to act up [not work properly] meaning, to act up [not work properly] definition | English Cobuild dictionary



  ( works    plural & 3rd person present)   ( working    present participle)   ( worked    past tense & past participle  )
1       verb   People who work have a job, usually one which they are paid to do.  
Weiner works for the US Department of Transport...      V prep/adv  
I started working in a recording studio...      V prep/adv  
Where do you work?...      V prep/adv  
He worked as a bricklayer's mate...      V as n  
I want to work, I don't want to be on welfare.      V  
2       n-uncount   People who have work or who are in work have a job, usually one which they are paid to do.  
oft in/out of N  
Fewer and fewer people are in work..., I was out of work at the time..., She'd have enough money to provide for her children until she could find work...     
3       verb   When you work, you do the things that you are paid or required to do in your job.  
I can't talk to you right now<endash>I'm working...      V  
He was working at his desk...      V  
Some firms expect the guards to work twelve hours a day.      V n  
4       n-uncount   Your work consists of the things you are paid or required to do in your job.  
We're supposed to be running a business here. I've got work to do..., I used to take work home, but I don't do it any more..., There have been days when I have finished work at 2pm.     
5       verb   When you work, you spend time and effort doing a task that needs to be done or trying to achieve something.  
Linda spends all her time working on the garden...      V prep  
The most important reason for coming to university is to work for a degree...      V prep  
The government expressed hope that all the sides will work towards a political solution.      V prep  
      Work is also a noun., n-uncount  
There was a lot of work to do on their house..., We hadn't appreciated how much work was involved in organizing a wedding...     
6       n-uncount   Work is the place where you do your job.  
usu to/at N  
Many people travel to work by car..., She told her friends at work that she was trying to lose weight.     
7       n-uncount   Work is something which you produce as a result of an activity or as a result of doing your job.  
oft poss/adj N  
It can help to have an impartial third party look over your work..., Tidiness in the workshop is really essential for producing good work...     
8       n-count   A work is something such as a painting, book, or piece of music produced by an artist, writer, or composer.  
usu with supp  
In my opinion, this is Rembrandt's greatest work...     
9       verb   If someone is working on a particular subject or question, they are studying or researching it.  
Professor Bonnet has been working for many years on molecules of this type.      V on n  
      Work is also a noun., n-uncount  
Their work shows that one-year-olds are much more likely to have allergies if either parent smokes.     
10       verb   If you workwith a person or a group of people, you spend time and effort trying to help them in some way.  
She spent a period of time working with people dying of cancer...      V with/among n  
      Work is also a noun., n-uncount   with supp, usu poss N, N with/among n  
She became involved in social and relief work among the refugees.     
11       verb   If a machine or piece of equipment works, it operates and performs a particular function.  
The pump doesn't work and we have no running water...      V  
12       verb   If an idea, system, or way of doing something works, it is successful, effective, or satisfactory.  
95 per cent of these diets do not work...      V  
A methodical approach works best.      V adv  
13       verb   If a drug or medicine works, it produces a particular physical effect.  
I wake at 6am as the sleeping pill doesn't work for more than nine hours...      V  
The drug works by increasing levels of serotonin in the brain.      V prep/adv  
14       verb   If something works in your favour, it helps you in some way. If something works to your disadvantage, it causes problems for you in some way.  
One factor thought to have worked in his favour is his working class image...      V prep  
15       verb   If something or someone works their magic or works their charms on a person, they have a powerful positive effect on them.  
Nevertheless, she is always optimistic about the possibilities and can work her charm on the disenchanted...      V n on n  
16       verb   If your mind or brain is working, you are thinking about something or trying to solve a problem.  
My mind was working frantically, running over the events of the evening.      V  
17       verb   If you work on an assumption or idea, you act as if it were true or base other ideas on it, until you have more information.  
We are working on the assumption that it was a gas explosion.      V on n  
18       verb   If you work a particular area or type of place, you travel around that area or work in those places as part of your job, for example trying to sell something there.  
Brand has been working the clubs and the pubs since 1986, developing her comedy act...      V n  
19       verb   If you work someone, you make them spend time and effort doing a particular activity or job.  
They're working me too hard. I'm too old for this...      V n adv/prep  
20       verb   If someone, often a politician or entertainer, works a crowd, they create a good relationship with the people in the crowd and get their support or interest.  
The Prime Minister has an ability to work a crowd<endash>some might even suggest it is a kind of charm...      V n  
21       verb   When people work the land, they do all the tasks involved in growing crops.  
Farmers worked the fertile valleys.      V n  
22       verb   When a mine is worked, minerals such as coal or gold are removed from it.  
