labor

1 of 3

noun

la·​bor ˈlā-bər How to pronounce labor (audio)
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
: an economic group comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
wants the vote of labor in the elections
b
: the organizations or officials representing groups of workers
negotiations between labor and management
c(1)
: workers employed in an establishment
(2)
: workers available for employment
Immigrants provided a source of cheap labor.
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 How to pronounce labor (audio)

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
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
capitalized : of, relating to, or constituting a political party held to represent the interests of workers or made up largely of organized labor groups
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
Israel turns to Indian workers as Gaza war worsens labor shortage But after Oct. 7, when Hamas and other militants killed around 1,200 people, authorities imposed a near-total ban on Palestinians working in Israel or its settlements in the West Bank. Claire Parker, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024 More news:An Indiana state senator could benefit from her bill easing child labor laws. Brittany Carloni, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Mar. 2024 In the meantime, many employers are still contending with labor shortages. Paul Wiseman, Quartz, 9 Mar. 2024 The county’s unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in January, up from 4.3 percent the previous month, state labor officials said this week. Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2024 The president introduced Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, and Dawn Simms, a third-generation UAW worker in Belvidere, Illinois, to celebrate the end of the historic strike last year that resulted in a labor agreement with the Detroit Big 3 auto manufacturers. Stefan Becket, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2024 In June, prosecutors charged him with a third felony — obtaining money, labor or property by false pretenses. Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024 On Tuesday, Continuum publicized an agreement with the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella group of construction worker unions, to build Fourth & Central with all union labor, including requirements that workers be hired locally. Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024 But that is rarely, if ever, the case in practice, because of the all-hours nature of the job, workers and labor groups said. Stefanos Chen, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Verb
Some songs are labored over for days and don’t even make the album. Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2024 The chamber labored to get to a final vote just hours before the midnight deadline for the first set of appropriations bills. Kevin Freking, Quartz, 9 Mar. 2024 So Friday labored under handicaps in presenting itself as the start of a season from which so much is expected. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2024 Making the movie left the duo laboring for 100 days in the oppressive heat of the Oklahoma plains. Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024 Kubiak's quarterback will be Derek Carr, who labored through injuries during the first half of the 2023 season, but performed better down the stretch as the Saints won four of their last five games to finish 9-8 and narrowly miss the playoffs. Brett Martel, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2024 But the package faces steep obstacles in a Congress laboring to tackle even the basic work of funding the government. Kayla Guo, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2024 Now, as at other historic cemeteries, volunteers labor admirably to keep the place in the trim. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024 The often-shocking stories shared on the page — ranging from people nodding off at the wheel after long workdays, to one crewmember allegedly laboring for 39 days straight — touched a nerve at a time when crew union IATSE was negotiating rest periods with studios in a new labor contract. Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Feb. 2024
Adjective
The most proactive airlines will rely not only on top line increases to cover the new labor costs, but find ways to become more efficient in the non-labor portions of their cost structure. Ben Baldanza, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023 The ruling arrives under the recommendation of the labor board’s top legal counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, a Biden appointee, who has expanded the agency’s tool kit in some unprecedented ways and could be the president’s best shot at being the most pro-labor president in U.S. history. Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2022 Zurawski said she was diagnosed with cervical insufficiency and preterm pre-labor rupture of membranes, meaning the fetus would not survive and her life was at risk. Caroline Linton, CBS News, 7 Mar. 2023 For hospitals in Alaska and Hawaii, Medicare adjusts the non-labor portion of the DRG base payment amount because of the higher cost of living. Nick Blackmer, Verywell Health, 24 Mar. 2023 President of the Alaska AFL-CIO Joelle Hall, who heads Putting Alaskans First, said there is an overlap between candidates who are pro-labor, support bipartisan coalitions and want to keep the state’s new voting system intact. Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News, 3 Nov. 2022 Farther north, Midwestern Democrats are coalescing around Chicago's pro-labor history and proximity to perennial battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin in their case for the nation's third-largest city. Alisa Wiersema, ABC News, 24 Feb. 2023 Biden is the most pro-labor president since Harry Truman, but until now most of the heavy lifting has been done by Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel at the National Labor Relations Board. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 17 Feb. 2023 Founded in the 1940s by President Juan Domingo Peron and gaining international prominence via his wife, Eva, Peronism is historically a pro-labor political force with populist leanings that favors state intervention. Patrick Gillespie, Bloomberg.com, 11 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'labor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of labor was in the 14th century

Cite this Entry

“Labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/labor. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

labor

1 of 2 noun
la·​bor ˈlā-bər How to pronounce labor (audio)
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 How to pronounce labor (audio)
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
: 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

More from Merriam-Webster on labor

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