labor
Noun · VerbWordNet 3.0
Noun (7)
- a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages“there is a shortage of skilled labor in this field”Synonyms: labourworking classproletariat
- productive work (especially physical work done for wages)“his labor did not require a great deal of skill”Synonyms: labourtoil
- concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child“she was in labor for six hours”Synonyms: parturiencylabourconfinementlying-intravailchildbed
- an organized attempt by workers to improve their status by united action (particularly via labor unions) or the leaders of this movementSynonyms: labor movementtrade union movement
- a political party formed in Great Britain in 1900; characterized by the promotion of labor's interests and formerly the socialization of key industriesSynonyms: British Labour PartyLabour PartyLabourLabor
- the federal department responsible for promoting the working conditions of wage earners in the United States; created in 1913Synonyms: Department of LaborLabor DepartmentLaborDoL
- any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted“he prepared for great undertakings”Synonyms: undertakingprojecttask
Verb (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”Synonyms: tuglabourpushdrive
- work hard“She was digging away at her math homework”“Lexicographers drudge all day long”Synonyms: labourtoilfagtravailgrinddrudgedigmoil
- undergo the efforts of childbirthSynonyms: labour
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
1.Physical toil or bodily exertion, especially when fatiguing, irksome, or unavoidable, in distinction from sportive exercise; hard, muscular effort directed to some useful end, as agriculture, manufactures, and like; servile toil; exertion; work. [1913 Webster]
God hath set Labor and rest, as day and night, to men Successive.— Milton.[1913 Webster]
2.Intellectual exertion; mental effort; as, the labor of compiling a history. [1913 Webster]
3.That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort. [1913 Webster]
Being a labor of so great a difficulty, the exact performance thereof we may rather wish than look for.— Hooker.[1913 Webster]
4.Travail; the pangs and efforts of childbirth. [1913 Webster]
The queen's in labor, They say, in great extremity; and feared She'll with the labor end.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
5.Any pang or distress. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
6.(Naut.) The pitching or tossing of a vessel which results in the straining of timbers and rigging. [1913 Webster]
7.[Sp.] A measure of land in Mexico and Texas, equivalent to an area of 1771/7 acres. --Bartlett.
8.(Mining.) A stope or set of stopes. [Sp. Amer.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Syn: Work; toil; drudgery; task; exertion; effort; industry; painstaking. See Toll. [1913 Webster]
1.To work at; to work; to till; to cultivate by toil. [1913 Webster]
The most excellent lands are lying fallow, or only labored by children.— W. Tooke.[1913 Webster]
2.To form or fabricate with toil, exertion, or care. "To labor arms for Troy." --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
3.To prosecute, or perfect, with effort; to urge strenuously; as, to labor a point or argument. [1913 Webster]
4.To belabor; to beat. [Obs.] --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
1.To exert muscular strength; to exert one's strength with painful effort, particularly in servile occupations; to work; to toil. [1913 Webster]
Adam, well may we labor still to dress This garden.— Milton.[1913 Webster]
2.To exert one's powers of mind in the prosecution of any design; to strive; to take pains. [1913 Webster]
3.To be oppressed with difficulties or disease; to do one's work under conditions which make it especially hard, wearisome; to move slowly, as against opposition, or under a burden; to be burdened; -- often with under, and formerly with of. [1913 Webster]
The stone that labors up the hill.— Granville.[1913 Webster]
The line too labors, and the words move slow.— Pope.[1913 Webster]
To cure the disorder under which he labored.— Sir W. Scott.[1913 Webster]
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.— Matt. xi. 28[1913 Webster]
4.To be in travail; to suffer the pangs of childbirth; to be in labor. [1913 Webster]
5.(Naut.) To pitch or roll heavily, as a ship in a turbulent sea. --Totten. [1913 Webster]