Word.ws English Dictionary

working

Syllables: work·ingUK/ˈwɜːkɪŋ//ˈwɝkɪŋ/

working noun: operation; action. Also the present participle and gerund of work.

Noun

working (countable and uncountable, plural workings)

  1. (plural-normally) Operation; action.
  2. Method of operation.
  3. The incidental or subsidiary calculations performed in solving an overall problem.
    • Be sure to check your working.
  4. Fermentation.
  5. Becoming full of a vegetable substance.
  6. A place where work is carried on.
    • the abandoned mine workings
  7. (countable) A train movement.
    • From time to time the coaches of the Lötschberg Railway itself, which in comfort and décor can rank with the finest in Europe today, travel far from the frontiers of Switzerland on through workings such as these.1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743

Adjective

working (not comparable)

  1. That is or are functioning.
    • a working ventilator
    Synonyms:
    functioning
  2. That suffices but requires additional work; provisional.
    • a working copy of the script
    • a working title
    Synonyms:
    draft
  3. In paid employment.
    • Working mothers have recently joined the factory's workforce.
    Synonyms:
    employed
  4. Of or relating to employment.
    • the working week
    Synonyms:
    work
  5. Enough to allow one to use something.
    • have a working knowledge of computers
    Synonyms:
    basic
  6. Used in real life; practical.
    • The working minimum focus distance is the distance from the closest focusable subject to the lens.
  7. (obsolete) Efficacious.
    • You ſee my Lord, what woorking woordes hee hath.
      But when you ſee his actions ſtop ^([sic – meaning top]) his ſpeech,
      Your ſpeech will ſtay, or ſo extol his worth,
      As I ſhalbe commended and excuſde
      For turning my poore charge to his direction.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...

Proper noun capitalized: Working

Working (plural Workings)

  1. A surname from German.

Also used as

working is also the present participle and gerund of work.

working meaning in Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada

working in Bengali

কাজ করছেন

working in Telugu

పనిచేయడం, పని చేయడం, పని చెయ్యడం

working in Malayalam

ജോലി ചെയ്യുന്നു, പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്നു, ജോലിചെയ്യുന്നു

working in Kannada

ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ
More languagesFewer languages
working in Odia
କାର୍ଯ୍ଯ଼ କରୁଛି, କାମ କରୁଅଛି
working in Nepali
काम गर्दै

Examples of working in a sentence

  • I've discovered why the TV wasn't working – the plug wasn't in!
  • I'm working in the morning, so let's meet in the afternoon.
  • There was an army of construction cranes working on building the skyscraper.

All 40 example sentences with working

Synonyms of working

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of working

Forms of working

Noun
pluralworkings
Proper noun
pluralWorkings

Plural of working: workings

Origin of working

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.

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”).

Probably an Americanized form of German Werking.

Words formed from working

Phrases with working

79 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with working

Questions about working

What does working mean?
Working means operation; action.
What is working in Bengali?
Working in Bengali is কাজ করছেন. See Working meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is working?
Working can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce working?
Working is pronounced /ˈwɜːkɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of working?
The plural of working is workings.

Words near working in the dictionary

  1. workie
  2. workier
  3. workies
  4. workiest
  5. workin'
  6. working
  7. working alive
  8. working animal
  9. working animals
  10. working around
  11. working at

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: working (page history and authors); Working (page history and authors); working (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); working (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); working (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); working (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); working (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); working (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-working.ogg.

Cite this entry: “working.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/working. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.