Meaning & use
light work
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Meanings
noununcountable
A task or job that needs little effort and is easy to finish.
Grammar: Used without an article: moving the boxes was light work for the team.
Patterns
- be light work
- make light work of something
With six of us helping, clearing the table was light work.
The new software made data entry light work.
Once you know the method, these puzzles are light work.
phraseidiominformal
In the phrase make light work of something, to finish or defeat it quickly and without trouble.
Grammar: Fixed pattern with an object: she made light work of the pile of homework.
Patterns
- make light work of something
The champion made light work of her opponent in the first round.
Four friends made light work of the washing-up.
The hungry children made light work of the pizza.
noununcountable
Physical or office work that does not require heavy lifting or great strength, such as sorting or answering phones.
Grammar: Often used about jobs suitable for people recovering from injury: he can only do light work.
Patterns
- do light work
- light work only
After his back injury, the doctor said he could do only light work.
The job involves light work such as filing and answering phones.
She took on light work at the garden center for the summer.
Common combinations
- make light work of something
- The movers made light work of the heavy furniture.
- light work for someone
- Fixing the bike was light work for my uncle.
- make light work of the task
- Using a machine makes light work of the task.
- do light work
- Patients may return to the office to do light work after two weeks.
- light work only
- The doctor advised light work only during recovery.
Synonyms and how they differ
- a breeze
- A breeze is a more casual way to say something was very easy, but it does not describe a quick effort the way light work does.
- child's play
- Child's play stresses that a task is so simple that anyone could do it, while light work stresses how little effort it took.
- easy work
- Easy work is a plain, literal phrase and lacks the lively idiom make light work of.
- a doddle
- A doddle is a British informal word for something very easy, and it is less often used about physical tasks.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: light work or make light of?
light work vs make light of
Make light of something means to treat it as less serious than it is, whereas make light work of something means to finish it easily.
Practice
The four friends ___ light work of cleaning the whole kitchen in ten minutes.
Choose one answer.
The fixed idiom is make light work of something. Did and took are tempting verbs but do not form the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “light work”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.