as in struggling
to devote serious and sustained effort
the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief
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Recent Examples of laboring
Imagine a place of employment where everyone in the building is laboring to live out their childhood dream.
—
Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 10 May 2026
Just three had received fewer innings per game from their starters, increasing the burden on a bullpen laboring under the strain.
—Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 7 May 2026
For the rest of us, the construction kickoff means delay upon delay as streets, avenues and roads are awash with heavy equipment and construction workers laboring with jackhammers, picks and shovels.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
Trump poses as a pro-worker force, but his policies are atrocious for the laboring class.
—Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
Put differently, eliminating tax on overtime reduces the number of hours each day that hourly workers are laboring not for themselves or their families but for the government.
—Stephen Moore, Boston Herald, 10 Apr. 2026
The difference early was that Keller was throwing strikes at an astonishing rate and quickly working through his innings, while King was laboring.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2026
Alongside the currently missing McDaniels and Edwards, Naz Reid is clearly laboring.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 6 Apr. 2026
That took hundreds of people within Apple laboring over technical details like the screen’s lamination and moisture rejection, according to a former Apple engineering leader.
—Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 1 Apr. 2026
Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 10 May 2026
Just three had received fewer innings per game from their starters, increasing the burden on a bullpen laboring under the strain.
—Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 7 May 2026
For the rest of us, the construction kickoff means delay upon delay as streets, avenues and roads are awash with heavy equipment and construction workers laboring with jackhammers, picks and shovels.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
Trump poses as a pro-worker force, but his policies are atrocious for the laboring class.
—Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
Put differently, eliminating tax on overtime reduces the number of hours each day that hourly workers are laboring not for themselves or their families but for the government.
—Stephen Moore, Boston Herald, 10 Apr. 2026
The difference early was that Keller was throwing strikes at an astonishing rate and quickly working through his innings, while King was laboring.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2026
Alongside the currently missing McDaniels and Edwards, Naz Reid is clearly laboring.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 6 Apr. 2026
That took hundreds of people within Apple laboring over technical details like the screen’s lamination and moisture rejection, according to a former Apple engineering leader.
—Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 1 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laboring
Verb
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Many libraries’ orders went unfulfilled, and all but the largest ones were left struggling to get popular titles to their patrons.—
Adeel Hassan,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
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Across Oahu’s North Shore, an area famed for its big-wave surfing, the small farms that help supply the island’s food are struggling after back-to-back storms in March brought the state’s worst flooding in two decades.—
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
Verb
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The world cracked open, and now everyone’s striving to fit the jagged pieces back into a box called civilized society.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
15 May 2026
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After the shocking results of the 2024 election, seven friends split between Black Democrats and Black Republicans gather for dinner to debate American politics, striving to find common ground over food, drinks, and laughter.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
Verb
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By late summer, as the government’s funding was set to run out again, Jeffries was working closely with Schumer to make sure that Democrats in the House and the Senate were in alignment.—
Jason Zengerle,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
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Across all of them, AI is working where the operating model was ready for it.—
Dennis Woodside,
Fortune,
17 May 2026
Verb
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The president signed an executive order on March 31 that attempts to change the rules on mail-in voting, and his allies in Congress are endeavoring to reshape elections ahead of the midterms this fall, spending weeks debating a voter-ID bill that is almost certainly doomed.—
Shane Harris,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
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Maryland’s Republican leaders would do well to listen to Bouchat and to follow his example rather than endeavoring to expel him from office for doing little more than stating the obvious.—
Chris Roemer,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This is, of course, nothing new to the series, and the players that don’t want to spend ages toiling away for a single car, let alone a single part, looking to simply hop on their couch and straight into a GR GT will appreciate this.—
Adam Ismail,
The Drive,
14 May 2026
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Salieri, despite Bettany’s compelling performance, is a wearisome figure consumed by jealousy while clearly toiling under a storm of religious psychosis.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Laboring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laboring. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
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