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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To work in

Work \Work\ (w[^u]rk), 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.
    --Sir W. Raleigh.

  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.
    --Harte.

  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.''
    --Milton.

    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.
    --Addison.

  4. To influence by acting upon; to prevail upon; to manage; to lead. ``Work your royal father to his ruin.''
    --Philips.

  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.
    --Arbuthnot.

    Now, Marcus, thy virtue's the proof; Put forth thy utmost strength, work every nerve.
    --Addison.

    The mariners all 'gan work the ropes, Where they were wont to do.
    --Coleridge.

  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.

    1. To effect by labor and exertion. ``Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.''
      --Phil. ii. 12.

    2. To erase; to efface. [R.]

      Tears of joy for your returning spilt, Work out and expiate our former guilt.
      --Dryden.

    3. To solve, as a problem.

    4. To exhaust, as a mine, by working. To work up.

      1. 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.
        --Addison.

      2. To expend in any work, as materials; as, they have worked up all the stock.

      3. (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.
        --R. H. Dana, Jr.

Usage examples of "to work in".

When the system fails to work in some way, it is mysterious and infuriating and turns otherwise reasonable people into conspiracy theorists.

The daughter of the Board Chairman, she fancied herself daring to work in the rough office at the port.

Kennedy's administration established the Peace Corps (an organization of volunteers assigned to work in developing nations), created the Alliance for Progress (which strengthened relations with Latin America), and set a national goal of landing an American on the moon before the end of the 1960s.

She needed the city to work in, the worthless sisters to provide her with necessities and comforts while she studied the Sorogetso.

Pettus continues to work in the hyperfiction genre on a regular basis.

The crew set to work in good earnest, inspired by the reward to be gained.

His time was his own till he had to get back to work in the morning.

At night they withdrew underground to their dark housing while the robots continued to work in the bright light of the eternal stars.

He says that the up-and-out can be made safe for ordinary men to work in, to stay awake in.

And I'd be working in some office, making a lot of dough, and riding to work in cabs and Madison Avenue buses, and reading newspapers, and playing bridge all the time, and going to the movies and seeing a lot of stupid shorts and coming attractions and newsreels.

They don't have the options that are available to relatively privileged white kids, namely, go to work in a corporate law firm and rip people off that way.