cold work vs work on

cold work and work on both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
cold work	No	No	Yes	No
work on	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, work on is a hypernym of cold work; that is, work on is a word with a broader meaning than cold work:

Other hypernyms of cold work include process, work.

cold work (verb)	work on (verb)
shape (metal) without heat	shape, form, or improve a material
	to exert effort in order to do, make, or perform something