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DictionaryworksIndustrial facility
noun

works

WURKS/wˈɝks/

a site where industrial production or engineering takes place

The old steel works still employs people from the town.

A compact isolated industrial works exterior comprises a brick factory shed, two smokestacks and a connected cylindrical tank with pipework, no smoke pollution spectacle or labels.
Etymology
workOld Englishlabor, something made
+sEnglishplural

The plural of work came to name operations involved in maintaining a large place, then a place established for industrial labor. Here, the word names the installation where work happens.

In context

Tim Fairley11:53
what steel reinforcement do we buy? What's the methodology? Do we need false work or formwork? How do we get the temporary works designs approved?
The COMPLETE Guide to Construction Project Management

More examples

  • He worked at the steel works for years.
  • The engineering works occupies several buildings.
  • The works closed after production moved elsewhere.

Forms

works

Similar words

factory
The usual American word for a manufacturing site.
plant
Another common term for an industrial production site.