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labor

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la⋅bor

  [ley-ber]
Use labor in a Sentence
–noun
1. productive activity, esp. for the sake of economic gain.
2. the body of persons engaged in such activity, esp. those working for wages.
3. this body of persons considered as a class (distinguished from management and capital ).
4. physical or mental work, esp. of a hard or fatiguing kind; toil.
5. a job or task done or to be done.
6. the physical effort and periodic uterine contractions of childbirth.
7. the interval from the onset of these contractions to childbirth.
8. (initial capital letter) Also called Labor Department. Informal. the Department of Labor.
–verb (used without object)
9. to perform labor; exert one's powers of body or mind; work; toil.
10. to strive, as toward a goal; work hard (often fol. by for): to labor for peace.
11. to act, behave, or function at a disadvantage (usually fol. by under): to labor under a misapprehension.
12. to be in the actual process of giving birth.
13. to roll or pitch heavily, as a ship.
–verb (used with object)
14. to develop or dwell on in excessive detail: Don't labor the point.
15. to burden or tire: to labor the reader with unnecessary detail.
16. British Dialect. to work or till (soil or the like).
–adjective
17. of or pertaining to workers, their associations, or working conditions: labor reforms.
Also, especially British, labour.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME labour < MF < L labōr- (s. of labor) work

Related forms:
la⋅bor⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
la⋅bor⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
2. working people, working class. 4. exertion. See work. 6. parturition, delivery. 9. drudge. 14. overdo.

Antonyms:
1, 4. idleness; leisure. 1, 4, 9. rest.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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la·bor   (lā'bər)   
n.  

    1. Physical or mental exertion, especially when difficult or exhausting; work. See Synonyms at work.

    2. Something produced by work.

    3. Workers considered as a group.

    4. The trade union movement, especially its officials.

  2. A specific task.

  3. A particular form of work or method of working: manual labor.

  4. Work for wages.

    1. Workers considered as a group.

    2. The trade union movement, especially its officials.

  6. Labor A political party representing workers' interests, especially in Great Britain.

  7. The process by which childbirth occurs, beginning with contractions of the uterus and ending with the expulsion of the fetus or infant and the placenta.

v.   la·bored, la·bor·ing, la·bors

v.   intr.

  1. To work; toil: labored in the fields.

  2. To strive painstakingly: labored over the needlepoint.

    1. To proceed with great effort; plod: labored up the hill.

    2. Nautical To pitch and roll.

  4. To suffer from distress or a disadvantage: labored under the misconception that others were cooperating.

  5. To undergo the efforts of childbirth.

v.   tr.

  1. To deal with in exhaustive or excessive detail; belabor: labor a point in the argument.

  2. To distress; burden: I will not labor you with trivial matters.

adj.  

  1. Of or relating to labor.

  2. Labor Of or relating to a Labor Party.


[Middle English, from Old French labour, from Latin labor.]
la'bor·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

labor

The physical processes at the end of a normal pregnancy, including opening of the cervix and contractions of the uterus, that lead to the birth of the baby.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

labor  (n.)
c.1300, "exertion of the body," from O.Fr. labour (Fr. labeur), from L. laborem (nom. labor) "toil, pain, exertion, fatigue, work," perhaps originally "tottering under a burden," related to labere "to totter." The verb is c.1300, from M.Fr. labourer, from L. laborare, from labor. The verb in modern Fr., Sp., Port. means "to plow;" the wider sense being taken by the equivalent of Eng. travail. Meaning "body of laborers considered as a class" (usually contrasted to capitalists) is from 1839; Labour "the British Labour Party" is from 1906. Sense of "physical exertions of childbirth" is 1595, from Fr. en travail "in (childbirth) suffering" (see travail). Labor Day first marked 1882 in New York City.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1la·bor
Variant: or British la·bour /'lA-b&r/
Function: noun
: the physical activities involved inparturition consisting essentially of a prolonged series of involuntary contractions of the uterine musculature together with both reflex and voluntary contractions of the abdominal wall labor> labor after a fall>; also : the period of time during which such labor takes place

Main Entry: 2labor
Variant: or British labour
Function: intransitive verb
: to be in the labor of giving birth
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

labor la·bor (lā'bər)
n.
The physical efforts of expulsion of the fetus and the placenta from the uterus during parturition. v. la·bored, la·bor·ing, la·bors
To undergo the efforts of childbirth.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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