slave labor

noun

variants US slave labor or chiefly British slave labour
1
: work that is done by enslaved people or by people who are treated as though they are enslaved
prisoners being forced to do slave labor
a slave labor camp
2
: enslaved people doing work
The pyramids were built by slave labor.
slave laborer noun
(chiefly US) or chiefly British slave labourer
plural slave laborers
… The Statue of Freedom—the figure of a Native American woman warrior that stands on the dome—was cast in bronze by slave laborers in 1863 and hoisted up there. Jack E. White

Examples of slave labor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This is due to the cotton plant’s association with transatlantic slave labor. Jessica Bennett, VIBE.com, 26 Sep. 2025 That requires mining all over the planet, much of it involving widespread destruction of croplands and wildlife habitats, extensive child and slave labor, and enormous amounts of toxic air and water pollution. Craig Rucker, Boston Herald, 26 Sep. 2025 What regulated actual Southern credit markets, when bondpeople were used as collateral for loans, were surpluses from slave labor, not short-term fluctuations in slave prices. Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025 Yeah, slave labor built a lot of those cell phones, don't see anyone screeching about a security audit... top comment 2 Older Pixel Phones Reportedly Suffer From Battery-Swelling Problems 6d My wife's pixel 6pro had this issue about a month ago. PC Magazine, 20 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for slave labor

Word History

First Known Use

1802, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of slave labor was in 1802

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Cite this Entry

“Slave labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20labor. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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