forwork

Meanings

verbforwork (third-person singular simple present forworks, present participle forworking, simple past and past participle forworked or forwrought)

present singular third person forworks · participle present forworking · participle past forworked · past forworked · participle past forwrought · past forwrought

archaictransitiveTo forfeit (a possession, privilege, etc.); ruin (oneself) by one's own conduct.
Synonyms: shoot oneself in the foot
archaictransitiveTo obstruct; barricade; block.
And Æthelwold sat within the ham, with the men that to him had bowed, and he had forwrought [obstructed] all the gates in, and said that he would either there live or there lie.
1881, Grant Allen, Early Britain
Synonyms: forslow, barricade, block, choke, clog, close off, cumber, forslow
archaictransitiveTo do wrong to; injure; scathe.
Synonyms: harm, wound, abuse, annoy, bewound, damage, damnify, dere
archaictransitiveTo overwork; exhaust with toil.
And toiling so, well-nigh forwrought, She prayed full fervently; […]
1889, St. John's College (University of Cambridge), The Eagle
Synonyms: burn out, overburden, overlabour, overply, overtax, run someone ragged

verbTo forfeit (a possession, privilege, etc.); ruin (oneself) by one's own conduct.

Similar

verbTo obstruct; barricade; block.

verbTo do wrong to; injure; scathe.

verbTo overwork; exhaust with toil.

Also see

Proto-Germanic*frawurkijaną
Old Englishforwyrċan“to do wrong, sin; ruin, undo, destroy; condemn, convict, curse; forfeit; barricade, obstruct, close up”
Middle Englishforwirken
Englishforwork

From Middle English forwirken, forwerken, forwurchen, from Old English forwyrċan (“to do wrong, sin; ruin, undo, destroy; condemn, convict, curse; forfeit; barricade, obstruct, close up”), from Proto-Germanic *frawurkijaną, equivalent to for- + work. Cognate with Dutch verwerken (“to digest, assimilate, work up, put into action”), German verwirken (“to forfeit”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (frawaurkjan).

Cite this entry

APA

forwork. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forwork

MLA

“forwork.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forwork. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forwork,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forwork.

Source: forwork on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.