The mines had first been worked in 1849, when gold was discovered in California...      be V-ed  
23       verb   If you work a machine or piece of equipment, you use or control it.   (=operate)  
Many adults still depend on their children to work the video.      V n  
24       verb   If something works into a particular state or condition, it gradually moves so that it is in that state or condition.  
A screw had worked loose from my glasses.      V adj  
25       verb   If you work a substance such as dough or clay, you keep pressing it to make it have a particular texture.  
Work the dough with the palm of your hand until it is very smooth...      V n  
26       verb   If you work a material such as metal, leather, or stone, you cut, sew, or shape it in order to make something or to create a design.  
...the machines needed to extract and work the raw stone.      V n  
27       verb   If you work a part of your body, or if it works, you move it.  
Each position will work the muscles in a different way...      V n  
Her mouth was working in her sleep.      V  
28       n-count-coll   A works is a place where something is manufactured or where an industrial process is carried out. Works is used to refer to one or to more than one of these places.  
usu n N, N n  
The steel works could be seen for miles.     
29       n-plural   Works are activities such as digging the ground or building on a large scale.  
usu supp N  
...six years of disruptive building works, road construction and urban development.     
at work      phrase   usu v-link PHR  
The salvage teams are already hard at work trying to deal with the spilled oil..., Television cameras were invited in to film him at work.     
32    If a force or process is at work, it is having a particular influence or effect.  
at work      phrase   usu v-link PHR  
It is important to understand the powerful economic and social forces at work behind our own actions.     
33    If you say that you will have your work cut outto do something, you mean that it will be a very difficult task.  
to have your work cut out      phrase   V inflects, oft PHR for n, PHR to-inf  
The new administration has its work cut out for it. Creating jobs in this kind of environment is not going to be easy..., He will have his work cut out to get into the team.     
34    If something is in the works, it has already been planned or begun.  
  (mainly AM)  
in the works      phrase   usu n PHR, v-link PHR  
He said there were dozens of economic plans in the works...     
in BRIT, usually use in the pipeline     
35    You can use work to talk about how easily or quickly a particular task is done. For example, if a person or thing makes short work of doing something or makes light work of it, they do it quickly and easily.  
to make short/light/heavy/easy/quick work of sth      phrase   V inflects, PHR -ing/n  
An aerosol spray will make short work of painting awkward objects..., This horse made light work of the cross-country course...     
36    If you put someone to work or set them to work, you give them a job or task to do.  
to put/set sb to work      phrase   V inflects, oft PHR prep, PHR -ing  
By stimulating the economy, we're going to put people to work..., Instead of sending them to prison, we have set them to work helping the lemon growers.     
37    If you get to work, go to work, or set to workon a job, task, or problem, you start doing it or dealing with it.  
get/go/set to work      phrase   V inflects, oft PHR on n  
He promised to get to work on the state's massive deficit..., He returned to America where he set to work on a new novel.     
38    If you work your way somewhere, you move or progress there slowly, and with a lot of effort or work.  
to work your way swh      phrase   V inflects, PHR prep/adv  
Rescuers were still working their way towards the trapped men..., Many personnel managers started as secretaries or personnel assistants and worked their way up.     
    to throw a spanner in the works  
    spanner   work in   , work into      phrasal verb   If you work one substance into another or work it in, you add it to the other substance and mix the two together thoroughly.  
Gradually pour the liquid into the flour, working it in carefully with a wooden spoon...      V n P  
Work in the potato and milk until the mixture comes together...      V P n (not pron)  
Work the oil gradually into the yolks with a wooden spoon.      V n P n   work off  
1       phrasal verb   If you work off energy, stress, or anger, you get rid of it by doing something that requires a lot of physical effort.  
She went for a brisk walk to work off her frustration...      V P n (not pron)  
If I've had a bad day I'll work it off by cooking.      V n P  
2       phrasal verb   If you work off a debt, you repay it by working.  
The report proposes that students be allowed to work off their debt through community service...      V P n (not pron)  
There were heavy debts. It would take half Edward's lifetime to work them off.      V n P   work out  
1       phrasal verb   If you work out a solution to a problem or mystery, you manage to find the solution by thinking or talking about it.   (=figure out)  
Negotiators are due to meet later today to work out a compromise...      V P n (not pron)  
It took me some time to work out what was causing this...      V P wh  
`How will you contact me?'—`We haven't worked that out yet.'      V n P   If you have something all worked out, you have thought about it carefully, and know exactly what you are going to do or exactly what you want.  
to have sth all worked out      phrase   have inflects  
I had the ideal man all worked out in my mind.     
