Meanings
works1
- pluralplural of work in its countable senses
- A factory or factories, or a similar collection(s) of industrial facilities.
The steel works almost fills the valley.
1 more example
In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- pluralplural onlyA mechanism or machinery; the means by which something happens.
Aged and degraded oil and grease can really gum up the works.
1 more example
Something clicked in his throat, as if he had works in him like a clock, and was going to strike.
1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter III, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 37 - pluralplural onlywith definite articleEverything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food.
I'll have a Behemoth Burger with the works.
2 more examples
My my they wanted the works, can you this and that / I never got a letter back
1974, Brian Eno, “Dead Finks Don't Talk”, in Here Come the Warm JetsYou like this? Limousine, champagne, the works. I'd get you on MTV, a national tour. Sponsorship. You name it.
1985, Ralph Farquhar, Krush Groove, spoken by Terri Beiker (Charles Stettler)Synonyms: all the marbles, bag and baggage, everytang, everything but the galley stove, everything but the kitchen sink, everything under the sun, full monty, hook
- pluralplural onlywith definite articleDrastic treatment; abuse; the axe (dismissal).
Why did Constantinople get the works?
1953, “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)”, Jimmy Kennedy (lyrics)2 more examples
"Why don't we pull him in on tax evasion or misuse of the mails or parkin' in front of a hydrant or sumpn? Take him down to the Tombs and give 'em the works? If the Feds won't do it, we'd be glad to oblige."
1954, Ian Fleming, “The Big Switchboard”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 36It's not, really, but I didn't want consolation. I wanted the works, and I got it, too.
1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 161 - pluralplural onlyslangA heroin or other drug addict's equipment: syringes, needles, etc.
While in San Francisco, where the AIDS crisis was particularly devastating, they saw numerous public awareness signs reading “Bleach Your Works” posted around the city, urging IV drug users to clean their needles with bleach to help staunch the spread of the disease.
2009, Gillian G. Gaar, The Rough Guide to Nirvana, Rough Guides UK, →ISBN
- indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of work
Works2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEverything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food.
More synonyms by meaning
nounbuildings for carrying on industrial labor
nouneverything available; usually preceded by ‘the’
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian механизъм, завод
- механизъм (mehanizăm)a mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens
- завод (zavod)a factory
- фабрика (fabrika)a factory
Dutch werken, daden
- werkenplural form of work (in its countable senses)
- dadenan act associated with moral or religious standing
Estonian tehas
- tehasa factory
Finnish kone
- konea mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens
German Arbeiten
- Arbeitenplural form of work (in its countable senses)
Hungarian művek, munkák
- művekplural form of work (in its countable senses)
- munkákplural form of work (in its countable senses)
- munkálatokplural form of work (in its countable senses)
- gépezeta mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens
- szerkezeta mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens
- óraműa mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens
- óraszerkezeta mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens
- felépítésa mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens
- mindeneverything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food
- kompletteverything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food
- az egészeverything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food
- mindenségeverything or everything that is available or possible; especially, all available toppings on food
Māori wharemahi
- wharemahia factory
Polish prace, mechanizm
- praceplural form of work (in its countable senses)
- mechanizma mechanism or machine; the means by which something happens
- fabrykaa factory
- zakłada factory
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with works
All rhymes →Cite this entry
works. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/works
“works.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/works. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “works,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/works.
Source: works on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.