labor

1 of 3

noun

la·​bor ˈlā-bər 

plural labors

1

a

: expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory

was sentenced to six months at hard labor

b(1)

: the services performed by workers for wages as distinguished from those rendered by entrepreneurs for profits

(2)

: human activity that provides the goods or services in an economy

Industry needs labor for production.

c

: the physical activities (such as dilation of the cervix and contraction of the uterus) involved in giving birth

also : the period of such labor

2

a

: workers considered as a group

The institute … lacks the ready supply of cheap labor—graduate students—that teaching institutions have.

—Ann Gibbons

especially : an economic group comprising those who do manual labor or who work for wages (see wage entry 1 sense 1a) rather than a salary

wants the vote of labor in the elections

Organized labor [=labor unions considered as a group], for all its faults, acted as an effective countervailing power for decades, representing not just its own interests, but the interests of virtually the entire wage-earning class against the investor class.

—Kevin Drum

—often used before another noun

efforts to cut labor costs [=costs associated with paying workers]

see also labor force

b

: the organizations or officials that represent groups of workers

negotiations between labor and management

see also labor union

3

usually Labour : the Labour party of the United Kingdom or of another part of the Commonwealth of Nations

4

: an act or process requiring labor : task

The three-month project evolved into a year-long labor.

5

: a product of labor

The flood destroyed the labor of years.

labor

2 of 3

verb

labored; laboring ˈlā-b(ə-)riŋ  ; labors

intransitive verb

1

: to exert one's powers of body or mind especially with painful or strenuous effort : work

2

: to move with great effort

the truck labored up the hill

3

: to suffer from some disadvantage or distress

labor under a delusion

4

: to be in the labor of giving birth

5

of a ship : to pitch or roll heavily

transitive verb

1

: to treat or work out in often laborious detail

labor the obvious

2

: distress, burden

3

: to cause to labor

4

archaic

a

: to spend labor on or produce by labor

b

: to strive to effect or achieve

labor

3 of 3

adjective

1

: of or relating to labor

2

Labor : of, relating to, or constituting a political party held to represent the interests of workers or made up largely of organized labor groups

Synonyms

Noun

• bear
• beast
• chore
• headache
• job
• killer

Verb

• bang away
• beaver (away)
• dig (away)
• drudge
• endeavor
• fag
• grub
• hump
• hustle
• moil
• peg (away)
• plod
• plow
• plug
• slave
• slog
• strain
• strive
• struggle
• sweat
• toil
• travail
• tug
• work

Choose the Right Synonym for labor

work, labor, travail, toil, drudgery, grind mean activity involving effort or exertion.

work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

Examples of labor in a Sentence

Noun

A day's labor should get the job done.

Getting the job done will require many hours of difficult labor.

He rested from his labors.

The cost of repairing the car includes parts and labor.

an area in which there is a shortage of cheap labor

The proposed new law is opposed by organized labor.

She went into labor this morning.

She has been in labor for several hours.

She began to have labor pains this morning.

She had a difficult labor.

Verb

Workers labored in the vineyard.

He labored for several years as a miner.

She has labored in vain to convince them to accept her proposal.

We should honor those who labored so long to make the truth known.

The truck labored up the hill.

I have been laboring through this book for months.

She has a tendency to labor the obvious.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Meanwhile, large estates may face lower labor productivity and escalating costs to maintain soil quality and water availability. —Dianne Plummer, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025

Other unions have filed challenges to the executive order, but the engineers’ labor group was the first to secure a complaint against the Governor’s Office. —William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 21 May 2025

Verb

Brightline has labored to increase ridership along its 170-mile extension to Orlando from West Palm Beach. —David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 20 May 2025

Each creator contributed immensely to American art and culture, while laboring in an industry that, until recently, produced very little financial rewards or respect. —Rob Salkowitz, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025

Adjective

Though Studio Ghibli itself has had its share of labor issues in the present day, the studio was built on progressive, pro-labor politics. —Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2025

The remarks came a day after ABC News reported concern among labor unions about the Arizona senator as a potential running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris due to his unwillingness to back the pro-labor legislation. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 24 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun, Verb, and Adjective

Middle English, from Anglo-French labur, from Latin labor; perhaps akin to Latin labare to totter, labi to slip — more at sleep

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Adjective

1526, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing labor

• anti-labor
• division of labor
• forced labor
• hard labor
• labor/belabor the point
• labor camp
• labor costs
• labor force
• labor-intensive
• labor market
• labor relations
• labor the point
• labor under a delusion/misapprehension/misconception
• labor under the misconception
• labor union
• organized labor
• slave labor
• stoop labor

Rhymes for labor

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

Kids Definition

labor

1 of 2 noun

la·​bor ˈlā-bər 

1

: physical or mental effort especially when hard or required : toil, work

2

a

: the services performed by workers for wages

b

: those who do labor for wages

3

: the physical efforts and pain of giving birth

also : the period of such labor

4

: something that requires work : task

labor

2 of 2 verb

labored; laboring -b(ə-)riŋ 

1

: to work hard

2

: to move with great effort

the truck labored up the hill

Medical Definition

labor

1 of 2 noun

la·​bor

variants or British labour

ˈlā-bər 

: the physical activities involved in childbirth consisting essentially of a prolonged series of involuntary contractions of the uterine musculature together with both reflex and voluntary contractions of the abdominal wall

drugs that induce labor

went into labor after a fall

also : the period of time during which such labor takes place

labor

2 of 2 intransitive verb

variants or British labour

: to be in the labor of giving birth