work / worker / skill / profession / trade / craft / labor

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a steel beam, since 工 looks like the cross section of a steel beam.

Gitta Giraffe (gu) is working a shift in front of the engine ((e)ng1). Her job is to melt dinosaur bones (丨) so that they can be disposed off easily. To melt the bones, she is shorting a huge capacitor (二) with a steel beam (工) which consequently heats up to a bright glow. Using the glowing hot steel beam she can melt the dinosaur bone easily.

工 character breakdown

radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 2)

Mnemonic symbol: a dinosaur bone. Gitta Giraffe (gu-) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the encampment's living room ((e)n3).
vertical stroke (in Chinese characters), referred to as 豎筆|竖笔[shu4 bi3]

Mnemonic symbol: a dinosaur bone. Sheldon Shrimp (shu) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) and is cracking it open to eat its bone marrow.
two / 2 / (Beijing dialect) stupid

= : Mnemonic symbol: a capacitor, because the two strokes remind me of the symbol in electrical drawings. Albert Einstein (Ø) is experimenting with a capacitor (二) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). He finds that it's uncomfortable to discharge a capacitor using two flutes (一).

Characters with 工 as component

difference; discrepancy / (math.) difference (amount remaining after a subtraction) / (literary) a little; somewhat; slightly

= + : Charlie Chapling is juggling steel beams in front of the ashram. A sheep is making an error bar graph representing Charlie's number of tries to juggle as long as possible without letting the beams fall down.
classics / sacred book / scripture / to pass through / to undergo / to bear / to endure / warp (textile) / longitude / menstruation / channel (TCM) / abbr. for economics 經濟|经济[jing1 ji4]

= + + : Joan of Arc is boiling with indignation when she sees a silk worm (or rather a book worm?) looking out of a hole in her sacred tome in front of the engine. To drive the worm out, Joan of Arc attached a boxing glove to a steel beam and gains momentum for her sucker punch.
surname Jing

= + + : Joan of Arc is boiling with indignation when she sees a silk worm (or rather a book worm?) looking out of a hole in her sacred tome in front of the engine. To drive the worm out, Joan of Arc attached a boxing glove to a steel beam and gains momentum for her sucker punch.
red / popular / revolutionary / bonus

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a little red book.

Helga Horse (hu) is reading the little red book (红) in the engine's kitchen ((e)ng2), when she discovers that it is being eaten by a silk worm (纟). She overreacts a little and wants to beat the silk worm with a steel beam (工).
surname Hong
to hang (down) / droop / dangle / bend down / hand down / bequeath / nearly / almost / to approach

= + + : The cat o' nine tails (壬) has been chasing Chantal Chicken (chu) all around the Eiffel Tower. In the kitchen (ei2) there is a weeping willow (垂, 垂柳) on which Chantal Chicken sits. Next to the willow, the cat o' nine tails is approaching. Both of them are holding a steel beam (工) in their hands to use as sword in their final encounter.
jar / vat / classifier for loads of laundry / CL:口[kou3]
variant of 毀|毁[hui3] / to destroy by fire / a blaze

= + + : Helga Horse (hu) wants to destroy (毁) a left over steel beam (工) in the Eiffel Tower (ei3) and uses a halberd (殳) to pulverize it in a mortar (臼). During this process she does not only destroy the steel beam, but also the halberd.
to destroy by fire
to destroy / to damage / to ruin / to defame / to slander

= + + : Helga Horse (hu) wants to destroy (毁) a left over steel beam (工) in the Eiffel Tower (ei3) and uses a halberd (殳) to pulverize it in a mortar (臼). During this process she does not only destroy the steel beam, but also the halberd.
to destroy; to ruin / to defame; to slander
variant of 毀|毁[hui3] / to defame / to slander

= + + : Helga Horse (hu) wants to destroy (毁) a left over steel beam (工) in the Eiffel Tower (ei3) and uses a halberd (殳) to pulverize it in a mortar (臼). During this process she does not only destroy the steel beam, but also the halberd.
underground watercourse / archaic variant of 經|经[jing1]

Words with 工

to go to work / to start work
to put in time and energy / to concentrate one's efforts
to knock off (at the end of a day's work) / to finish work
G7, the group of 7 industrialized countries: US, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Canada (now G8, including Russia)

Sentences with 工

工 currently does not appear in any sentence.