Definition

1. Noun:

   • Work, especially physical work: The exertion of physical or mental effort to perform a task, often for wages.
   • The body of workers: The people who do physical work, considered as a social or economic class.
   • The process of childbirth: The period and process of contractions and effort leading to the birth of a child.
   • A task or undertaking: A specific piece of work, often difficult or requiring great effort.
   • An organized workers' movement: A group or political party representing the interests of workers.

2. Verb:

   • To work hard: To exert oneself physically or mentally, especially with great effort or difficulty.
   • To move with difficulty: To proceed slowly or with great effort.
   • To be troubled by something: To suffer under or be burdened by a problem, belief, or condition.
   • To develop or discuss in excessive detail: To treat a subject at unnecessary length.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The construction project required a great deal of manual labor.
  • The new policy aims to protect the rights of labor.
  • She was in labor for several hours before the baby was born.
  • Writing the book was a true labor of love.

• Verb:

  • He labored all day in the hot sun.
  • The old truck labored up the steep hill.
  • She labored under the mistaken belief that she was to blame.
  • There's no need to labor the point; we all understand.

Advanced Usage

• "a labor of love": A task done for pleasure, not for reward or payment.

  • Restoring the classic car was a labor of love for him.

• "lost labor": Effort that is wasted or produces no result.

  • Trying to convince him was lost labor; he never changes his mind.

• "to be in labor": To be in the process of giving birth.

  • She was rushed to the hospital after she went into labor.

Variants and Related Words

• Laborer (n): A person who does physical work, especially for wages.

  • The laborers began work at dawn.

• Laborious (adj): Requiring considerable time and effort.

  • The laborious task took weeks to complete.

• Labor-intensive (adj): Requiring a large amount of labor relative to capital.

  • Farming is often a labor-intensive industry.

Synonyms

• Work: General activity involving effort.
• Toil: Exhausting physical labor.
• Effort: The use of physical or mental energy.
• Workforce: The body of people available for work.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Labor under: To suffer from a mistaken belief or disadvantage.

  • He has been laboring under the illusion that the job was his.

• Labor over: To work on something slowly and with great care.

  • She labored over the letter for hours.

Related Idioms

• Fruit of one's labor: The positive results or rewards from hard work.

  • After years of study, she finally enjoyed the fruit of her labor with a successful career.

• Hard labor: Punitive physical work, often as a judicial sentence.

  • The convict was sentenced to ten years of hard labor.

Noun

1. any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
   • he prepared for great undertakings
2. the federal department responsible for promoting the working conditions of wage earners in the United States; created in 1913
3. a political party formed in Great Britain in 1900; characterized by the promotion of labor's interests and formerly the socialization of key industries
4. an organized attempt by workers to improve their status by united action (particularly via labor unions) or the leaders of this movement
5. concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child
   • she was in labor for six hours
6. productive work (especially physical work done for wages)
   • his labor did not require a great deal of skill
7. a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
   • there is a shortage of skilled labor in this field

Verb

1. undergo the efforts of childbirth
2. work hard
   • She was digging away at her math homework
   • Lexicographers drudge all day long
3. strive and make an effort to reach a goal
   • She tugged for years to make a decent living
   • We have to push a little to make the deadline!
   • She is driving away at her doctoral thesis