To exert one's self for a purpose; to put forth
effort for the attainment of an object; to labor; to be engaged in
the performance of a task, a duty, or the like. [1913 Webster] O
thou good Kent, how shall I live and work, To match thy goodness?
--Shak. [1913 Webster] Go therefore now, and work; for there shall
no straw be given you. --Ex. v.
[1913 Webster] Whether we work or play, or sleep
or wake, Our life doth pass. --Sir J. Davies. [1913 Webster]
Hence, in a general sense, to operate; to act; to
perform; as, a machine works well. [1913 Webster] We bend to that
the working of the heart. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
Hence, figuratively, to be effective; to have
effect or influence; to conduce. [1913 Webster] We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God. --Rom.
viii.
[1913 Webster] This so wrought upon the child,
that afterwards he desired to be taught. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
She marveled how she could ever have been wrought upon to marry
him. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
To carry on business; to be engaged or employed
customarily; to perform the part of a laborer; to labor; to toil.
[1913 Webster] They that work in fine flax . . . shall be
confounded. --Isa. xix.
[1913 Webster]
To be in a state of severe exertion, or as if in
such a state; to be tossed or agitated; to move heavily; to strain;
to labor; as, a ship works in a heavy sea. [1913 Webster] Confused
with working sands and rolling waves. --Addison. [1913
Webster]
To make one's way slowly and with difficulty; to
move or penetrate laboriously; to proceed with effort; -- with a
following preposition, as down, out, into, up, through, and the
like; as, scheme works out by degrees; to work into the earth.
[1913 Webster] Till body up to spirit work, in bounds Proportioned
to each kind. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
To ferment, as a liquid. [1913 Webster] The
working of beer when the barm is put in. --Bacon. [1913
Webster]
To act or operate on the stomach and bowels, as a
cathartic. [1913 Webster] Purges . . . work best, that is, cause
the blood so to do, . . . in warm weather or in a warm room.
--Grew. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster] To work at,
to be engaged in or upon; to be employed in. To
work to windward (Naut.), to sail or ply against the wind; to
tack to windward. --Mar. Dict. [1913 Webster]
Wrought \Wrought\, imp. & p. p. of Work; as, What hath God wrought?.
[1913 Webster] Note: In 1837, Samuel F. B. Morse, an American
artist, devised a working electric telegraph, based on a rough
knowledge of electrical circuits, electromagnetic induction coils,
and a scheme to encode alphabetic letters. He and his collaborators
and backers campaigned for years before persuading the federal
government to fund a demonstration. Finally, on May 24, 1844, they
sent the first official long-distance telegraphic message in Morse
code, "What hath God wrought," through a copper wire strung between
Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Maryland. The phrase was taken from
the Bible, Numbers 23:23. It had been suggested to Morse by Annie
Ellworth, the young daughter of a friend. --Library of Congress,
American Memories series
(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may24.html). [PJC] Alas that I
was wrought [created]! --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] Note: The word
wrought is sometimes assumed to be the past tense of wreak, as the
phrases wreak havoc
and wrought
havoc are both commonly used. In fact, wrought
havoc is not as common as wreaked
havoc. Whether wrought is considered as the past tense of wreak
or of work, wrought
havoc has essentially the same meaning, encouraging the
confusion. Etymologically, however, wrought is only the past tense
of work. [PJC] Wrought and wreaked havoc Recently, we mentioned
that something had wreaked havoc with our PC. We were fairly
quickly corrected by someone who said, "Shouldn't that be wrought
havoc?" The answer is no, because either wreaked or wrought is fine
here. A misconception often arises because wrought is wrongly
assumed to be the past participle of wreak. In fact wrought is the
past participle of an early version of the word work! Wreak comes
from Old English wrecan "drive out, punish, avenge", which derives
ultimately from the Indo-European root *wreg- "push, shove, drive,
track down". Latin urgere "to urge" comes from the same source,
giving English urge. Interestingly, wreak is also related to wrack
and wreck. The phrase wreak havoc was first used by Agatha Christie
in
Wrought, on the other hand, arose in the 13th
century as the past participle of wirchen, Old English for "work".
In the 15th century worked came into use as the past participle of
work, but wrought survived in such phrases as finely-wrought,
hand-wrought, and, of course, wrought havoc . . . . Havoc, by the
way, comes from Anglo-French havok, which derived from the phrase
crier havot "to cry havoc". This meant "to give the army the order
to begin seizing spoil, or to pillage". It is thought that this
exclamation was Germanic in origin, but that's all that anyone will
say about it! The destruction associated with pillaging came to be
applied metaphorically to havoc, giving the word its current
meaning. --The Institute for Etymological Research and Education
(http://www.takeourword.com/Issue048.html) [PJC]
Wrought \Wrought\, a.
Worked; elaborated; not rough or crude. [1913
Webster]
Shaped by beating with a hammer; as, wrought
iron. [PJC] Wrought
iron. See under Iron.
