Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Work \Work\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Worked}, or {Wrought}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Working}.] [AS. wyrcean (imp. worthe, wrohte, p. p.
   geworht, gewroht); akin to OFries. werka, wirka, OS. wirkian,
   D. werken, G. wirken, Icel. verka, yrkja, orka, Goth.
   wa['u]rkjan. [root]145. See {Work}, n.]
   1. To exert one's self for a purpose; to put forth effort for
      the attainment of an object; to labor; to be engaged in
      the performance of a task, a duty, or the like.

            O thou good Kent, how shall I live and work, To
            match thy goodness?                   --Shak.

            Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw
            be given you.                         --Ex. v. 18.

            Whether we work or play, or sleep or wake, Our life
            doth pass.                            --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.

   2. Hence, in a general sense, to operate; to act; to perform;
      as, a machine works well.

            We bend to that the working of the heart. --Shak.

   3. Hence, figuratively, to be effective; to have effect or
      influence; to conduce.

            We know that all things work together for good to
            them that love God.                   --Rom. viii.
                                                  28.

            This so wrought upon the child, that afterwards he
            desired to be taught.                 --Locke.

            She marveled how she could ever have been wrought
            upon to marry him.                    --Hawthorne.

   4. To carry on business; to be engaged or employed
      customarily; to perform the part of a laborer; to labor;
      to toil.

            They that work in fine flax . . . shall be
            confounded.                           --Isa. xix. 9.

   5. To be in a state of severe exertion, or as if in such a
      state; to be tossed or agitated; to move heavily; to
      strain; to labor; as, a ship works in a heavy sea.

            Confused with working sands and rolling waves.
                                                  --Addison.

   6. To make one's way slowly and with difficulty; to move or
      penetrate laboriously; to proceed with effort; -- with a
      following preposition, as down, out, into, up, through,
      and the like; as, scheme works out by degrees; to work
      into the earth.

            Till body up to spirit work, in bounds Proportioned
            to each kind.                         --Milton.

   7. To ferment, as a liquid.

            The working of beer when the barm is put in.
                                                  --Bacon.

   8. To act or operate on the stomach and bowels, as a
      cathartic.

            Purges . . . work best, that is, cause the blood so
            to do, . . . in warm weather or in a warm room.
                                                  --Grew.

Working \Work"ing\,
   a & n. from {Work}.

         The word must cousin be to the working.  --Chaucer.

   {Working beam}. See {Beam}, n. 10.

   {Working class}, the class of people who are engaged in
      manual labor, or are dependent upon it for support;
      laborers; operatives; -- chiefly used in the plural.

   {Working day}. See under {Day}, n.

   {Working drawing}, a drawing, as of the whole or part of a
      structure, machine, etc., made to a scale, and intended to
      be followed by the workmen. Working drawings are either
      general or detail drawings.

   {Working house}, a house where work is performed; a
      workhouse.

   {Working point} (Mach.), that part of a machine at which the
      effect required; the point where the useful work is done.

Source : WordNet®

working
     n : a mine or quarry that is being or has been worked [syn: {workings}]

working
     adj 1: actively engaged in paid work; "the working population";
            "the ratio of working men to unemployed"; "a working
            mother"; "robots can be on the job day and night"
            [syn: {working(a)}, {on the job(p)}]
     2: adequate for practical use; especially sufficient in
        strength or numbers to accomplish something; "the party
        has a working majority in the House"; "a working knowledge
        of Spanish"
     3: adopted as a temporary basis for further work; "a working
        draft"; "a working hypothesis" [syn: {working(a)}]
     4: (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing; "in
        running (or working) order"; "a functional set of brakes"
        [syn: {running(a)}, {operative}, {functional}, {working(a)}]
     5: serving to permit or facilitate further work or activity;
        "discussed the working draft of a peace treaty"; "they
        need working agreements with their neighbor states on
        interstate projects"