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
investigative
undercover
The scandal was revealed after months of undercover work by journalists
leg (also legwork)
Her job as a market researcher involves a lot of legwork (= walking around to collect information)
course (also coursework)
written
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

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 (also workplace)
area, environment, room (also workroom)
station (also workstation)
roster, schedule
experience
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

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 (also artwork)
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 entitle d '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

ADJ

extensive, major
road (also roadworks)
maintenance, repair, restoration
demolition

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

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

ADV

hard
He had been working hard all morning
steadily
round the clock
Emergency teams were working round the clock to make the homes secure
full-time, part-time
A lot of mothers choose to work part-time
efficiently
I work more efficiently on my own
closely, collaboratively, together
people who have worked closely together over a period of time
alone, independently
away
We worked steadily away all morning

VERB + WORK

continue to
choose to, prefer to
I prefer to work as part of a team
motivate sb to
Employees are motivated to work harder for a whole host of different reasons
enable sb to
I needed a job which would enable me to work at home
refuse to

PREP

as
He's working as a teacher at the moment
at
I've spent three hours working at this problem
for
She works for an oil company
on
We are working on plans for a new swimming pool
with
the people you work with

ADV

effectively, efficiently, perfectly, properly, satisfactorily, smoothly, well
Everything worked very smoothly
independently
My limbs seemed to be working independently of each other
perfectly, well
badly

VERB + WORK

seem to PHRASAL VERBS work out

PREP

for
Things worked out well for Janet in the end