1
as in headaches
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 efforts
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in toils
very hard or unpleasant work
a political dissident forced to do six months of hard labor in the salt mines as punishment
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in childbirths
the act or process of giving birth to children
the mother's labor lasted for six hours
Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in products
something produced by physical or intellectual effort
a small, personal film that was clearly a labor of love for the director and actors
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in struggles
to devote serious and sustained effort
the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of labors
Elizabeth D. Samet, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025
For all the revelry, there was a tough, discursive seriousness in the approach that Lang and O’Hara took to their labors in the late forties and early fifties.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
These labors are generally absent from estate accounts, though often evident in diaries.
—Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
But ambitious ones have become rarities, much like long magazine features and serious documentaries, surviving either as luxuries created by the privileged few or as labors of love made in the margins by committed independents who will work to keep the form alive.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
Part of what gives AI 2027 its weight is the charts and numbers running along the right side of the web page displaying the fruit of the authors’ labors.
—John Werner, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Noun
So many seem eager to be rid of the labors of thought and expression—the very labors that define them as free and autonomous human beings—by ceding them to generative artificial intelligence.
—Elizabeth D. Samet, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025
For all the revelry, there was a tough, discursive seriousness in the approach that Lang and O’Hara took to their labors in the late forties and early fifties.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
These labors are generally absent from estate accounts, though often evident in diaries.
—Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
But ambitious ones have become rarities, much like long magazine features and serious documentaries, surviving either as luxuries created by the privileged few or as labors of love made in the margins by committed independents who will work to keep the form alive.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
Part of what gives AI 2027 its weight is the charts and numbers running along the right side of the web page displaying the fruit of the authors’ labors.
—John Werner, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for labors
Noun
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Aldo Olivieri, il Gatto Magico (the Magic Cat), who had survived a fractured skull that required drilling to save his life and left him with chronic headaches, became the first-choice goalkeeper.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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But the holiday headaches might get much worse as the government shutdown causes flight reductions at major airports.—
Chris Isidore,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
There is currently no information about the containment efforts for the fire and its cause remains unknown.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
9 Nov. 2025
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And then on Thursday, after most of the show had been written, a man collapsed in the Oval Office, generating an instantly meme-able photograph of the president staring into the camera, looking oblivious to efforts to revive the prone victim at stage left.—
Erik Adams,
The Atlantic,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
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How Tielemans overcame early toils is often used as a source of encouragement by new additions who seem peripheral at first.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In some Michigan counties, Medicaid covers more than half of all childbirths.—
Kristen Jordan Shamus,
Freep.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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According to the market research firm EchoTik, the TikTok Shop sold $19 billion worth of products globally in the third quarter of this year, from July through September.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
10 Nov. 2025
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Cureate does not warehouse or distribute food products, the company buys purchases the food order and the farmer delivers it to the customer, Bryden said.—
Cristina LaRue,
Arkansas Online,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Getting perfectly pinpoint stars can be a struggle from the lack of low-light autofocus and struggles with faint objects in the optical viewfinder.—
Harry Bennett,
Space.com,
10 Nov. 2025
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That quest comes to a screeching halt due to the 2008 recession, as Jackie scrambles to adjust to a new lifestyle while husband David struggles to keep his timeshare empire from crumbling.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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In response, some advocates have called for the government to support the industry — which accounted for around 1% of the US workforce in the latest census — with hundreds of thousands losing their jobs in recent years.—
Prashant Rao,
semafor.com,
11 Nov. 2025
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Congress now appears poised to reopen the government and restart pay ‒ including back pay ‒ for controllers, some of whom took second jobs during the shutdown.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
11 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The news comes in the wake of Lionsgate inking a deal with Millennium Films to acquire rights to develop and produce all derivative works of The Expendables franchise, and global distribution rights to John Rambo.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025
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At Inhotim there are five miles of trails, 24 galleries, and 29 site-specific works scattered around a 350-acre botanical garden.—
William O'Connor,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Labors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labors. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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