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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

work out en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /ˌwɜːk ˈaʊt/ (UK)
  • /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ (US)
  • (US) audio

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To calculate.
    • Can you work out how to get to the university by car?
    • You don't have to be Einstein to work out that this level of government subsidy is unsustainable. 2022 January 12, Sir Michael Holden, “Reform of the workforce or death by a thousand cuts?”, in RAIL, number 948, page 22:
    • Can you work out 250 × 12 in your head for me?
  2. (transitive) To make sense of.
    • I can't work these instructions out.
  3. (transitive) To decide.
    • I can't work out if I like him or not.
  4. (transitive) To bring about or cause to happen by work or effort.
    • Near-synonyms: hash out, hammer out
    • "Ah! if man would but see that hope is from within and not from without - that he himself must work out his own salvation!" 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
    • I think we can work out a compromise.
  5. (transitive) To resolve; to find a solution for.
    • Trump hinted that Britain might be spared tariffs, saying: “I think that one can be worked out”. 2025 February 3, Tom Phillips, Richard Partington, quoting Donald Trump, “Trump agrees to pause Mexico tariffs as shares tumble over trade war fears”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
    • Near-synonyms: straighten out, sort out
    • They managed to work out their differences.
  6. (transitive) To develop or devise in detail; to elaborate.
    • Near-synonyms: plan out, lay out
    • to work out a plan
  7. (transitive) To smooth or perfect.
    • Near-synonyms: iron out, smooth out
    • This is a beta version; we're still working out the kinks.
  8. (intransitive) To conclude with the correct solution.
    • Near-synonym: add up
    • These figures just don't work out.
  9. (intransitive) To succeed; to result in a satisfactory situation.
    • Near-synonym: pan out
    • As everyone knows, almost all booked passenger and freight trains are diagrammed into rosters for engines and men, and in an operating Utopia everything would work out daily according to plan. 1962 August, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic control on the Great Northern Line”, in Modern Railways, page 131:
    • Are you still seeing John? – No, it didn't work out.
  10. (intransitive) To exercise, especially by lifting weights.
    • John won't be here for a while because he's working out.
    • Alright, here we go! / Five, four, three, two, and one / Are you ready to work out? 2018, “She Works Out Too Much”, in Little Dark Age, performed by MGMT:
    • Wow, you're looking good! Do you work out?
  11. (transitive) To strengthen a part of one’s body by exercise.
    • Hot, worked-out body and a creative mind possessed by this hunky, handsome, married guy. 1990 December 9, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 12:
    • To work out your core
  12. (US, intransitive) To earn a wage working away from one's farm.
    • The two Russians made good farmhands, and in summer they worked out together. 1918, Willa Cather, chapter 5, in My Ántonia, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 38:
    • […] with them good wages, maybe a fella can get hisself a little piece a land an’ work out for extra cash. 1939, John Steinbeck, chapter 13, in The Grapes of Wrath, New York: Viking, published 1958, page 201:
  13. (intransitive, transitive) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see work, out.
    • He works out of a small office shared with three others.
    • Using some tweezers, he worked the bee sting out of his hand.
  14. To remove all the mineral that can be profitably exploited.
    • A worked-out chalk pit or quarry
    • The gravel pit had been worked out.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
working out Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
works out Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
worked out Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
worked out Tense=Past lexicographic

Coordinates

peter out

Deriveds

work it out on the remix

Relateds

exercise · workout

Synonyms

unravel · tease out · choose up · solve · hash out · judge · decide · take a decision · work out · hammer out · iron out · plan out · upsolve · riddle · Any from Thesaurus:untangle · meliorate · iron out · unriddle · make a decision · think out · resolve · lay out · judge · add up · puzzle out · pan out · decipher · sleuth · straighten out · sort out · think out · determine · reason out · get to the bottom of · figure out · resolve · smooth out · ravel · work out · reason out · determine · posken · absolve · puzzle out · make up one's mind · unpuzzle · find · unsolve · sort out

