worker

[wur-ker]

noun

1. a person or thing that works.

2. a laborer or employee.

   steel workers.

3. a person engaged in a particular field, activity, or cause.

   a worker in psychological research; a worker for the Republican Party.

4. Entomology.

   1. a member of a caste of sexually underdeveloped, nonreproductive bees, specialized to collect food and maintain the hive.

   2. a similar member of a specialized caste of ants, termites, or wasps.

5. Printing.,  one of a set of electrotyped plates used to print from (molder ).

6. any of several rollers covered with card clothing that work in combination with the stripper rollers and the cylinder in the carding of fibers.

worker

/ ˈwɜːkə /

noun

1. a person or thing that works, usually at a specific job

   a good worker

   a research worker

2. an employee in an organization, as opposed to an employer or manager

3. a manual labourer or other employee working in a manufacturing or other industry

4. any other member of the working class

5. a sterile female member of a colony of bees, ants, or wasps that forages for food, cares for the larvae, etc

Other Word Forms

• workerless adjective
• nonworker noun
• subworker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of worker¹

First recorded in 1300–50, worker is from the Middle English word werker, worcher. See work, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Many of the car workers arrested in a huge US workplace immigration raid had violated their visitor visas, officials say.

From BBC

Some officials rejected complaints, with one Krasnoyarsk bureaucrat suggesting remote workers who lost income should "go and work for the special military operation", as the war in Ukraine is known in Russia.

From BBC

The Hyundai site sits on 3,000 acres in a largely rural area of Bryan County, drawing in workers from several surrounding counties and communities including the city of Savannah, located about 25 miles away.

From Los Angeles Times

He concluded the owner of the accountancy firm wanted to dismiss Ms Lanuszka before she had accrued two years' service, the time at which workers can claim unfair dismissal under UK law.

From BBC

Ms Trujillo was treated by emergency workers and paramedics but was pronounced dead at the scene.

From BBC

Related Words

• employee 
• laborer 
• staff