work out
[verb]
Synonyms:
- solve, calculate, figure out, find out
- happen, develop, evolve, result, turn out
- exercise, practise, train, warm up

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English Thesaurus: calculate, work out, figure out, count, total, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

work out phrasal verb (see also work)

1. PLAN work something ↔ out to think carefully about how you are going to do something and plan a good way of doing it:
UN negotiators have worked out a set of compromise proposals.
work out what/where/how etc
We need to work out how we’re going to get there.
I had it all worked out (=had made very careful plans).

2. CALCULATE work something ↔ out to calculate an answer, amount, price etc:
See if you can work this bill out.
work out how much/how many etc
We’ll have to work out how much food we’ll need for the party.

3. UNDERSTAND work something ↔ out especially British English to think about something and manage to understand it:
The plot is very complicated – it’ll take you a while to work it out.
work something out for yourself
I’m sure you can work it out for yourself.

4. COST if a cost or amount works out at a particular figure, it is found to be that much when you calculate it
work out at/to £10/$500 etc
The bill works out at £15 each.
work out expensive/cheap etc (=be expensive or cheap)
If we go by taxi, it’s going to work out very expensive.

5. GET BETTER if a problem or complicated situation works out, it gradually gets better or gets solved:
Things will work out, you’ll see.
I hope it all works out for Gina and Andy.
work itself out
I’m sure everything will work itself out.

6. HAPPEN if a situation works out in a particular way, it happens in that way Synonym : turn out
work out well/badly
Financially, things have worked out well for us.

7. EXERCISE to make your body fit and strong by doing exercises:
He works out with weights twice a week. ⇒ workout

8. I can’t work somebody out British English spoken used to say that you cannot understand what someone is really like or why they behave in the way they do:
I couldn’t work her out at all.

9. be worked out if a mine is worked out, all the coal, gold etc has been removed from it

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

calculate formal to find out an amount, price, or value by adding numbers together:
The students calculated the cost of printing 5000 copies of their book.
work out to calculate something. Work out is less formal than calculate, and is more common in everyday English:
You need to work out how much you will need to borrow.
figure out (also figure American English) informal to calculate an amount:
We still haven't figured out how much it's all going to cost.
the method for figuring welfare payments
count to find out the total number of things or people in a group by looking at each one and adding them all together:
The teacher counted the children as they got on the bus.
total (also total up) to add a number of things together to get a final number:
Once the scores have been totaled, we will announce the winner.
Okay, now let's total up who had the most points.
quantify formal to say how much something costs, how much of it there is, how serious or effective it is etc:
I think it's difficult to quantify the cost at the moment, for a variety of reasons.
How do you quantify the benefits of the treatment?
a reliable method for quantifying the amount of calcium in the blood
assess formal to calculate what the value or cost of something is, or decide how good, bad etc something is:
The value of the paintings was assessed at $20 million.
They are still assessing the damage.
We need to have a better way of assessing students' progress.
estimate to guess an amount, price, or number as exactly as you can, based on the knowledge you have:
The police department estimates that the number of violent crimes will decrease by 2%.
put a figure on something to say what you think the exact total amount or value of something is, especially when it is a lot:
It's hard to put a figure on it, but the final cost is likely to be over £225 million.
The company has refused to put a figure on its losses.
project to calculate what an amount will be in the future, using the information you have now:
The company projects sales of $4 million this year.
a rough count (=not exact)
I made a rough count of the houses in the street.
a quick count
According to my quick count, there were 15.
a head count (=of how many people are present)
Make sure you do a head count before the children get back on the bus.
a word/page count (=of how many words or pages there are)
Your computer can do an automatic word count.
a traffic count (=of how many vehicles pass through a place)
We went to the main road at 9 am to begin our traffic count.
do/make a count
I looked at the report and did a quick page count.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

