Meaning & use
working
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Having a job and earning a living, or related to a job.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a working mother; working hours.
Patterns
- working hours
- working conditions
She is a working mother with two young children.
The factory improved its working conditions last year.
Our working week ends on Friday afternoon.
adjectivebefore a noun
In operation and doing what it should.
Grammar: Often used before a noun: a working model; but after a verb we say the machine is working (a verb form).
We need a working copy of the key.
The old clock is still in working order.
adjectivebefore a noun
Good enough to be used as a basis for further work.
Grammar: Always before a noun: a working knowledge; a working title.
Patterns
- a working knowledge of something
I have a working knowledge of Spanish.
The film's working title was changed before release.
Common combinations
- working day
- The package arrives in three working days.
- working order
- The oven is in perfect working order.
- working knowledge
- He has a working knowledge of French.
- working class
- She grew up in a working-class neighborhood.
- working title
- The working title was just Project X.
Synonyms and how they differ
- employed
- Employed says someone has a job, while working can also describe things that function.
- functioning
- Functioning is more formal and describes machines or systems that operate properly.
- provisional
- Provisional means temporary and subject to change, close to the working title sense.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
I only have a ___ knowledge of the software, enough to do basic tasks.
Choose one answer.
A working knowledge means practical, basic competence. The other forms are not adjectives that fit before knowledge.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “working”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.