labor
productive activity, especially for the sake of economic gain.
the body of persons engaged in such activity, especially those working for wages.
this body of persons considered as a class (distinguished from management and capital).
physical or mental work, especially of a hard or fatiguing kind; toil.
a job or task done or to be done.
the physical effort and periodic uterine contractions of childbirth.
the interval from the onset of these contractions to childbirth.
(initial capital letter)Also called Labor Department .Informal. the Department of Labor.
to strive, as toward a goal; work hard (often followed by for): to labor for peace.
to act, behave, or function at a disadvantage (usually followed by under): to labor under a misapprehension.
to be in the actual process of giving birth.
to roll or pitch heavily, as a ship.
to develop or dwell on in excessive detail: Don't labor the point.
to burden or tire: to labor the reader with unnecessary detail.
British Dialect. to work or till (soil or the like).
of or relating to workers, their associations, or working conditions: labor reforms.
Origin of labor
1- Also especially British, la·bour .
word story For labor
The Latin etymology for labor is obscure: the noun may be related to the verb lābī (which has a long ā ) “to move smoothly, slide” (commonly with implication of downward movement). Lābī in its turn may be related to labāre (with a short a in the root syllable) “to be unsteady on one’s feet, falter, totter.” These derivatives of lāb- and lab- may be related to the Latin nouns labium (the source of English labial ) and labrum, both meaning “lip” and, outside Latin, to the Greek noun lobós “lobe (of the ear, liver, or lung), pod (of a vegetable), slip (of a plant)” (and source of English lobe ).
Other words for labor
2 | working people, working class |
4 | exertion |
6 | parturition, delivery |
9 | drudge |
14 | belabor, overdo |
Opposites for labor
Other words from labor
- la·bor·ing·ly, adverb
- la·bor·less, adjective
- an·ti·la·bor, adjective
- non·la·bor, adjective
- outlabor, verb (used with object)
- o·ver·la·bor, verb (used with object)
- pre·la·bor, noun, verb (used without object)
- pro·la·bor, adjective
- un·la·bor·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use labor in a sentence
If companies are found to have used forced labor from the region, they could be prosecuted for securities violations.
Apple is lobbying against a bill aimed at stopping forced labor in China | Reed Albergotti | November 20, 2020 | Washington PostYou see, if it wasn’t for child labor, I don’t know if I’d be here.
The Stolen Childhood of Teenage Factory Workers | by Melissa Sanchez | November 20, 2020 | ProPublicaMore than 300 captive people labored there as both skilled and unskilled workers.
George Washington’s 1795 Thanksgiving celebrated liberty. But the chef behind the feast had none. | Ramin Ganeshram | November 19, 2020 | Washington PostIn New Bedford, Massachusetts, an indigenous Guatemalan labor leader has heard complaints from adult workers in the fish-packing industry who say they’re losing their jobs to 14-year-olds.
Inside the Lives of Immigrant Teens Working Dangerous Night Shifts in Suburban Factories | by Melissa Sanchez | November 19, 2020 | ProPublicaThe company claims up to a 95-percent reduction in labor required to construct its prefab homes, which would free up those contractors to build more.
A new material allows this company to 3D print most of a house in a single day | Stan Horaczek | November 18, 2020 | Popular-Science
Rescue workers had been laboring at ground zero every hour since the disaster.
The key for Santorum is being able to rebuild the supporter infrastructure that he spent so much time laboring to create in 2012.
Bartilla is laboring with an immediate crisis with basic services.
Ruettiger struggled to even get admitted to Notre Dame, laboring through junior college where he was diagnosed as dyslexic.
7 Great Football Flicks From Horse Feathers to Friday Night Lights | The Daily Beast | January 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe U.S. military, meanwhile, it seemed to me was laboring under an entirely different misapprehension.
It now became evident, even to the infatuated Gray, that Mrs. Irvin was laboring under the influence of tremendous excitement.
Dope | Sax Rohmer"Laboring People" followed in 1881, when Kielland sold out his business and became purely a man of letters.
Skipper Worse | Alexander Lange KiellandIf you meet with Christian hermits in the solitudes, serving God and laboring with their hands, do them no harm.
The Pilgrim's Shell or Fergan the Quarryman | Eugne SueNothing could have relieved Boggs from the suspense under which he was laboring more than this last remark.
The History and Records of the Elephant Club | Knight Russ Ockside and Q. K. Philander DoesticksAs a rule strikes do not occur where laboring men are treated with the consideration due them as free citizens.
British Dictionary definitions for labor
/ (ˈleɪbə) /
the US spelling of labour
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for labor
[ lā′bər ]
The process by which the birth of a mammal occurs, beginning with contractions of the uterus and ending with the expulsion of the fetus and the placenta.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for labor
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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