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

The ruling was intended to stop agents from targeting Home Depots and car washes and detaining brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking day laborers. — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026

The Los Angeles region was rocked last year by sprawling immigration raids targeting day laborers and factory workers. — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 20 May 2026

The productions employed over 425,000 people, hundreds of thousands of extras and day laborers, as well as hundreds of vendors, everything from caterers to historical advisers. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 12 May 2026

Natalie’s husband, Caleb, is the youngest son of a senator and a terrible farmer whose failures on their Idaho land have to be propped up by day laborers, secret barrels of pesticides, and Natalie’s social-media income. — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 11 May 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