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overwork

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Etymology 1

From Middle English overwerken, possibly from Old English oferwyrċan (“to overwork, overlay”), equivalent to over- +‎ work. Cognate with Dutch overwerken (“to overwork”).

Pronunciation

Verb

overwork (third-person singular simple present overworks, present participle overworking, simple past and past participle overworked or (archaic) overwrought)

  1. (transitive) To make (someone or something) work too hard.
    to overwork a horse
    • 1945 November snd December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 329:
      For some years locomotives and coaches have been overworked and undermaintained to a degree without precedent in British railway history, and the leeway in maintenance now to be made up is very great.
    • 2007 February 18, Jake Mooney, “A Case of the Shivers”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 26 November 2022:
      The cracking sound, he explained, as far as I, a non-plumber, could understand, was the sound of the overworked, undermaintained and weirdly installed heating unit’s core rupturing and spilling water into the basement.
    • 2019 August 10, Harmeet Kaur, “The most overworked cities in the US might surprise you”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 27 August 2020:
      If you live in Washington D.C., Houston or Atlanta, it might be time to take a vacation.
      Those three cities, followed by Seattle and Chicago, are the most overworked cities in the United States, according to a study released by the mobile technology company Kisi this past week.
    • 2019 September 26, Sandee LaMotte, “Too much exercise could lead to bad decisions on what you eat and buy”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 2 March 2025:
      It turns out that overworking your brain with either physical or mental exercise may lower your ability to delay self-gratification.
    • 2021 January 13, Laura He and Nectar Gan, “Pinduoduo under fire as China turns on its tech titans”, in CNN Business‎, archived from the original on 6 February 2025:
      One of China’s most prominent e-commerce companies is facing intense public backlash over allegations that it overworks its employees.
  2. (intransitive) To work too hard.
  3. (transitive) To fill too full of work; to crowd with labour.
  4. (transitive) To decorate all over.
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English overwerc, from Old English oferweorc, oferġeweorc (“an overwork, superstructure, tomb”), equivalent to over- +‎ work.

Pronunciation

Noun

overwork (uncountable)

  1. A superstructure.
  2. Excessive work.
    • 1878, Phosphorus in functional disorders of the nervous system, induced by overwork and other influences incidental to modern life:
      Various disordered conditions consequent upon overwork, which are characteristic of modern civilisation.
    • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Phantom Rickshaw”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, Allahabad: A.H. Wheeler and Co., page 8:
      He says that more men are killed by overwork than the importance of this world justifies. He maintains that overwork slew Pansay who died under his hands about three years ago.
    • 1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244:
      […] it had obtained from its constituents rather antiquated and inefficient equipment, which scarcely stood up to overwork; […] .
    • 1996, Wilkie Au, Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration:
      When it comes to overwork, denial looms large.
    • 2003, Ernie J Zelinski, Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked:
      The Japanese term for sudden death from overwork.
    • 2018 November 4, Jake Kwon and Alexandra Field, “South Koreans are working themselves to death. Can they get their lives back?”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 13 January 2025:
      In July, the government legislated to reduce the maximum working hours from a staggering 68 per week to 40, with 12 hours of paid overtime, in what President Moon Jae-in said would be an “important opportunity to move away from a society of overwork and move toward a society of spending time with families.”
Translations

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