Word.ws English Dictionary

worked the oracle

worked the oracle is the simple past and past participle of work the oracle.

Meaning of work the oracle

Verb

work the oracle (third-person singular simple present works the oracle, present participle working the oracle, simple past and past participle worked the oracle)

  1. (UK, slang) To fabricate a suspect's verbal statement.
    • Holdaway reports that procedural rules are often considered irrelevant by the British police as they go about their daily duties. The occupational culture of the British police condones the use of “verbals” or “working the oracle.”2006, Thomas Barker, Police Ethics: Crisis in Law Enforcement, page 90
  2. (dated, informal) To manipulate circumstances to one's personal advantage.
    • You've thought there were some high souls that didn't do it—that wouldn't, I mean, to work the oracle, lift a little finger of their own. But, Lord bless you, give them a chance—you'll find some of the greatest the greediest.1901, Henry James, The Papers

Questions about worked the oracle

What is worked the oracle the simple past and past participle of?
Worked the oracle is the simple past and past participle of work the oracle.

Words near worked the oracle in the dictionary

  1. worked the bar
  2. worked the crowd
  3. worked the hole
  4. worked the hyphens
  5. worked the line
  6. worked the oracle
  7. worked the refs
  8. worked the room
  9. worked the system
  10. worked through
  11. worked to rule

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: worked the oracle (page history and authors); work the oracle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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