Work vs Wreak - What's the difference?

In lang=en terms the difference between work and wreak

is that work is to behave in a certain way when handled; while wreak is to cause, inflict or let out, especially if causing harm or injury.

As nouns the difference between work and wreak

is that work is employment while wreak is (archaic|literary) revenge; vengeance; furious passion; resentment.

As verbs the difference between work and wreak

is that work is to do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers while wreak is to cause, inflict or let out, especially if causing harm or injury.

work

English

(wikipedia work)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), (m), from (etyl) worc, weorc, . English cognates include bulwark, energy, erg, georgic, liturgy, metallurgy, organ, surgeon, wright.

Noun

Employment.

#Labour, occupation, job.

#*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

#*:Come on, Nerissa; I have work in hand / That you yet know not of.

#*Bible, 2 (w) xxxi. 21

#*:In every work that he beganhe did it with all his heart, and prospered.

#*, chapter=15

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.}}

#The place where one is employed.

Effort.

#Effort expended on a particular task.

##Sustained human effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result.

##:

#(lb) A measure of energy expended in moving an object; most commonly, force times distance. No work is done if the object does not move.

#*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)

, title= The Adaptable Gas Turbine , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo , meaning "vortex", and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work .}}

#(lb) A nonthermal First Law energy in transit between one form or repository and another. Also, a means of accomplishing such transit. See http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0004055.

Sustained effort to achieve a goal or result, especially overcoming obstacles.

*:The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.

(lb) Product; the result of effort.

# The result of a particular manner of production.

# Something produced using the specified material or tool.

#(lb) A literary, artistic, or intellectual production.

#*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

#*:to leave no rubs or blotches in the work

#*(John Milton) (1608-1674)

#*:The work some praise, / And some the architect.

#*:“[…] We are engaged in a great work , a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”

#(lb) A fortification.

The staging of events to appear as real.

(lb) Ore before it is dressed.

:(Raymond)

Synonyms

* (employment) See also * (productive activity) See also

Derived terms

* artwork * at work * body of work * bodywork * breastwork * bridgework * busy work * casework * clockwork * derivative work * dirty work * dreamwork * earthwork * field work, fieldwork * finger work * firework * fretwork * groundwork * guesswork * hard work * handiwork * homework * housework * ironwork * leg work, legwork * lifework * masterwork * needlework * openwork * overwork * paintwork * paperwork * patchwork * piece of work * piecework * public works * reference work * road work, roadwork * schoolwork * shift work, shiftwork * spadework * teamwork * waterworks * waxwork * wickerwork * woodwork * work ethic * work of art * worklist * workly * workout * workplace * workroom * workshop * workstation * workstead * workup

References

Etymology 2

From (etyl) .

Verb

To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers.

# Followed by in'' (or ''at , etc.) Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business).

I work''' in a national park; she '''works''' in the human resources department; he mostly '''works in logging, but sometimes works in carpentry

# Followed by as . Said of one's job title

#* , chapter=17

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.}}

I work as a cleaner.

# Followed by for . Said of a company or individual who employs.

she works''' for Microsoft; he '''works for the president

# Followed by with . General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients.

I work''' closely with my Canadian counterparts; you '''work''' with computers; she '''works with the homeless people from the suburbs

To effect by gradual degrees.

he worked''' his way through the crowd; the dye '''worked''' its way through; using some tweezers, she '''worked the bee sting out of her hand

* Addison

So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains / Of rushing torrents and descending rains, / Works itself clear, and as it runs, refines, / Till by degrees the floating mirror shines.

To embroider with thread.

To set into action.

To cause to ferment.

To ferment.

* Francis Bacon

the working of beer when the barm is put in

To exhaust, by working.

To shape, form, or improve a material.

To operate in a certain place, area, or speciality.

To operate in or through; as, to work the phones.

To provoke or excite; to influence.

To use or manipulate to one’s advantage.

To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence.

To cause to work.

To function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)

, volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about

(figuratively) To influence.

To effect by gradual degrees; as, to work into the earth.

To move in an agitated manner.

A ship works in a heavy sea.

* Addison

confused with working sands and rolling waves

To behave in a certain way when handled;

(transitive, with two objects, poetic) To cause (someone) to feel (something).