[1913 Webster]
Word Net
wrought adj : shaped to fit by or as if by altering the contours of a pliable mass (as by work or effort); "a shaped handgrip"; "the molded steel plates"; "the wrought silver bracelet" [syn: shaped, molded]work
Noun
1 activity directed toward making or doing
something; "she checked several points needing further work"
2 a product produced or accomplished through the
effort or activity or agency of a person or thing; "it is not
regarded as one of his more memorable works"; "the symphony was
hailed as an ingenious work"; "he was indebted to the pioneering
work of John Dewey"; "the work of an active imagination"; "erosion
is the work of wind or water over time" [syn: piece of
work]
3 the occupation for which you are paid; "he is
looking for employment"; "a lot of people are out of work" [syn:
employment]
4 applying the mind to learning and understanding
a subject (especially by reading); "mastering a second language
requires a lot of work"; "no schools offer graduate study in
interior design" [syn: study]
5 the total output of a writer or artist (or a
substantial part of it); "he studied the entire Wagnerian oeuvre";
"Picasso's work can be divided into periods" [syn: oeuvre, body of
work]
6 a place where work is done; "he arrived at work
early today" [syn: workplace]
7 (physics) a manifestation of energy; the
transfer of energy from one physical system to another expressed as
the product of a force and the distance through which it moves a
body in the direction of that force; "work equals force times
distance"
Verb
1 exert oneself by doing mental or physical work
for a purpose or out of necessity; "I will work hard to improve my
grades"; "she worked hard for better living conditions for the
poor" [ant: idle]
2 be employed; "Is your husband working again?";
"My wife never worked"; "Do you want to work after the age of 60?";
"She never did any work because she inherited a lot of money"; "She
works as a waitress to put herself through college" [syn: do work]
3 have an effect or outcome; often the one
desired or expected; "The voting process doesn't work as well as
people thought"; "How does your idea work in practice?"; "This
method doesn't work"; "The breaks of my new car act quickly"; "The
medicine works only if you take it with a lot of water" [syn:
act]
4 perform as expected when applied; "The washing
machine won't go unless it's plugged in"; "Does this old car still
run well?"; "This old radio doesn't work anymore" [syn: function, operate, go, run] [ant: malfunction]
5 shape, form, or improve a material; "work stone
into tools"; "process iron"; "work the metal" [syn: work on, process]
6 give a work-out to; "Some parents exercise
their infants"; "My personal trainer works me hard"; "work one's
muscles" [syn: exercise, work out]
7 proceed along a path; "work one's way through
the crowd"; "make one's way into the forest" [syn: make]
8 operate in a certain place, area, or specialty;
"She works the night clubs"; "The salesman works the Midwest";
"This artist works mostly in acrylics"
9 proceed towards a goal or along a path or
through an activity; "work your way through every problem or task";
"She was working on her second martini when the guests arrived";
"Start from the bottom and work towards the top"
10 move in an agitated manner; "His fingers
worked with tension"
11 cause to happen or to occur as a consequence;
"I cannot work a miracle"; "wreak havoc"; "bring comments"; "play a
joke"; "The rain brought relief to the drought-stricken area" [syn:
bring, play, wreak, make for]
12 cause to work; "he is working his servants
hard" [syn: put to
work]
14 behave in a certain way when handled; "This
dough does not work easily"; "The soft metal works well"
15 have and exert influence or effect; "The
artist's work influenced the young painter"; "She worked on her
friends to support the political candidate" [syn: influence, act upon]
16 operate in or through; "Work the phones"
17 cause to operate or function; "This pilot
works the controls"; "Can you work an electric drill?"
18 provoke or excite; "The rock musician worked
the crowd of young girls into a frenzy"
19 gratify and charm, usually in order to
influence; "the political candidate worked the crowds"
20 make something, usually for a specific
function; "She molded the riceballs carefully"; "Form cylinders
from the dough"; "shape a figure"; "Work the metal into a sword"
[syn: shape, form, mold, mould, forge]
21 move into or onto; "work the raisins into the
dough"; "the student worked a few jokes into his presentation";
"work the body onto the flatbed truck"
22 make uniform; "knead dough"; "work the clay
until it is soft" [syn: knead]
23 use or manipulate to one's advantage; "He
exploit the new taxation system"; "She knows how to work the
system"; "he works his parents for sympathy" [syn: exploit]
24 find the solution to (a problem or question)
or understand the meaning of; "did you solve the problem?"; "Work
out your problems with the boss"; "this unpleasant situation isn't
going to work itself out"; "did you get it?"; "Did you get my
meaning?"; "He could not work the math problem" [syn: solve, work out,
figure
out, puzzle out,
lick]
25 cause to undergo fermentation; "We ferment the
grapes for a very long time to achieve high alcohol content"; "The
vintner worked the wine in big oak vats" [syn: ferment]
26 go sour or spoil; "The milk has soured"; "The
wine worked"; "The cream has turned--we have to throw it out" [syn:
sour, turn, ferment]
27 arrive at a certain condition through repeated
motion; "The stitches of the hem worked loose after she wore the
skirt many times" [also: wrought]
wrought See work
English
Pronunciation
- /'rɔːt/ /'rO:t/
-
- Rhymes with: -ɔːt
Adjective
- Having been worked or
prepared somehow.
- Is that fence made out of wrought iron?
Translations
Having been worked or prepared somehow
- Finnish: työstetty
Verb
wrought- past of work
Derived terms
overwroughtWrought is a band based in the town of Fayetteville,
Arkansas; it was formed on Halloween of
2004, but
played its first venue on March 22,
2005.
Wrought's merging of vocals, solos and rhythms over a
southern-metal hump has proven to be popular with heavy
metal fans. The release of their eponymous EP in the summer of
2005 caused a surge in popularity that was followed by their first
full length release ("Hand Crafted Metal" in 2006),
both of which were completely self-recorded, produced, and
promoted.
Members
- J. Hurley - Vocals
- Dan Robinson - Guitar
- Eric Halsell - Bass Guitar
- J. Hollingshead - Drums