Translations (118)

ru преуспеть (to succeed) · sv fungera (to succeed) · ro face exerciții (to exercise) · ru разраба́тывать (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · da udarbejde (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · ro pune la punct (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · cs vypočítat (to calculate) · sv räkna ut (to calculate) · ru вычисля́ть (to calculate) · ro soluționa (to conclude with the correct solution) · pl obliczyć (to calculate) · de Erfolg haben (to succeed) · ru поня́ть (to make sense of) · pt funcionar (to succeed) · lt paskaičiuoti (to calculate) · uk ви́йти (to succeed) · de ausrechnen (to calculate) · pt ter êxito (to succeed) · uk вихо́дити (to succeed) · pt exercitar-se (to exercise) · ro pricepe (to make sense of) · fr élaborer (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · it elaborare (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · tr egzersiz yapmak (to exercise) · ru рассчи́тывать (to calculate) · ro lămuri (to conclude with the correct solution) · es salir / terminar bien (to succeed) · fi tajuta (to make sense of) · sv få rätsida på (to make sense of) · el γυμνάζομαι (to exercise) · pl ćwiczyć (to exercise) · hu sikerül (to succeed) · ru получа́ться (to succeed) · es surgir (to succeed) · fr s'entraîner (to exercise) · sv räkna ut (to make sense of) · es cuajar (to succeed) · cmn 算出 (to calculate) · pt dar certo (to succeed) · tr spor yapmak (to exercise) · it funzionare (to succeed) · mk испаѓа (to conclude with the correct solution) · mk сфаќа (to make sense of) · he התעמל (to exercise) · mk успева (to succeed) · sv gå ut (to conclude with the correct solution) · pl obliczać (to calculate) · fi laskea (to calculate) · nl uitwerken (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · mk разбира (to make sense of) · mk вежба (to exercise) · ro clarifica (to conclude with the correct solution) · ro merge (to succeed) · ro rezolva (to conclude with the correct solution) · fi toimia (to succeed) · id olahraga (to exercise) · it allenarsi (to exercise) · ru рассчита́ть (to calculate) · sv beräkna (to calculate) · fi treenata (to exercise) · ru тренироваться (to exercise) · hu megold (to conclude with the correct solution) · hu összejön (to succeed) · de trainieren (to exercise) · sv träna (to exercise) · sv stämma (to conclude with the correct solution) · nl uitrekenen (to calculate) · tr çözmek (to conclude with the correct solution) · ru разрабо́тать (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · vi tập thể dục (to exercise) · ro funcționa (to succeed) · hu rájön (to conclude with the correct solution) · hu kidolgoz (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · cmn 锻炼 (to exercise) · cmn 計算 /计算 (to calculate) · hu megy (to succeed) · mk испаѓа (to succeed) · ru понима́ть (to make sense of) · ro detalia (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · hu kikövetkeztet (to make sense of) · mk пресметува (to calculate) · de gelingen (to succeed) · sv gå ihop (to conclude with the correct solution) · uk розроби́ти (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · ro desluși (to make sense of) · hu gyúr (to exercise) · cmn 解釋 /解释 (to make sense of) · ro determina (to calculate) · sv utarbeta (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · hu edz (to exercise) · hu kiszámol (to calculate) · fi täsmätä (to conclude with the correct solution) · hu ráeszmél (to make sense of) · hu kidolgoz (to exercise) · ro calcula (to calculate) · hu rájön (to make sense of) · mk излегува (to conclude with the correct solution) · ro socoti (to calculate) · ro elabora (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · ro dezvolta (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · ro face sport (to exercise) · ro antrena (to exercise) · ro înțelege (to make sense of) · ru упражняться (to exercise) · az alınmaq (to succeed) · pt malhar (to exercise) · cs rozpracovat (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · cmn 理解 (to make sense of) · eo ekzerci (to exercise) · pt calcular (to calculate) · de ausarbeiten (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · ro ieși bine (to succeed) · ru вы́числить (to calculate) · tr idman yapmak (to exercise) · id berhasil (to succeed) · fr calculer (to calculate) · uk розробля́ти (to develop or devise in detail — see also elaborate) · km ហាត់ប្រាណ (to exercise)