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Work up   /wərk əp/   Listen
verb
Work  v. t.  
1.
To labor or operate upon; to give exertion and effort to; to prepare for use, or to utilize, by labor. "He could have told them of two or three gold mines, and a silver mine, and given the reason why they forbare to work them at that time."
2.
To produce or form by labor; to bring forth by exertion or toil; to accomplish; to originate; to effect; as, to work wood or iron into a form desired, or into a utensil; to work cotton or wool into cloth. "Each herb he knew, that works or good or ill."
3.
To produce by slow degrees, or as if laboriously; to bring gradually into any state by action or motion. "Sidelong he works his way." "So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains Of rushing torrents and descending rains, Works itself clear, and as it runs, refines, Till by degrees the floating mirror shines."
4.
To influence by acting upon; to prevail upon; to manage; to lead. "Work your royal father to his ruin."
5.
To form with a needle and thread or yarn; especially, to embroider; as, to work muslin.
6.
To set in motion or action; to direct the action of; to keep at work; to govern; to manage; as, to work a machine. "Knowledge in building and working ships." "Now, Marcus, thy virtue's the proof; Put forth thy utmost strength, work every nerve." "The mariners all 'gan work the ropes, Where they were wont to do."
7.
To cause to ferment, as liquor.
To work a passage (Naut.), to pay for a passage by doing work.
To work double tides (Naut.), to perform the labor of three days in two; a phrase which alludes to a practice of working by the night tide as well as by the day.
To work in, to insert, introduce, mingle, or interweave by labor or skill.
To work into, to force, urge, or insinuate into; as, to work one's self into favor or confidence.
To work off, to remove gradually, as by labor, or a gradual process; as, beer works off impurities in fermenting.
To work out.
(a)
To effect by labor and exertion. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
(b)
To erase; to efface. (R.) "Tears of joy for your returning spilt, Work out and expiate our former guilt."
(c)
To solve, as a problem.
(d)
To exhaust, as a mine, by working.
To work up.
(a)
To raise; to excite; to stir up; as, to work up the passions to rage. "The sun, that rolls his chariot o'er their heads, Works up more fire and color in their cheeks."
(b)
To expend in any work, as materials; as, they have worked up all the stock.
(c)
(Naut.) To make over or into something else, as yarns drawn from old rigging, made into spun yarn, foxes, sennit, and the like; also, to keep constantly at work upon needless matters, as a crew in order to punish them.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Work up" Quotes from Famous Books



... well, there have, I regret to say, been instances where absence, irregular timekeeping, and slack work have led to a marked diminution in the output of our factories. In some cases the temptations of drink account for this failure to work up to the high standard expected. It has been brought to my notice on more than one occasion that the restrictions of trade unions have undoubtedly added to our difficulties, not so much in obtaining ...
— New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 2, May, 1915 - April-September, 1915 • Various
... your nerves a bit, Belle, dear. War, at the least, is a grewsome thing, but this war contains more horrors than any other war of which man has knowledge. The vast numbers engaged make it certain that the losses will be heavy, and heavier, until the struggle is over. If you work up near the front, within range of the big guns, you will necessarily have to become accustomed to seeing the visible ...
— Dave Darrin After The Mine Layers • H. Irving Hancock
... piece of work up yonder," said Lemulquinier, coming down to the kitchen for his breakfast. "We were just going to put our hands on the great secret, we only wanted a scrap of July sun, for monsieur,—ah, what a man! he's almost in the shoes of the good God himself!—was almost within THAT," ...
— The Alkahest • Honore de Balzac
... offered as showing that Hawthorne went to the community—unconsciously, admits our critic, but still in obedience to some curious, chilly "dictate of his nature"—for the simple purpose of getting fresh impressions, to work up into fiction. But no one joined the society expecting to give up his entire individuality, and it was a special part of the design that each should take such share of the labor as was for his own and the general good, and follow his own tastes entirely as to ideal pursuits. A singular ...
— A Study Of Hawthorne • George Parsons Lathrop
... most wretched kind of food. Taking population and wealth into proportion, if the United States had made the effort of Italy they would have had to arm sixteen millions of men, to have lost a million and a half to two million soldiers, and to have spent at least four hundred milliards. In order to work up popular enthusiasm (and it was perhaps necessary), the importance of the country's Adriatic claims was exaggerated. Thus many Italians believe even to-day in good faith that the War may be considered as lost if some of these ...
— Peaceless Europe • Francesco Saverio Nitti


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