work song

noun

: a song sung in rhythm with work

Examples of work song in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In the cotton rows, Willie and Bobbie heard work songs and blues. — Alex Abramovich, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025 Freedom songs rang out alongside work songs, a player on homemade pan pipes mesmerized listeners alongside the generation’s greatest future singer-songwriters. — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 6 Nov. 2025 Sonically, the genre is indebted to blues and gospel music, but echoes of other kinds of Black music—like work songs, string and jug band music, Black vaudeville, boogie-woogie, and even minstrelsy—can be heard in it. — Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026 This included early American music forms, marches, spirituals, field hollers, work songs and African rhythms, as well as their musical descendants, like jazz, blues, gospel, country and rock ‘n’ roll. — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for work song

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of work song was in 1841

Rhymes for work song

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Browse Nearby Words

work (someone) into the ground
work song
workspace
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Work song.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/work%20song. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on work song

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about work song

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