working

English Online Dictionary. What means working‎? What does working mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːkɪŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝkɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kɪŋ
• Hyphenation: work‧ing

Etymology 1

From Middle English werking, werkynge, warkynge, worchinge, from Old English wyrċing (“working”), verbal noun of wyrċan (“to work”), equivalent to work +‎ -ing. Cognate with Scots wirking, warking, Dutch werking, German Wirkung.

Noun

working (countable and uncountable, plural workings)

1. (usually in the plural) Operation; action.
2. Method of operation.
3. (arithmetic) The incidental or subsidiary calculations performed in solving an overall problem.

4. Fermentation.
5. (of bodies of water) Becoming full of a vegetable substance.
6. A place where work is carried on.

7. (countable) A train movement.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English workyng, wirkynge, worchinge, werchinge, workinde, wirkand, worchende, wurchende, from Old English wyrċende, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), equivalent to work +‎ -ing. Compare Scots wirkand, werkand, warkand (“working”), Dutch werkend (“working, acting”), German wirkend (“acting, working”).

Verb

working

1. present participle and gerund of work

Adjective

working (not comparable)

1. That is or are functioning.

2. That suffices but requires additional work; provisional.

3. In paid employment.

4. Of or relating to employment.

5. Enough to allow one to use something.

   a working knowledge of computers

6. Used in real life; practical.

7. (obsolete) Efficacious.

Synonyms

• (functioning):: functioning; up (mainly used of computers):
• (that suffices but requires further work):: draft, provisional, temporary
• (in paid employment):: employed, in employment
• (of or relating to employment):: work
• (enough to allow one to use something):: basic

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “functioning”):: broken, broken-down, down (antonym(s) of “mainly used of computers”):

Hyponyms

• known-working

Derived terms

Translations

Related terms

• work

References

• “working”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “working”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.