hard labor

noun

: compulsory labor of imprisoned criminals as a part of the prison discipline

Examples of hard labor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The story centers on Darrow, a young miner who is a Red, the lowest on the ladder and a people who exist to do hard labor. — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026

The country’s parliament overwhelmingly passed the measure in a landmark vote, making life sentence with hard labor the highest penalty that can be imposed. — Mohamad El Chamaa, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2026

Accused of murder and sentenced to death, Giovanni avoided the guillotine after his punishment was commuted to hard labor. — Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026

Harvesting homegrown vegetables is infinitely fulfilling; that’s when all your hard labor planting and caring for the plants pays off. — Amy Brightfield, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hard labor

• belabor
• nonlabor
• neighbor
• neighbour
• saber
• sabre
• tabor

Legal Definition

hard labor

noun

: compulsory labor imposed upon prisoners as part of a sentence or as prison discipline