work out

Definitions

1. 1

   To calculate.

   • Can you work out 250 × 12 in your head for me?
   • Can you work out how to get to the university by car?
   • You don't have to be Einstein to work out that this level of government subsidy is unsustainable.
2. 2

   To make sense of.

   • I can't work these instructions out.
3. 3

   To decide.

   • I can't work out if I like him or not.
4. ›+ 11 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To bring about or cause to happen by work or effort.

      • Near-synonyms: hash out, hammer out
      • I think we can work out a compromise.
      • "Ah! if man would but see that hope is from within and not from without - that he himself must work out his own salvation!"
   2. 5

      To resolve

      To resolve; to find a solution for.

      • Near-synonyms: straighten out, sort out
      • They managed to work out their differences.
      • Trump hinted that Britain might be spared tariffs, saying: “I think that one can be worked out”.
   3. 6

      To develop or devise in detail

      To develop or devise in detail; to elaborate.

      • Near-synonyms: plan out, lay out
      • to work out a plan
   4. 7

      To smooth or perfect.

      • Near-synonyms: iron out, smooth out
      • This is a beta version; we're still working out the kinks.
   5. 8

      To conclude with the correct solution.

      • Near-synonym: add up
      • These figures just don't work out.
   6. 9

      To succeed

      To succeed; to result in a satisfactory situation.

      • Near-synonym: pan out
      • Are you still seeing John? – No, it didn't work out.
      • As everyone knows, almost all booked passenger and freight trains are diagrammed into rosters for engines and men, and in an operating Utopia everything would work out daily according to plan.
   7. 10

      To exercise, especially by lifting weights.

      • John won't be here for a while because he's working out.
      • Wow, you're looking good! Do you work out?
      • Alright, here we go! / Five, four, three, two, and one / Are you ready to work out?
   8. 11

      To strengthen a part of one’s body by exercise.

      • To work out your core
      • Hot, worked-out body and a creative mind possessed by this hunky, handsome, married guy.
   9. 12

      To earn a wage working away from one's farm.

      • The two Russians made good farmhands, and in summer they worked out together.
      • […] with them good wages, maybe a fella can get hisself a little piece a land an’ work out for extra cash.
   10. 13

       Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

       Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see work, out.

       • Using some tweezers, he worked the bee sting out of his hand.
       • He works out of a small office shared with three others.
   11. 14

       To remove all the mineral that can be profitably exploited.

       • The gravel pit had been worked out.
       • A worked-out chalk pit or quarry

The neighborhood