Word Study
laboriousness |
laborless |
laborous |
laborsaving |
laborsome |
labour
| labour of love
| labour pains
| labour party
| labour-intensive
| laboured
labour
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun labour has 4 senses
- labour(n = noun.group) labor, proletariat, working class - a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages; "there is a shortage of skilled labor in this field" is a kind of class, social class, socio-economic class, stratum
- labour(n = noun.state) childbed, confinement, labor, lying-in, parturiency, travail - concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child; "she was in labor for six hours" has parts: uterine contraction, effacement, asynclitism, obliquity
- labour(n = noun.group) british labour party, labor, labour party - a political party formed in Great Britain in 1900; characterized by the promotion of labor's interests and formerly the socialization of key industries; Array is a kind of labor party, labour party
- labour(n = noun.act) labor, toil - productive work (especially physical work done for wages); "his labor did not require a great deal of skill" has particulars: roping, corvee, donkeywork, drudgery, grind, plodding, effort, elbow grease, exertion, sweat, travail, hunt, hunting, hackwork, haymaking, manual labor, manual labour, overwork, overworking, slavery
has particulars: labor force, labor pool, lumpenproletariat, organized labor
is a kind of birth, birthing, giving birth, parturition
is a part of gestation, maternity, pregnancy
has particulars: premature labor, premature labour
Derived form verb labour3
is a kind of work
Derived forms verb labour2, verb labour1
Verb labour has 3 senses
- labour(v = verb.social) dig, drudge, fag, grind, labor, moil, toil, travail - work hard; "She was digging away at her math homework"; "Lexicographers drudge all day long" is one way to do work, work
- labour(v = verb.social) drive, labor, push, tug - 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" is one way to fight, struggle
- labour(v = verb.body) labor - undergo the efforts of childbirth; Array is one way to undergo
Derived forms noun labour4, noun labourer1
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Derived form noun labour4
Sample sentence:
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Derived form noun labour2
Sample sentence:
Somebody ----s
OXFORD DICTIONARY
labour, n. & v. (US, Austral. labor)
--n.
1 a physical or mental work; exertion; toil. b such work considered as supplying the needs of a community.
2 a workers, esp. manual, considered as a class or political force (a dispute between capital and labour). b (Labour) the Labour Party.
3 the process of childbirth, esp. the period from the start of uterine contractions to delivery (has been in labour for three hours).
4 a particular task, esp. of a difficult nature.
--v.
1 intr. work hard; exert oneself.
2 intr. (usu. foll. by for, or to + infin.) strive for a purpose (laboured to fulfil his promise).
3 tr. a treat at excessive length; elaborate needlessly (I will not labour the point). b (as laboured adj.) done with great effort; not spontaneous or fluent.
4 intr. (often foll. by under) suffer under (a disadvantage or delusion) (laboured under universal disapproval).
5 intr. proceed with trouble or difficulty (laboured slowly up the hill).
6 intr. (of a ship) roll or pitch heavily.
7 tr. archaic or poet. till (the ground).
--n.
1 a physical or mental work; exertion; toil. b such work considered as supplying the needs of a community.
2 a workers, esp. manual, considered as a class or political force (a dispute between capital and labour). b (Labour) the Labour Party.
3 the process of childbirth, esp. the period from the start of uterine contractions to delivery (has been in labour for three hours).
4 a particular task, esp. of a difficult nature.
--v.
1 intr. work hard; exert oneself.
2 intr. (usu. foll. by for, or to + infin.) strive for a purpose (laboured to fulfil his promise).
3 tr. a treat at excessive length; elaborate needlessly (I will not labour the point). b (as laboured adj.) done with great effort; not spontaneous or fluent.
4 intr. (often foll. by under) suffer under (a disadvantage or delusion) (laboured under universal disapproval).
5 intr. proceed with trouble or difficulty (laboured slowly up the hill).
6 intr. (of a ship) roll or pitch heavily.
7 tr. archaic or poet. till (the ground).
Idiom
labour camp a prison camp enforcing a regime of hard labour. Labour Day May
1 (or in the US and Canada the first Monday in September), celebrated in honour of working people. Labour Exchange Brit. colloq. or hist. an employment exchange; a jobcentre. labour force the body of workers employed, esp. at a single plant. labouring man a labourer. labour-intensive (of a form of work) needing a large work force. labour in vain make a fruitless effort. labour-market the supply of labour with reference to the demand on it. labour of Hercules a task needing enormous strength or effort. labour of love a task done for pleasure, not reward.
Labour Party
1 a British political party formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people.
2 any similar political party in other countries. labour-saving (of an appliance etc.) designed to reduce or eliminate work. labour union US a trade union. lost labour fruitless effort.
1 (or in the US and Canada the first Monday in September), celebrated in honour of working people. Labour Exchange Brit. colloq. or hist. an employment exchange; a jobcentre. labour force the body of workers employed, esp. at a single plant. labouring man a labourer. labour-intensive (of a form of work) needing a large work force. labour in vain make a fruitless effort. labour-market the supply of labour with reference to the demand on it. labour of Hercules a task needing enormous strength or effort. labour of love a task done for pleasure, not reward.
Labour Party
1 a British political party formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people.
2 any similar political party in other countries. labour-saving (of an appliance etc.) designed to reduce or eliminate work. labour union US a trade union. lost labour fruitless effort.
Etymology
ME f. OF labo(u)r, labourer f. L labor, -oris, laborare
For further exploring for "labour" in Webster Dictionary Online
