worker

noun

work·​er ˈwər-kər 

1

a

: one that works especially at manual or industrial labor or with a particular material

a factory worker

—often used in combination

b

: a member of the working class

2

: any of the sexually underdeveloped and usually sterile members of a colony of social ants, bees, wasps, or termites that perform most of the labor and protective duties of the colony

Synonyms

• dogsbody [chiefly British]
• drone
• drudge
• drudger
• foot soldier
• grub
• grubber
• grunt
• laborer
• peon
• plugger
• slave
• slogger
• toiler

Examples of worker in a Sentence

The company is planning to hire 200 workers.

The average worker earned $1,000 more this year.

If management doesn't make the changes, the workers will go on strike.

They are both hard workers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Unifor had fired back that DHL is not one of the top four express package delivery companies in Canada, and that DHL workers represent fewer than 0.7 percent of all local delivery workers and less than 15 percent of all courier workers in the country. —Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 27 June 2025

Abrego Garcia worked as a construction worker in Maryland before his deportation in March, living with his wife and three children. —Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025

Farley said that humans are doing things in factory plants that robots still cannot, pointing to an example of a worker in one of Ford’s plants in Germany, who creatively used a bicycle tire and a wheel with a wooden slat to close a tailgate of a truck that had gotten stuck going down the line. —Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 27 June 2025

For the first time, a court had ruled against the federal government’s ability to discriminate against gay workers. —Madelyn Harrington, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing worker

• care worker
• co-worker
• day worker
• gig worker
• guest worker
• sex worker
• voluntary worker
• wonder-worker
• worker-priest

Rhymes for worker

• caseworker
• coworker
• farmworker
• woodworker

Kids Definition

worker

noun

work·​er ˈwər-kər 

1

a

: one that works

b

: a member of the working class

2

: one of the members of a colony of social ants, bees, wasps, or termites that are only partially developed sexually and that perform most of the labor and protective duties of the colony