n. [OE. worm, wurm, AS. wyrm; akin to D. worm, OS. & G. wurm, Icel. ormr, Sw. & Dan. orm, Goth. waúrms, L. vermis, Gr. � a wood worm. Cf. , , .]
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1. A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like. [Archaic]
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There came a viper out of the heat, and leapt on his hand. When the men of the country saw the worm hang on his hand, they said, This man must needs be a murderer. Tyndale (Acts xxviii. 3, 4).
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'T is slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile. Shak.
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When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm,
His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks. Longfellow.
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2. Any small creeping animal or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals; as, an earthworm; the blindworm. Specifically: (Zoöl.) (a) Any helminth; an entozoön. (b) Any annelid. (c) An insect larva. (d) pl. Same as .
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3. An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse.
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The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul! Shak.
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4. A being debased and despised.
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I am a worm, and no man. Ps. xxii. 6.
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5. Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm; as: (a) The thread of a screw.
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The threads of screws, when bigger than can be made in screw plates, are called worms. Moxon.
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(b) A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms. (c) (Anat.) A certain muscular band in the tongue of some animals, as the dog; the lytta. See . (d) The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to economize space. See Illust. of . (e) (Mach.) A short revolving screw, the threads of which drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel by gearing into its teeth or cogs. See Illust. of Worm gearing, below.
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Coloq. Worm abscess (Med.), an abscess produced by the irritation resulting from the lodgment of a worm in some part of the body. -- Coloq. Worm fence . See under . -- Coloq. Worm gear . (Mach.) (a) A worm wheel. (b) Worm gearing. -- Coloq. Worm gearing , gearing consisting of a worm and worm wheel working together. -- Coloq. Worm grass . (Bot.) (a) See , 2 (a). (b) The white stonecrop (Sedum album) reputed to have qualities as a vermifuge. Dr. Prior. -- Coloq. Worm oil (Med.), an anthelmintic consisting of oil obtained from the seeds of Chenopodium anthelminticum. -- Coloq. Worm powder (Med.), an anthelmintic powder. -- Coloq. Worm snake . (Zoöl.) See Thunder snake (b), under . -- Coloq. Worm tea (Med.), an anthelmintic tea or tisane. -- Coloq. Worm tincture (Med.), a tincture prepared from dried earthworms, oil of tartar, spirit of wine, etc. [Obs.] -- Coloq. Worm wheel , a cogwheel having teeth formed to fit into the spiral spaces of a screw called a worm, so that the wheel may be turned by, or may turn, the worm; -- called also worm gear, and sometimes tangent wheel. See Illust. of Worm gearing, above.
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