* {{quote-book, passage=So sad it seemed, and its cheek-bones gleamed, and its fingers flicked the shore; / And it lapped and lay in a weary way, and its hands met to implore; / That I gently said: “Poor, restless dead, I would never work you woe; / Though the wrong you rue you can ne’er undo, I forgave you long ago.”

, author=Robert W. Service , title=(Ballads of a Cheechako), chapter=(The Ballad of One-Eyed Mike), year=1909}}

(obsolete) To hurt; to ache.

* 1485 , Sir (Thomas Malory), ''(w, Le Morte d'Arthur), Book XXI:

‘I wolde hit were so,’ seyde the Kynge, ‘but I may nat stonde, my hede worchys so—’

Derived terms

* work at * work off * work on * work out * work over * work up * rework * worker * working * work it * work like a beaver * work like a charm * work like a dog * work like a horse * work like a Trojan * work the crowd * work the room * work to rule * work wonders

Statistics

* 1000 English basic words 200 English basic words English irregular verbs English terms with multiple etymologies

wreak

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) wrecan, from (etyl) ; cognate via PIE with Latin urgere (English urge), and distantly cognate to English wreck.

Verb

To cause, inflict or let out, especially if causing harm or injury.

The earthquake wreaked havoc in the city.

She wreaked her anger on his car.

* Macaulay

Now was the time to be avenged on his old enemy, to wreak a grudge of seventeen years.

(archaic) To inflict or take vengeance on.

* 1874 ,

''their woe

''Broods maddening inwardly and scorns to wreak

''Itself abroad;

* 1856-1885 —

Kill the foul thief, and wreak me for my son.

* {{quote-book

, year=1917 , year_published=2008 , edition=HTML , editor= , author=Edgar Rice Burroughs , title=A Princess of Mars , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=The Gutenberg Project , isbn= , page= , passage=At heart they hate their horrid fates, and so wreak their poor spite on me who stand for everything they have not, … }}

(archaic) To take vengeance for.

* Fairfax

Come wreak his loss, whom bootless ye complain.

Usage notes

The verb wreak'' is generally used in the form “wreak ''damage or harm of some sort'' (on ''something )”, and is often used in the set phrase wreak havoc, though “wreak damage”, “wreak destruction”, and “wreak revenge” are also common. Not to be confused with wreck, with similar meaning of destruction and similar etymological roots; common confusion in misspelling wreck havoc. It has become common to use wrought, the original past tense and participle for work, as the past tense and past participle for wreak'', as in ''wrought havoc'' (i.e. ''worked havoc'' for ''wreaked havoc''), due both to the fact that the weak form ''worked'' has edged out ''wrought'' from its former role almost entirely (except as an adjective referring usually to hand-worked metal goods), and via confusion from the ''wr-'' beginning both ''wreak'' and ''wrought , and probably by analogy with seek).

Derived terms

* wreak havoc

Etymology 2

From (etyl) wreke, wrake, Northern Middle English variants of wreche, influenced later by Etymology 1, above. Compare (etyl) wraak.

Noun

(en noun)

(archaic, literary) Revenge; vengeance; furious passion; resentment.

* 1903 , George Chapman, Richard Herne Shepherd, Algernon Charles Swinburne, The Works of George Chapman :

However, no thought touch'd Minerva's mind, That any one should escape his wreak design'd.

* 2003 , John Foxe, John Cumming, Book of Martyrs and the Acts and Monuments of the Church :

For three causes Duke William entered this land to subdue Harold. One was, for that it was to him given by King Edward his nephew. The second was, to take wreak for the cruel murder of his nephew Alfred, King Edward's brother, and of the Normans, which deed he ascribed chiefly to Harold.

* 2006 , The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night - Volume 2 - Page 188:

Would that before my death I might but see my son The empery in my stead over the people hold And rush upon his foes and take on them his wreak , At push of sword and pike, in fury uncontrolled.

(archaic, literary) Punishment; retribution; payback.

* 1885': Of a surety none murdered the damsel but I; take her '''wreak on me this moment — Sir Richard Burton, ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night , Night 19

References

Anagrams

* English irregular verbs