day laborer

noun

: one who works for daily wages especially as an unskilled laborer

Examples of day laborer in a Sentence

They hire day laborers to pick the apples.

Recent Examples on the Web

Employees have become burned out and morally conflicted as their focus has shifted from pursuing drug smugglers and human traffickers to apprehending asylum seekers in courthouses and arresting day laborers at their worksites. — Francisco Cantú, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026

The farm has also had to send home about 20% of its day laborers. — Tara Lynch, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026

These actions were targeted based on people’s skin color and their jobs — construction workers, landscapers, street vendors and day laborers. — Jesus Chuy Garcia, Chicago Tribune, 8 Sep. 2026

One of those locations, Kennedy Park, is where, in 2006, a group of day laborers were lured into a van by a local police officer posing as a construction worker. — Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 31 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1528, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

day laborer

noun

: one who works by the day or for daily wages especially as an unskilled laborer