ADJ.

hard
It's hard work trying to get him to do a few things for himself. It doesn't require skill?
it's a matter of sheer hard work.
| arduous, back-breaking, challenging, complicated, demanding, difficult,
gruelling, intensive, labour-intensive, tiring, tough
The show is the product of two years' intensive work.
| rewarding | heavy
They employ a couple of young men to do the heavy work.
| donkey
I did the donkey work (= hard work requiring little skill) but I hired a professional
builder for the tricky bits.
| light
She's only allowed to do a little light work because of her bad arm.
| easy | close
I need to wear glasses for close work.
| physical | delicate | dangerous | dirty
Engine maintenance is dirty work. (figurative) The drugs gang used children to do their
dirty work for them.
| humdrum, monotonous, repetitive, tedious | fascinating, interesting | purposeful
Many unemployed people welcome the chance to do purposeful work, even if unpaid.
| valuable
The research institute needs funds in order to carry on its valuable work.
| paid, unpaid | professional | men's, women's
They think that looking after children is women's work.
| intellectual, mental | creative, imaginative | practical fieldwork paperwork|
investigative | undercover
(see also , ) The scandal was revealed after months of undercover work by journalists.
| leg legwork)
(also Her job as a market researcher involves a lot of legwork (= walking around to
collect information).
| course coursework| written
(also ) His written work is the best in the class.
| individual | group | project | collaborative, joint
classroom activities involving collaborative work between children The report is the
joint work of an economist and a sociologist.
| remedial
The poorly designed bridge needs remedial work to make it safe.
| background, preliminary, preparatory | follow-up | honest
He preferred to make his money from honest work rather than from gambling.
| good, nice
(informal),
outstanding, sterling
Nice work, James! I'm impressed.

In accepting the award, she mentioned the sterling work of her assistants.

| careful, meticulous, painstaking | poor, shoddy, sloppy | charitable, humanitarian

| community, youth | ground-breaking, innovative, pioneering
He did pioneering work on microbes. |
experimental | academic, commercial, educational, environmental, scientific |
building, construction | your own
Is this all your own work (= did you do it without help from others)?

QUANT.

bit, piece
It was an interesting piece of work.

VERB + WORK

carry out, do, put in

All the construction work was carried out in 2001. I've got lots of work to do today.
She's put in a lot of work on the design.
| get done, have done
I think I'd better try and get some work done. We're going to have some building work
done on the house.
| produce
Work produced on a word processor tends to look more professional.
| get, have
We get far too much work at this time of year.
| take on, undertake
I've taken on more work than I've got time to do.
| create, make
Big football matches make a lot of work for the police.
| begin, commence, get down to, set about/to, start
They began work on the project towards the end of the year. Stop talking and get down
to work. We set to work on the outside of the house (= for example, painting it).
| go about
She went cheerfully about her work.
| carry on, continue | complete, finish | halt, hold up, stop
Work on the project was halted.
| lose
They lost the work to a competitor.
| undo
The new president spent the first year undoing the work of his predecessor.
| oversee, supervise
The assistant
| set sb to
She set them to work painting the fence.
| require
To carry out accurate market research requires a huge amount of work.
| hand in
We're supposed to hand in this work tomorrow.

WORK + VERB

come
The work comes in bursts according to the time of year.
| wait
That work can wait until tomorrow.
| go
How's the work going this morning?
| involve sth
What does the work involve?
| begin, start | continue, go on | come to a standstill
Work came to a complete standstill when rumours of redundancies started to circulate.
| cost
How much will the work cost?

WORK + NOUN

ethic | rate
Her boss told her she had to increase her work rate.
| programme, schedule | surface
Work surfaces should be left clear and clean.

PREP.

at ~
He's been hard at work all morning.
| ~ on
I have to do some work on the engine before it'll be ready to drive.
| ~ with
She's done a lot of work with disadvantaged children.

