labor

1 of 3

noun

la·bor ˈlā-bər

: 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.

: the physical activities (such as dilation of the cervix and contraction of the uterus) involved in giving birth

also : the period of such labor

: an economic group comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages

wants the vote of labor in the elections

: 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.

usually Labour : the Labour party of the United Kingdom or of another part of the Commonwealth of Nations

: an act or process requiring labor : task

The three-month project evolved into a year-long labor.

: a product of labor

The flood destroyed the labor of years.

labor

2 of 3

verb

labored; laboring ˈlā-b(ə-)riŋ

intransitive verb

: to exert one's powers of body or mind especially with painful or strenuous effort : work

: to move with great effort

the truck labored up the hill

: to suffer from some disadvantage or distress

labor under a delusion

: to be in the labor of giving birth

of a ship : to pitch or roll heavily

transitive verb

: to treat or work out in often laborious detail

labor the obvious

: distress, burden

: to cause to labor

archaic

: to spend labor on or produce by labor

: to strive to effect or achieve

labor

3 of 3

adjective

: of or relating to labor

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

Example Sentences

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. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Railway Labor Act was passed in 1926 as one of the very first labor laws in the nation.

Chris Isidore, CNN, 2 Dec. 2022 And more companies are summoning employees back to their offices as the labor market cools.

Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 2 Dec. 2022 Today's Developments Stock futures are wavering ahead of November's jobs report that will highlight how the labor market fared amid rising interest rates and high inflation.

WSJ, 2 Dec. 2022 Qatar has overhauled its labor laws to put in a minimum wage and untie visas from employers, though activists have urged more to be done.

Jon Gambrell, ajc, 25 Nov. 2022 Under child labor laws, with a 9-year-old star such as Catherine Clinch – who turns in an arresting, naturalistic performance as Cáit – shoots with her were restricted to half days.

Will Tizard, Variety, 19 Nov. 2022 He was almost immediately sued by former employees who alleged Musk had violated federal and state labor laws over mass layoffs.

Brian Contreras, Los Angeles Times, 18 Nov. 2022 Some employment experts said the drastic changes could raise issues with state and federal labor laws.

Daniella Silva, NBC News, 17 Nov. 2022 Valente adds that in countries with less protective labor laws, workers often have little bargaining power and can end up being easier targets for dismissal decisions.

Time, 15 Nov. 2022

Verb

Workers who labor 55-hour weeks are a third more likely to suffer a stroke than those working fewer than forty hours.

Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 1 June 2022 That may not be welcome news to the photographers and digital artists who labor to create the images that trained DALL-E and must now compete with the fruits of that training.

Kevin Kelleher, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2022 People labor each day to keep the world clean and running.

Beth Thames | Bethmthames@gmail.com, al, 7 Sep. 2022 This week’s triple-digit heat wave has pounded workers across Southern California, particularly those who labor primarily outdoors or whose workplaces, like many warehouses, lack air conditioning.

Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2022 At large tech companies, temps, vendors, and contractors—dubbed TVCs—often labor alongside permanent employees for less pay, fewer benefits, and weaker job security.

Wired, 8 July 2022 In between work responsibilities, the colleagues tease one another affectionately and fall in and out of love (and in and out again), making the whole idea of having to labor in the mines a little less fraught.

Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2022 Low-wage workers must labor for about 14 hours to fill up their tank.

Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 23 June 2022 Not only do employees labor over circuit boards and code, but there’s a line of four sewing machines in the company’s office for crafting exosuit prototypes.

Scott Kirsner, BostonGlobe.com, 19 June 2022

Adjective

But Biden chose the fourth and absolute worst option, compromising his credibility as a pro-labor president.

Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 1 Dec. 2022 Railroad unions on Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden's call for Congress to intervene in their contract dispute, saying the move undercuts their efforts to improve working conditions and Mr. Biden's claim to be a pro-labor leader.

CBS News, 29 Nov. 2022 Abruzzo is also Biden’s best chance at achieving his goal to be the most pro-labor president in US history.

Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post, 15 Oct. 2022 Perhaps for this reason, some Democrats in the Midwest have been campaigning on a combination of a familiar pro-labor approach to the economy with a much more overt social progressivism, such as Senator Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, and Fetterman.

Benjamin Wallace-wells, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2022 Moreover, Weil’s loss was a blow for Biden, who is certainly the most pro-labor president in decades, perhaps ever.

Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2022 Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, is running the pro-labor group, which has formed each election year over the past few cycles.

Sean Maguire, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Oct. 2022 The effort to avert a strike is a major test for President Joe Biden and his White House, which has positioned itself as one of the most pro-labor administrations ever.

Chris Isidore, CNN, 14 Sep. 2022 His administration has already taken significant steps toward doing so, according to the White House, like appointing a pro-labor attorney as the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel.

Colin Lodewick, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'labor.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/labor. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

labor

1 of 2 noun

la·bor ˈlā-bər

: physical or mental effort especially when hard or required : toil, work

: the services performed by workers for wages

: those who do labor for wages

: the physical efforts and pain of giving birth

also : the period of such labor

: something that requires work : task

labor

2 of 2 verb

labored; laboring -b(ə-)riŋ

: to work hard

: to move with great effort

the truck labored up the hill

Medical Definition

labor

1 of 2 noun

la·bor

variants or British labour

ˈlā-bər

: 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