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 Five of the six people killed were Hindus, a mix of day laborers who appeared to be caught in the violence and members of the right-wing group. Hari Kumar, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2023 The frantic scene — repeated again and again every morning here at an intersection where day laborers hope to pick up shifts — is testament to the bleak job prospects in the world’s second-largest economy. Christian Shepherd, Vic Chiang, Lillian Yang and Theodora Yu, The Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News, 26 July 2023 The 47-year-old day laborer works in the fields to support his family, but can’t make an income with most of the surrounding farmland underwater. Susannah George, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2022 The Donut Villa used to be a depot for day laborers. Detroit Free Press, 30 Mar. 2023 The war was still raging back home when Constant in 1999 hitched on as a day laborer with the construction crew building the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, about 15-20 minutes northeast of Washington D.C., and roughly 4,300 miles, and a lifetime, northwest of Sierra Leone. Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2022 So 21 years ago, Mr. Jones was here working as a day laborer. Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 23 Apr. 2022 Mendoza was a day laborer and farmworker. Andres Picon, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Sep. 2021 But the day laborer from west of Boynton Beach didn’t get far, as other crew members caught and held him until deputies arrived. Marc Freeman, sun-sentinel.com, 29 Aug. 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'day laborer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1528, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of day laborer was in 1528

Dictionary Entries Near day laborer

Cite this Entry

“Day laborer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/day%20laborer. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.

Kids Definition

day laborer

noun
: one who works by the day or for daily wages especially as an unskilled laborer
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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