PHRASES

a backlog of work
It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.
| keep up the good work
The hotel manager thanked the staff for their efforts so far and told them to keep up the
good work.
| your life's work
The art collection was his life's work.
| make light/short work of sth
(= to do sth quickly and easily) Mike made short work of fixing the engine.
| never/not a stroke of work
She never does a stroke of work.
| pressure of work
Pressure of work forced him to cancel his holiday.
| work in progress
The showroom has been designed so that people can see work in progress.
2
job

ADJ.
lucrative, well paid | badly paid | full-time, part-time | permanent | temporary |
regular, steady
He hasn't been in regular work since he left school.
| casual
In the college vacations he does casual work in the local hospital.
| freelance | voluntary | skilled | semi-skilled | unskilled | manual | indoor, outdoor |
daily, day-to-day, everyday, routine
People went about their daily work despite the war. Ambulance crews alternate
between emergency and routine work.
| piece
It's piece work, so how much you earn depends on how fast you can work.
| administrative, clerical, office, secretarial | managerial | domestic | social |
research | agricultural, farm | building | nice
(humorous) A hundred grand for two days a week? Nice work if you can get it!

VERB + WORK

have
He's got a bit of freelance work at the moment.
| look for
He got made redundant, so now he's looking for work again.
| find, get
Full-time work is hard to find.
| go to
I go to work on the bus.
| go out to
Some mothers of young children choose not to go out to work.
| start | finish, knock off
What time do you finish work?
| stop
She stops work at the end of this month.
| give up
Just before he was sixty, he decided to give up work.
| go back to, return to
She has just returned to work after the birth of her child.
| coordinate
Sales reps meet up monthly to coordinate their work.

WORK + VERB

go
Work's going well at the moment.
| start
What time does work start in the morning?
| finish

WORK + NOUN

hours
Employees must not make personal calls in work hours.
| place workplace| area, environment, room workroom| station workstation| roster,
schedule | experience
(also ) (also ) (also ) He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering
firm.
| permit | incentive
High income tax can undermine work incentives.
| practice
An independent report has described some work practices in the industry as old-
fashioned.

PREP.

at ~
‘Where's Diane?’ ‘She's at work.’ We had a party at work.
| in (your) ~
With so much unemployment, I'm lucky to be in work. It's important to be happy in your
work.
| off ~
She's been off work with a bad back since July.
| out of ~
He's been out of work since the factory closed.
| through ~
I met him through work.

PHRASES

a line of work
‘What line of work are you in?’ ‘Computing.’
| a place of work
3
book/music/art

ADJ.

classic, fine, great | definitive, seminal

Her book is still considered the definitive work on beetles.
| influential | erudite, scholarly | ambitious | literary | dramatic | critical |
autobiographical, biographical | artistic | art artwork)
(also The artwork in the book is superb.
| abstract, figurative, graphic | choral, orchestral, piano | collected, complete
the collected works of Stephen King
| early | late, mature
Picasso's mature works

QUANT.

series | collection, exhibition

VERB + WORK
compose, produce, write
Beethoven composed his greatest works towards the end of his life.
| commission | perform, play | hear, read, see
Her work can be seen in most of the major European galleries.
| conduct, direct, edit, produce, publish, put on
Over the next two years, the theatre is putting on the complete works of Brecht.
| display, exhibit, show
The town hall is exhibiting works by local artists.

WORK + VERB

be called sth, be entitled sth

a work entitled ‘Forward Pass’

PREP.

in a/the ~
She's studying the theme of death in the works of Beckett.
| ~ by
a work by an unknown eighteenth century writer

PHRASES

an exhibition of sb's work

The gallery is staging a special exhibition of Monet's early works.
| a work of art/fiction/literature
The building is hated by some and considered a work of art by others. (humorous) They
discovered that his CV was a complete work of fiction.
| a work of genius
Her latest novel is a work of genius.
More information about ART WORKS
4
(also

works
) building/repairing

ADJ.

extensive, major | road roadworks| maintenance, repair, restoration | demolition

(also )

VERB + WORK

carry out
We are planning to carry out major works on the site.
| plan | announce

WORK + VERB
continue, go on
The works will continue until the end of July.

PREP.

at the ~
A contraflow is in operation at the works near Junction 5.
5
works: factory

VERB + WORK

open | close (down), shut down

WORK + VERB

turn sth out

The works at Bury turned out thousands of television sets a week.
| open | close (down)

WORK + NOUN

foreman, manager, supervisor | canteen

PREP.

at the ~
the night shift at the works