work at sth
— phrasal verb with work /wɜːk/
/wɝːk/ verb Definition
B2 to try hard to achieve something: Most couples would agree that for a marriage to succeed, both parties have to work at it. [+ -ing verb] You need to work at improving your writing.Trying and making an effortEffort and expending energy
(Definition of work at sth from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
Browse related topics
You are looking at an entry to do with Trying and making an effort, but you might be interested in these topics from the Doing and achieving topic area:
- Abstaining and refraining
- Acting and acts
- Avoiding action
- Becoming better
- Cancelling and interrupting
- Competing and contending (non-sporting)
- Coping and not coping
- Delaying and wasting time
- Describing the leading position
- Efficient and effective
- Expressions telling people to hurry up
- Failing and doing badly
- Failures
- Getting involved for one's own benefit or against others' will
- Hesitating
- Higher and lower points of achievement
- Hurrying and doing things quickly
- Making progress and advancing
- Making things better
- Performing a function
- Potential
- Reacting and responding
- Repeating an action
- Succeeding, achieving and fulfilling
- Success and achievements
- Successful (things or people)
- Surpassing in quality or number
- Taking part and getting involved
- Unsuccessful (people and things)
- Waiting
- Ways of achieving things
Browse the Thesaurus
SMART Thesaurus
Synonyms and related words:
- a blitz on sth idiom
- all-out adjective
- assault noun
- attempt noun
- attempt verb
- bash noun (ATTEMPT)
- foray noun (ATTEMPT)
- get off your backside idiom
- get your act together idiom
- get your head down idiom
- give it a whirl idiom
- give sth your best shot idiom
- go for sth phrasal verb (TRY)
- pursuer noun (ATTEMPT)
- pursuit noun (ATTEMPT)
- push your luck idiom
- put your back into sth idiom
- put your best foot forward idiom
- stick to sth phrasal verb
- summon verb (PRODUCE STRENGTH)
Topic:
Trying and making an effort
Our dictionaries
Word of the Day
ride (out) the storm
to manage not to be destroyed, harmed or permanently affected by the difficult situation you...
Blog
Read our blog about how the English language behaves.
New Words
Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.
