work the room
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To interact and network with people in a social setting
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Tương tác và xây dựng mối quan hệ với mọi người
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to labor or function within a physical space
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The politician worked the room, shaking hands and kissing babies
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “work the room” mean?
To interact and network with people in a social setting Literally: to labor or function within a physical space
Is “work the room” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.