belabour

/bi'leibə/

Thân thiện

The teacher belabours the point with another example on the whiteboard.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To attack verbally with harsh criticism: To criticize someone severely and repeatedly.
   • To beat soundly: To hit someone or something repeatedly and forcefully.
   • To work at or discuss something to an excessive or absurd length: To elaborate on a point far more than is necessary or reasonable.

Usage Examples

• Verb (Criticize):
  • The politician was belaboured by the press for his controversial remarks.
  • He tends to belabour his employees for minor mistakes.
• Verb (Beat):
  • The old tale describes a hero who belaboured the dragon with his sword. (Note: This sense is now rare in modern usage.)
• Verb (Over-elaborate):
  • There's no need to belabour the point; we all understand the issue.
  • The speaker belaboured the details of the plan until the audience grew restless.

Advanced Usage

• "to belabour under a misapprehension": This is a less common, somewhat archaic construction meaning to struggle with or be burdened by a misunderstanding. It is often considered a confusion with "labour under."
  • He was belabouring under the illusion that he was not at fault.

Variants and Related Words

• Belabor: The standard American English spelling of 'belabour'.
• Laboured/Labored (adj): Done with great effort; not fluent or natural.
  • His breathing was laboured after the run.
  • She gave a laboured explanation.

Synonyms

• Verb (Criticize): Berate, lambaste, castigate, upbraid.
• Verb (Beat): Thrash, pummel, batter.
• Verb (Over-elaborate): Overdo, dwell on, harp on, flog (a dead horse).

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

• Belabour the point: To repeatedly or excessively stress an argument or detail.
  • I won't belabour the point, but this is our final warning.

Related Idioms

• To flog/belabour a dead horse: To waste effort on something that is no longer relevant or possible. (This idiom uses the sense of 'belabour' as 'to beat').
  • Arguing about the old policy is just belabouring a dead horse.

Học thuật

Verb

1. attack verbally with harsh criticism
   • She was belabored by her fellow students
2. beat soundly
3. to work at or to absurd length
   • belabor the obvious

Từ đồng nghĩa

• belabor