2       phrasal verb   If you work out the answer to a mathematical problem, you calculate it.   (=calculate)  
It is proving hard to work out the value of bankrupt firms' assets...      V P n (not pron)  
When asked what a £40.35 meal for five people would cost each diner, they were unable to work it out.      V n P  
3       phrasal verb   If something works outat a particular amount, it is calculated to be that amount after all the facts and figures have been considered.  
The price per pound works out at £3.20...      V P at amount  
It will probably work out cheaper to hire a van and move your own things.      V P adj  
4       phrasal verb   If a situation works out well or works out, it happens or progresses in a satisfactory way.  
Things just didn't work out as planned...      V P prep/adv  
One of the ways people experience loss is when relationships don't work out.      V P  
5       phrasal verb   If a process worksitselfout, it reaches a conclusion or satisfactory end.  
People involved in it think it's a nightmare, but I'm sure it will work itself out.      V pron-refl P  
6       phrasal verb   If you work out your service or your notice, you continue to work at your job until you have completed a specified period of time.  
There was an interim before her successor actually came because she had to work out her notice.      V P n (not pron), Also V n P  
7       phrasal verb   If you work out, you do physical exercises in order to make your body fit and strong.   (=exercise)  
Work out at a gym or swim twice a week.      V P  
    workout   work up  
1       phrasal verb   If you workyourselfup, you make yourself feel very upset or angry about something.  
She worked herself up into a bit of a state...      V pron-refl P into/to n  
Don't just lie there working yourself up, do something about it.      V pron-refl P  
    worked up  
2       phrasal verb   If you work up the enthusiasm or courage to do something, you succeed in making yourself feel it.  
Your creative talents can also be put to good use, if you can work up the energy...      V P n (not pron)  
3       phrasal verb   If you work up a sweat or an appetite, you make yourself sweaty or hungry by doing exercise or hard work.  
You can really work up a sweat doing housework...      V P n (not pron)  
4       phrasal verb   If you work up something such as a piece of writing, you spend time and effort preparing it.  
I sketched the layout of a prototype store and worked up a business plan...      V P n (not pron)  

course work      , coursework  
Course work is work that students do during a course, rather than in exams, especially work that counts towards a student's final grade.      n-uncount  
Some 20 per cent of marks are awarded for coursework.     
donkey work     
If you do thedonkey work, you do the hard work or the less interesting part of the work that needs to be done.  
INFORMAL      n-sing   usu the N  
life's work     
Someone's life's work or life work is the main activity that they have been involved in during their life, or their most important achievement.      n-sing   usu poss N  
An exhibition of his life's work is being shown in the garden of his home..., My father's life work was devoted to the conservation of the Longleat estate.     
out of work     
Someone who is out of work does not have a job.      adj   (=unemployed)  
...a town where half the men are usually out of work., out of work actor.     
social work     
In book-keeping, work-in-progress refers to the monetary value of work that has not yet been paid for because it has not yet been completed.     (BUSINESS)      n-uncount  
...five million pounds' worth of finished goods and two million pounds' worth of work-in-progress.     
work-life balance     
Your work-life balance is how you organize your days, for example how many hours you spend at work, and how much time you spend with friends or doing things you enjoy.      n-uncount  
Senior managers stipulated work-life balance as their main criterion when choosing jobs.     
work of art        ( works of art    plural  )
1       n-count   A work of art is a painting or piece of sculpture which is of high quality.  
...a collection of works of art of international significance.     
2       n-count   A work of art is something which is very complex or which has been skilfully made or produced.  
The actual nest is a work of art.     
work-shy      , workshy  
  (BRIT)      adj   usu ADJ n     (disapproval)    (=lazy)  
work surface        ( work surfaces    plural  ) , worksurface   A work surface is a flat surface, usually in a kitchen, which is easy to clean and on which you can do things such as prepare food.      n-count  
work week        ( work weeks    plural  ) A work week is the amount of time during a normal week which you spend doing your job.  
  (mainly AM)      n-count  
The union had sought a wage increase and a shorter work week.     
in BRIT, usually use working week     
Translation English Cobuild Collins Dictionary  
Collaborative Dictionary     English Cobuild
grunt work is hard, uninteresting work
US informal
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
absolutely not; not in this lifetime
Slang expression used mostly in 19th century
Work In Progress
can be used as an adjectif : this program is WIP
work perfectly performed
celui qui n'a pas peur d'agir ne craint pas une parole
This is a term rising in popularity
not right; out of order; not functioning properly
not to include something
I want to try a diet that excludes dairy products.
not an easy task
[as interjection] an expression of congratulations, thanks or respect
big up to the team for a great job
extremely [with the idea of "abnormally"]
freakishly successful/large/lifelike
Or sign up in the traditional way

  • Create your own vocabulary list
  • Contribute to the Collaborative Dictionary
  • Improve and share your linguistic knowledge