1
as in job
a dull, unpleasant, or difficult piece of work
one of the labors of Hercules in classical mythology was to clean out the stables of King Augeas
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in effort
the active use of energy in producing a result
a superhuman amount of labor must have gone into designing and building the pyramids of Egypt
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in toil
very hard or unpleasant work
a political dissident forced to do six months of hard labor in the salt mines as punishment
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in childbirth
the act or process of giving birth to children
the mother's labor lasted for six hours
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5
as in production
something produced by physical or intellectual effort
a small, personal film that was clearly a labor of love for the director and actors
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as in to struggle
to devote serious and sustained effort
the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of labor
Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 30 Sep. 2025
The film directly points to the enemy, wealthy white supremacists who have inserted themselves into positions of political and military power, and ownership over businesses built on immigrant labor.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2025
Chiefs players spent training camp laboring at hot, humid Missouri Western State University.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for labor
Noun
And the integration of post-communist nations into the European Union trading bloc proved to be a huge boon for German manufacturers, who were able to find new customers and establish more efficient supply chains with access to cheaper labor and resources across the former Iron Curtain.
—Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 30 Sep. 2025
The film directly points to the enemy, wealthy white supremacists who have inserted themselves into positions of political and military power, and ownership over businesses built on immigrant labor.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
While such a scenario sounds potentially maudlin and manipulative, Lucero — who wrote the film from a personal place — never allows that to happen by making the characters complex and flawed, and laboring under real-life issues.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2025
Chiefs players spent training camp laboring at hot, humid Missouri Western State University.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for labor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for labor
Noun
-
Your entire life is tied to your job.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
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Some have said the move could have a positive impact on job opportunities.—
John Feng,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The Democratic nominee for mayor also gave a speech at an African Methodist church, an effort to bridge the gap with apprehensive Black voters.—
Amie Parnes,
The Hill,
1 Oct. 2025
-
The improved profitability came as Beijing intensified efforts to rein in excess supply and aggressive price wars that had hurt companies' bottom line.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The emotional toil caused by doomscrolling has been shown to cause real harm.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
22 Sep. 2025
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Belly’s response is meant to come off sweet, but instead is both withering and accurate, because no 10-year-old should be that familiar with the myth of Sisyphus or the curse of endless toil.—
Thomas Page,
CNN Money,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The birthing scene in episode 11 was the most accurate, gory, and riveting fictional depiction of childbirth in television history, in my opinion.—
Kathleen Newman-Bremang,
Refinery29,
29 Sep. 2025
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Not to mention the potential benefits of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy after childbirth.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Tesla had a first-mover advantage in China in 2013, leveraging the government’s support of EVs with subsidies and incentives and its production base and opening a gigafactory in Shanghai in 2019.—
Rebecca A. Fannin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
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Cooperations are one key strategy for the future of the streamer in Spain, Fábregas signaled, calling co-productions a new emerging model and mentioning two upcoming co-productions that have yet to be announced.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The arrival of Clark and other high-profile young players have contributed to a boom in popularity for the long-struggling league.—
Kevin Dotson,
CNN Money,
4 Oct. 2025
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The Broncos are 2-2 and coming off a dominating 28-3 victory over the struggling Cincinnati Bengals.—
Hunter Simpson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
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If the thought of budgeting gives you a headache, there's another way to approach managing your money without tracking every expense or obsessing over spreadsheets.—
Andreina Rodriguez,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
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Symptoms of the more serious illness include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis, according to the CDC.—
Madeline Heim,
jsonline.com,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But according to government guidance, personnel must return home as soon as possible if a shutdown occurs while on work travel.—
Anne Flaherty,
ABC News,
30 Sep. 2025
-
His work with rural counties has earned favorable notices, but in urban areas like Phoenix, many of the experts in Joan's reporting raised questions about Livar's effectiveness.—
Shaun McKinnon,
AZCentral.com,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labor. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
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