English
labour
see also: Labour
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈleɪ.bə/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈleɪ.bɚ/
Etymology 1

From Middle English labor, labour, labur, from Old French labor (modern labeur) and its etymon, Latin labor.

Noun

labour (British spelling, Canadian spelling, Australian spelling, New Zealand spelling)

  1. Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
    • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC ↗, page 78 ↗:
      […] So I ſet myſelf to enlarge my Cave and Works farther into the Earth; for it was a looſe ſandy Rock, which yielded eaſily to the Labour I beſtowed on it […]
  2. That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort.
    • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC ↗, (please specify the page):
      Being a labour of so great difficulty, the exact performance thereof we may rather wish than look for.
  3. (uncountable) Workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗, pages 364–365 ↗:
      In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.
  4. (uncountable) A political party or force aiming or claiming to represent the interests of labour.
  5. (medicine, obstetrics) The act of a mother giving birth.
  6. The time period during which a mother gives birth.
  7. (nautical) The pitching or tossing of a vessel which results in the straining of timbers and rigging.
  8. (historical) A traditional unit of area in Mexico and Texas, equivalent to 177.1 acres or 71.67 ha.
  9. (uncommon, zoology) A group of moles.
Synonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English labouren, from Old French laborer, from Latin laborare, from labor ("labor, toil, work, exertion"); perhaps remotely akin to robur ("strength").

Verb

labour (labours, present participle labouring; simple past and past participle laboured) (British spelling, Canadian spelling, Australian spelling, New Zealand spelling)

  1. (intransitive) To toil, to work.
  2. (transitive) To belabour, to emphasise or expand upon (a point in a debate, etc).
    I think we've all got the idea. There's no need to labour the point.
  3. To be oppressed with difficulties or disease; to do one's work under conditions which make it especially hard or wearisome; to move slowly, as against opposition, or under a burden.
    • 1726, George Granville, Love:
      the stone that labours up the hill
    • 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC ↗:
      The line too labours, and the words move slow.
    • 1821 January 7, [Walter Scott], Kenilworth; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; and John Ballantyne, […]; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC ↗:
      to cure the disorder under which he laboured
  4. To suffer the pangs of childbirth.
  5. (nautical) To pitch or roll heavily, as a ship in a turbulent sea.
Related terms Translations
Labour
Proper noun
  1. (UK, NZ) Short for the Labour Party.
  2. (UK, Canada) Misspelling of Labor, an Australian political party.
Synonyms
  • (UK politics, NZ politics) Liebour (derogatory, internet slang)
Related terms

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