Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

works en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (US) audio
  • /wɝks/ (General-American)
  • /wɜːks/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Meanings

  1. A factory or factories, or a similar collection(s) of industrial facilities.
    • The steel works almost fills the valley.
    • In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
  2. (form-of, plural) plural of work in its countable senses
  3. (plural, plural-only) A mechanism or machinery; the means by which something happens.
    • Something clicked in his throat, as if he had works in him like a clock, and was going to strike. 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter III, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 37:
    • Aged and degraded oil and grease can really gum up the works.
  4. (plural, plural-only, with-definite-article) Everything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food.
    • I'll have a Behemoth Burger with the works.
    • My my they wanted the works, can you this and that / I never got a letter back 1974, Brian Eno, “Dead Finks Don't Talk”, in Here Come the Warm Jets:
    • You like this? Limousine, champagne, the works. I'd get you on MTV, a national tour. Sponsorship. You name it. 1985, Ralph Farquhar, Krush Groove, spoken by Terri Beiker (Charles Stettler):
  5. (plural, plural-only, with-definite-article) Drastic treatment; abuse; the axe (dismissal).
    • "Why don't we pull him in on tax evasion or misuse of the mails or parkin' in front of a hydrant or sumpn? Take him down to the Tombs and give 'em the works? If the Feds won't do it, we'd be glad to oblige." 1954, Ian Fleming, “The Big Switchboard”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 36:
    • It's not, really, but I didn't want consolation. I wanted the works, and I got it, too. 1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 161:
    • Why did Constantinople get the works? 1953, “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)”, Jimmy Kennedy (lyrics):
  6. (plural, plural-only, slang) A heroin or other drug addict's equipment: syringes, needles, etc.
    • While in San Francisco, where the AIDS crisis was particularly devastating, they saw numerous public awareness signs reading “Bleach Your Works” posted around the city, urging IV drug users to clean their needles with bleach to help staunch the spread of the disease. 2009, Gillian G. Gaar, The Rough Guide to Nirvana, Rough Guides UK, →ISBN:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
works Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

works team · Stoke Works · wrench in the works · works righteousness · gum up the works · works councillor · clerk of the works · works council · spanner in the works · clerk of works · spanner in the works (mechanism or machinery) · works agreement

Hyponyms

ironworks · bleachworks · freezing works · false works · glassworks · brassworks · chainworks · paperworks · soapworks · railworks · good works · smelting works · cokeworks · brickworks · coalworks · headworks · tanworks · enamelworks · leatherworks · wagonworks · zincworks · meatworks · softworks · copperworks · battleworks · deadworks · printworks · skunkworks · streamworks · tileworks · saltworks · iceworks · tryworks · semi-works · loomworks · bronzeworks · limeworks · potworks · gas works · gasworks · steelworks · upperworks · waterworks · gunworks · dyeworks · monkey wrench in the works · cement works · fishworks · laceworks · public works · silkworks · oilworks · candleworks · engineering works · pinworks · woolworks · metalworks

Relateds

wrought · worked

Synonyms

the whole bang shoot · everything but the galley stove · everything under the sun · everytang · whole hog · whole package · the works · whole shebang · everything but the kitchen sink · whole enchilada · whole shooting match · all the marbles · bag and baggage · line and sinker · kit and caboodle · whole shitting match · whole ball of wax · the whole nine yards · whole smash · stock and barrel · hook · lock · whole kit and caboodle · full monty

Translations (33)

hu az egész (everything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food) · pl zakład (a factory) · hu -mű (a factory) · hu üzem (a factory) · mi wharemahi (a factory) · nl daden (an act associated with moral or religious standing) · pl prace (plural form of work (in its countable senses)) · hu hóbelevanc (everything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food) · hu telep (a factory) · hu óramű (a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens) · fi kone (a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens) · bg механизъм (a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens) · hu óraszerkezet (a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens) · hu gépezet (a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens) · pl fabryka (a factory) · et tehas (a factory) · hu munkálatok (plural form of work (in its countable senses)) · hu művek (a factory) · nl werken (plural form of work (in its countable senses)) · bg фабрика (a factory) · hu mindenség (everything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food) · io labori (plural form of work (in its countable senses)) · hu miskulancia (everything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food) · bg завод (a factory) · hu komplett (everything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food) · hu munkák (plural form of work (in its countable senses)) · hu szerkezet (a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens) · hu gyár (a factory) · de Arbeiten (plural form of work (in its countable senses)) · pl mechanizm (a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens) · hu minden (everything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food) · hu felépítés (a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens) · hu művek (plural form of work (in its countable senses))