Stone work on nearly everything (4)
I believe the answer is:
opal
'stone' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'work on nearly everything' is the wordplay.
'work' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus**).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'nearly' means to remove the last letter.
'everything' becomes 'all' (I've seen this before).
'all' with its final letter taken off is 'al'.
'op'+'al'='OPAL'
(Other definitions for opal that I've seen before include "Semiprecious stone of white and bluish colour" , "Jewellery item" , "Delicately coloured gem" , "Milky-white gemstone with flashes of colour" , "Gem with delicate colours" .)