labour

plural labours · alternative US labor

1. countableuncountableAn effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.

   […]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[…]

   1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 78

2. countableuncountableThat which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort.

   Being a labour of so great difficulty, the exact performance thereof we may rather wish than look for.

   [1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)

3. uncountableWorkers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.

   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.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 364–365

4. uncountableA political party or force aiming or claiming to represent the interests of labour.
5. countableuncountablemedicineThe act or process of a mother giving birth.

   Near-synonyms: childbirth, parturition

   1 more example

   Paul Doherty came to the rescue when his wife Georgina went into labour early just minutes from their local hospital.

   2017 March 7, Stephen Maguire, “Hero Irish dad reveals he had to tell car valet he ‘wasn’t up to anything illegal’ after wife gave birth on back seat on Donegal road”, in The Irish Sun, archived from the original on 06 Dec 2021

   Synonyms: childbirth, parturition

6. countableuncountableThe time period during which a mother gives birth.
7. countableuncountablenauticalThe pitching or tossing of a vessel which results in the straining of timbers and rigging.
8. countablehistoricaluncountableA traditional unit of area in Mexico and Texas, equivalent to 177.1 acres or 71.67 ha.

   the establishment of a new settlement are entitled to five sitios of grazing land, and five labors (equal to 23,025 acres)

   1841, William Kennedy, Texas: The Rise, Progress, and Prospects of the Republic of Texas

   Synonyms: quarter-section

9. collectivecountablerareuncountableA group of moles.

   Hidden from its broader surrounding, a labor of moles can toil with the materiality of its existence — Earth — but must always heed barriers to their subterranean sphere.

   2014 Fall, Cyrus Shahan, Environment, Space, Place, volume 6, number 2, Zeta Books, page 118

   2 more examples

   According to the local authority, the development site is home to a labour of moles which have now started appearing in the neighbouring cemetery with scores of molehills now visible across the grounds.

   2025 March 17, Elliot Jessett, “Dad in tears when he turned up at wife's grave and saw what had happened”, in Liverpool Echo

   Although we're not the biggest fans of Glitch Hop, the stage itself makes the experience out of this world, no matter what music the DJs are spinning. It’s as though a UFO has crashed landed in the trees of Houghton Hall, and with the Bass rumbling through the underground speakers like a labour of moles burrowing under your feet, you are sure to have a great time at this stage.

   2012 June 25, Jayne Robinson, “Festival review: Glade 2012”, in Skiddle

present singular third person labours · participle present labouring · participle past laboured · past laboured · alternative US labor

1. intransitiveTo toil, to work.

   "Crab" 2-6-0 No 42802 labours up to Beattock Summit with a northbound freight from Carlisle in August 1960.

   1961 May, “Beattock Interlude”, in Trains Illustrated, page 287, photo caption

   1 more example

   Standing on the mountain above Caerphilly, one may reflect upon the gap where once stood Llanbradach Viaduct, and look near at hand upon the restored ruins of Caerphilly Castle; man labours to rebuild the mediaeval whilst he ruthlessly scraps the modern.

   1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in Railway Magazine, page 165

   Synonyms: grind

2. transitiveTo 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.

   1 more example

   It is needless to labor a point which is so well known. Everyone understands and appreciates the joy of finding that the long darkness is giving way, that the Sun is growing in strength, and that the days are winning a victory over the nights.

   1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 36

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.

   the stone that labours up the hill

   1726, George Granville, Love

   2 more examples

   The line too labours, and the words move slow.

   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

   to cure the disorder under which he laboured

   1821 January 8, [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

4. To suffer the pangs of childbirth.
5. nauticalTo pitch or roll heavily, as a ship in a turbulent sea.

   the ship laboured so much, and took in so much water in her upper works, that we could neither eat, nor sleep dry

   1808, William Gilpin, Memoirs of Josias Rogers, Esq

1. New ZealandUKabbreviationShort for the Labour Party.

   Synonyms: Liebour

2. AustraliamisspellingMisspelling of Labor, an Australian political party.