Meaning of worker in English

worker

noun [ C ]

/ˈwɜː.kər/ us

/ˈwɝː.kɚ/

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someone who works in a particular job or in a particular way:

factory/social/construction workers

a good/tireless/skilled worker

someone who works for a company or organization but does not have a powerful position:

Many companies still treat their management staff better than their workers.

workers

[ plural ] politics specialized

members of the working class (= a social group that consists of people who own little or no property and who have to work, usually doing physical work, to get money):

He preached to anyone who would listen that the workers of the world were being abused by the wealthy.

in bees and some other types of insects, a female that cannot produce young but collects food for the other insects:

Some workers gather pollen and nectar. Others make honey and guard the hive.

worker bee Worker bees gather both pollen and nectar from flowers to feed to the larvae and other members of the colony.

In late July all the female worker wasps - the only ones that sting - are out feeding on nectar and other insects.

More examplesFewer examples

I spoke to an aid worker who had recently returned from the field.
Jack has been a loyal worker in this company for almost 50 years.
Michael is a very careful worker.
The postal workers have come out in support of their pay claim.
There's not enough interaction between the management and the workers.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Workers in general

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Employees & colleagues

Insect names

(Definition of worker from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

worker | American Dictionary

worker

noun [ C ]

/ˈwɜr·kər/

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a person who is paid for using effort to do something:

clerical/factory/farm workers

skilled/unskilled workers

(Definition of worker from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

worker | Business English

worker

noun [ C ]

HR, WORKPLACE

/ˈwɜːkər/ us

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a person who works for a company or organization:

Some of the region's employers have developed shortages of high-tech workers.

Employers will require more money if they are to retrain older workers.

a skilled/unskilled/semi-skilled worker

migrant/seasonal/casual workers

a temporary/full-time/part-time worker

blue-collar/white-collar/pink-collar workers

low-paid/low-skilled/low-wage workers

undocumented/illegal/transient workers

a factory/construction/farm worker

private-sector/public-sector workers

a contract/freelance/self-employed worker

a key/core worker

hire/employ/recruit workers The company knowingly hired illegal workers.

lay off/sack/fire workers Across the country, automobile plants are laying off workers.

a person who works in a particular way:

a good/hard/lazy worker Employers realize they must compete for good workers.

See also

assembly worker
co-worker
guest worker
home worker
knowledge worker
manual worker
mobile worker
nomadic worker
portfolio worker

the workers

used to refer to all the people within a company or organization who do ordinary jobs, rather than the managers:

Lawyers for the workers say that companies are denying claims that they should have paid.

Union officials were called in by the workers when they did not receive annualized payments for overtime.

(Definition of worker from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of worker

worker

On the other hand, as we model the interaction between management and workers, smaller and more specialized routines are also easier to monitor.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Without constant monitoring, workers may act in ways that harm current production or the long-term value.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The contractors had to travel further to obtain workers.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Ergatocracy to him meant the 'politics of workers', which was derived from the spirit of democracy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In addition, there was widespread coverage of the hardship of the emigrant workers in the destinations, and sympathy for their conditions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In addition, they were less likely to report that older workers had fewer accidents.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Older workers were defined as people aged 50 or over.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The research also indicates that future research studies need to take greater account of potential differences between different groups of older workers.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

How did older workers fare during this time ?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Either way, the evidence would appear to point conclusively to the systematic targeting of older workers for early exit, largely through redundancy packages.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The questionnaire contained a range of questions about employers' policies and practices towards older workers.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

There has long been an ' integration versus specialism ' debate among workers in health, housing and social services.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Many social workers find this area hard to handle and far from what they expected upon coming into social work.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The case is made for promoting and supporting communication as key skills and competencies for care workers.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Access to occupational schemes is not however totally blocked for workers with low qualifications or with care responsibilities.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with worker

worker

These are words often used in combination with worker.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

agricultural worker

The male occupations had been associated primarily with the rural nature of the area (shepherd, agricultural worker, tenant farmer, quarry worker and driver).

From the Cambridge English Corpus

ambulance worker

No ambulance worker could buy a flat there on the wages he is paid.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

auto worker

It was this mass mobilisation that effectively challenged the attempts by employers to foster company consciousness and thereby divide auto workers.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with worker

What is the pronunciation of worker?