laborer
noun
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Definition of laborer
: one that labors specifically : a person who does unskilled physical work for wages
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Synonyms for laborer
Synonyms
dogsbody [chiefly British], drone, drudge, drudger, fag, foot soldier, grub, grubber, grunt, peon, plugger, slave, slavey, slogger, toiler, worker
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Examples of laborer in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That category, which is distinct from farm laborers, houses 3.5% of the oldest workers — but just 0.5% of the rest of the population. — Andrew Van Dam, latimes.com, "A record number of folks age 85 and older are working. Here's what they're doing," 5 July 2018 The company, which specializes in putting together variety packs of beers for Miller and other brewers, has had a particularly hard time holding on to unskilled laborers, who pack bottles into boxes and load them onto pallets. — Ben Casselman, New York Times, "Robots or Job Training: Manufacturers Grapple With How to Improve Their Economic Fortunes," 25 June 2018 Chinese laborers began working day and night to get the port ready, officials said. — Maria Abi-habib, New York Times, "How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port," 25 June 2018 Chinese laborers, imported to work on the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s, came to San Diego in the 1880s to build the California Southern from National City to San Bernardino. — Roger Showley, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Sorrento Mesa and Valley: From railroad roots to a superconductor future," 22 June 2018 County officials say 100 contract laborers work at the plant and will be affected. — Robert A. Cronkleton And Matt Campbell, kansascity, "Procter & Gamble will close Kansas City, Kan., plant | The Kansas City Star," 7 Feb. 2018 There was no difference in the mortality of the sons of exchange period ex-POWs and non-POWs, although these groups of fathers were not indistinguishable; the ex-POWs had generally enlisted younger and tended to be laborers rather than farmers. — Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, "Trauma of US Civil War POW experience affected the next generation," 22 Oct. 2018 The heat can dehydrate laborers, and higher temperatures demand more frequent breaks. — Umair Irfan, Vox, "Extreme heat has already killed several outdoor workers this summer, and climate change will heat waves more costly.," 27 July 2018 Early on, Tom and Will are caught in the park and brought by social services into a small rural community where Will works as a laborer on a Christmas tree farm and dutifully attends church with his daughter. — Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, "'Leave No Trace' shows empathy for those on the fringes of society," 29 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'laborer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for laborer
laborer
noun
English Language Learners Definition of laborer
: a person who does hard physical work for money
See the full definition for laborer in the English Language Learners Dictionary
laborer
noun
\
Kids Definition of laborer
: a person who does physical work for pay a farm laborer
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