Hello All,

I agree with Pat, lets not go down the road of classifying for other reasons than usage by English speakers. The definition of common cites both commonly known and commonly used. Almost any noun attached to "work" would be known (I.E. understood) by English speakers...workhorse, workelephant, worksafe. Not all are commonly used.
Judging from the Ngram view both should now be classified rare, IMHO.

Who would have thought my ignorance would lead to a RIOT!
It is as well so many forumites are there to keep us all on track.
What about my other query? Is sync overtaking synch or are they applied in different situations? There seems a lot of confusion, or indecision, in music industry circles but computer applications seem to have settled on the shorter form.
How say you all?

So sad. I too will miss Les's posts and his larrikin spirit.
Deepest sympathy to his family and many, many friends.
Elizabeth

I, too, had never heard of it but I'm glad to hear of another welfare program US citizens can avail themselves of, there seem so few!

I was surprised to find this categorized as rare in yesterday's standard puzzle. I think most workshops would have at least one and a "vise-like grip" is regularly used to describe crocodiles and other predators. 

And hello from west of the black stump (Western Australia), Katkal.

I did too Jacki but I was not surprised it was rare. I have not often seen the word in print although I came up with the exact same application as you did!