at work

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic US):

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Prepositional phrase

at work

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see at,‎ work. At one's workplace.

   He's not home at the moment: he's at work.

   They've got a new photocopier at work.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Remember to call Marsha at work.

2. Working, in the process of doing work.

   Don't interrupt me while I'm at work on my housing project.

   • 1958 April, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 268:

     In the United States, where the railways are 90 per cent. dieselised today, diesel-electric power is the unvarying rule for independent locomotive units, and the only motive power exceptions are the highly successful 600-h.p. diesel-hydraulic railcars of the Budd "RDC" type, of which between 300 and 400 are now at work.

   • 2021 September 8, Phil McNulty, “Poland 1-1 England”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     This was billed as the battle between Kane and his Poland opposite number Lewandowski but this was a game where it was possible to simply enjoy two masters of their craft at work.

3. (figuratively) At play, in action.

   Synonyms: at work, working; see also Thesaurus:in action

Translations

at one's workplace

• Finnish: töissä
• French: à pied d’œuvre (fr), au travail (fr)
• German: bei der Arbeit
• Italian: al lavoro, sul lavoro
• Old English: on weorce
• Persian: سر کار (sar-e kâr)
• Russian: на рабо́те (na rabóte)
• Spanish: en el trabajo

in the process of doing work

• Danish: i arbejde
• Dutch: aan het werk, aan de slag
• Finnish: use tehdä in verb phrase (usually 3rd infinitive in inessive)
• French: au travail (fr)
• Latin: in opere
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: i arbeid

• Old English: on weorce
• Russian: за рабо́той (za rabótoj)
• Spanish: de obras
• Swedish: i arbete

at play, in action

• Finnish: toiminnassa (fi)
• French: à l'œuvre
• Russian: в де́йствии (v déjstvii)

See also

• on the job
• workplace

Further reading

• “at work”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “at work”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “at work” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “at work” (US) / “at work” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.

Anagrams

• work at