forwork
To forfeit (a possession, privilege, etc.); ruin (oneself) by one's own conduct.
Verb
- To forfeit (a possession, privilege, etc.); ruin (oneself) by one's own conduct.
Synonyms: shoot oneself in the foot
- To obstruct; barricade; block.
- And Æthelwold sat within the ham, with the men that to him had bowed, and he had forwrought [obstructed] all the gates in, and said that he would either there live or there lie. - 1881, Grant Allen, Early Britain:
Synonyms: forslow barricade block choke clog close off cumber forwork foul gunk up hamper hinder impede interfere interrupt intervene jam obstruct obturate occlude plug roadblock seal stonewall
- To do wrong to; injure; scathe.
Synonyms: harm wound abuse annoy bewound damage damnify dere do damage to do for do ill do violence to forwork grieve harrow hurt injure maul misdo put someone in hospital scaith scathe vulnerate wet
- To overwork; exhaust with toil.
- And toiling so, well-nigh forwrought, She prayed full fervently; […] - 1889, St. John's College (University of Cambridge), The Eagle:
Synonyms: burn out overburden overlabour overply overtax run someone ragged
Origin
From Middle English forwirken, forwerken, forwurchen, from Old English forwyrċan (“to do wrong, sin; ruin, undo, destroy; condemn, convict, curse; forfeit; barricade, obstruct, close up”), from Proto-Germanic *frawurkijaną, equivalent to for- + work. Cognate with Dutch verwerken (“to digest, assimilate, work up, put into action”), German verwirken (“to forfeit”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (frawaurkjan).