Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: weorth 'worthy, of a particular value'

worth

1 preposition
     
worth1 S1 W2
1

be worth something

a) to have a value in money:
The house must be worth quite a lot of money now.
One of the pictures is worth £50,000.
Do you know how much the ring is worth?
This art collection is worth a fortune (=worth a very large amount of money).
be worth nothing/not be worth anything
It's a very old machine so I shouldn't think it's worth anything.
b) to have money or possessions that have value:
I've heard that he's worth over $2 million.
The man who founded the company must be worth a fortune.
2

be worth (doing) something

a) used to say that something is interesting, useful, or helpful:
A lot of the small towns in the area are definitely worth visiting.
The film is well worth seeing.
worth a trip/visit etc
The local museum is worth a visit.
b) used to say that someone should do something because they will gain something from it
it is worth doing something
It's worth checking the details of the contract before you sign it.
It's well worth getting there early if you want a good seat.
be worth the time/effort/work
It was a great evening, and definitely worth all the hard work.
3

be worth it

informal used to say that you gain something from an action:
It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it.
4

be not worth it

informal used to say that you do not gain anything from an action:
I thought about trying to talk to him about it, but decided it wasn't worth it.
5

be worth somebody's while (to do/doing something)

spoken used to say that someone should spend time or money on something because they will gain something from it:
It might be worth your while to talk to the head of department.
Some people feel it's not worth their while working if they can get money from the state.
6

make it worth somebody's while

spoken to offer something to someone so that they will do something for you:
He promised to make it worth our while.
7

what's it worth (to you)?

spoken used humorously to ask someone how they will reward you if you do something for them
8

for what it's worth

spoken used when you are giving someone information, to say that you are not sure how useful it is:
Here's the list of names, for what it's worth.
9

for all you are/he is etc worth

with as much effort as possible:
He was pulling the rope for all he was worth.
10

worth his/her salt

doing their job well or deserving respect:
Any player worth his salt would love to play for his country.
GRAMMAR GRAMMAR

Use worth followed by an amount to say how much money people would pay for something • a necklace worth $10,000!! Worth is never a verb • The house is worth (NOT The house worths) over a million pounds.
 worth, valueWorth can be used as a noun to talk about how much money something is worth, but it is more usual to use value • The value of the property has doubled. • The current value of the car is about £1,000.Worth and value can be used as nouns to talk about how good or useful someone or something is • He has demonstrated his worth/value to the company.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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