calculate formal to find out an amount, price, or value by adding numbers together:
The students calculated the cost of printing 5000 copies of their book.
work out to calculate something. Work out is less formal than calculate, and is more common in everyday English:
You need to work out how much you will need to borrow.
figure out (also figure American English) informal to calculate an amount:
We still haven't figured out how much it's all going to cost.
the method for figuring welfare payments
count to find out the total number of things or people in a group by looking at each one and adding them all together:
The teacher counted the children as they got on the bus.
total (also total up) to add a number of things together to get a final number:
Once the scores have been totaled, we will announce the winner.
Okay, now let's total up who had the most points.
quantify formal to say how much something costs, how much of it there is, how serious or effective it is etc:
I think it's difficult to quantify the cost at the moment, for a variety of reasons.
How do you quantify the benefits of the treatment?
a reliable method for quantifying the amount of calcium in the blood
assess formal to calculate what the value or cost of something is, or decide how good, bad etc something is:
The value of the paintings was assessed at $20 million.
They are still assessing the damage.
We need to have a better way of assessing students' progress.
estimate to guess an amount, price, or number as exactly as you can, based on the knowledge you have:
The police department estimates that the number of violent crimes will decrease by 2%.
put a figure on something to say what you think the exact total amount or value of something is, especially when it is a lot:
It's hard to put a figure on it, but the final cost is likely to be over £225 million.
The company has refused to put a figure on its losses.
project to calculate what an amount will be in the future, using the information you have now:
The company projects sales of $4 million this year.
add to put two or more numbers together to find the total:
If you add 7 and 5, you get 12.
subtract/take away to reduce one number by another number. take something away sounds more informal than subtract:
If you subtract 12 from 15, you get 3.
multiply to add a number to itself a particular number of times:
4 multiplied by 10 is 40.
divide to calculate how many times one number contains another number:
10 divided by 2 equals 5.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

exercise to walk, do sports etc in order to stay healthy and become stronger:
To lose weight, exercise regularly and eat less.
do some exercise/a lot of exercise etc this phrase is much more common than the verb exercise, and means the same thing:
Her doctor said that she needed to do more exercise.
My son does very little exercise – I don’t know how he stays so slim.
Dogs need lots of exercise.
stay/keep/get in shape to stay or to become physically healthy and strong – used especially when you consider exercise as a way to keep a nice-looking body:
Try jogging with a friend who also wants to get in shape.
keep fit British English to exercise regularly in order to stay healthy and strong:
The class encourages older people to keep fit.
work out to do exercise in order to be healthy and strong, especially to exercise regularly in a gym or exercise class:
He works out three times a week.
tone up (also firm up) to exercise in order to make your body or part of your body firmer:
I need to tone up my stomach and legs.
warm up to do gentle exercises to prepare your body for more active exercise:
It’s important to warm up before you begin to play.
stretch to reach your arms, legs, or body out to full length, in order to make your muscles as long as possible, so that you do not injure them when you exercise:
Jog for five minutes, then stretch before starting on your run.
limber up (also loosen up) to do gentle exercises so that your muscles are warm and not tight before you begin a more active exercise:
The footballers were limbering up before a training session.
train especially British English to prepare for a sporting event by exercising in a particular way:
She’s training to do the London Marathon.
practise British English, practice American English to do a sports activity regularly, in order to get better and prepare for competition:
The team practices on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

work out
work out (something)
to find a solution to something.
The committee met today and worked out a statement that everyone liked.

You can use a calculator to work out the problem, or you can work it out on paper.

1.
to develop in a satisfactory way.
It was too bad that my plan didn't work out.

Is your new job working out well?

2.
to get physical exercise.
I work out at the gym twice a week.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

work out something
work out (something)
to find a solution to something.
The committee met today and worked out a statement that everyone liked.

You can use a calculator to work out the problem, or you can work it out on paper.

1.
to develop in a satisfactory way.
It was too bad that my plan didn't work out.

Is your new job working out well?

2.
to get physical exercise.
I work out at the gym twice a week.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

work out
1. • work out
1). accomplish, arrange
Recently we worked out a unique system for filling out our expenses at work.

2). exercise
He spends most weekends working out at the health club.

3). solve a problem
I was unable to work out the math problem on the final examination.

4). to have a specific result
I do not believe that the new plan is going to work out.

2. • work out (a problem)
to solve a problem, to provide the details of something
I spent the weekend trying to work out the budget estimates for next year.

3. • work out (for the best)
to end successfully
I hope that everything will work out for my friend when she moves to London next week.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

work out
v. phr.
1. To find an answer to.
John worked out his math problems all by himself.
Mary had trouble getting along with her roommate, but they worked it out.
Compare: FIGURE OUT.
2. To plan; develop.
Mary worked out a beautiful design for a sweater.
Alice worked out a new hair-do.
3. To accomplish; arrange.
The engineers worked out a system for getting electricity to the factory.
4. To be efficient; get results.
If the traffic plan works out, it will be used in other cities too.
5. To exercise.
John works out in the gym two hours every day.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