belabor

B3E1L1A1B3O1R1
UK/bɪˈleɪ.bə/

A form of belabour — To labour about; labour over; to work hard upon; to ply diligently.

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UncommonScrabble 11

Meanings

verbbelabor (third-person singular simple present belabors, present participle belaboring, simple past and past participle belabored)

present singular third person belabors · participle present belaboring · participle past belabored · past belabored

  1. USUS spelling of belabour.

    He makes a valuable beginning […]; but whether out of an uncertain sense of audience or because of his own relation to the subject, rather too much space is devoted to belaboring the obvious, especially in regard to basic matters of how literary narrative work.

    1981, Robert Alter, “A Literary Approach to the Bible”, in The Art of Biblical Narrative, page 16
    1 more example

    In terms of the overall story of the finale, it’s smart how much emphasis the episode puts on the juice in the portal gun, as that’s going to be a major factor in “Rickmurai Jack;” the portal gun is low key the most important invention in Rick’s arsenal, and the episode does a good job of underlining that without belaboring the point.

    2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in AV Club

Synonyms & antonyms

verbto work at or to absurd length

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verbattack verbally with harsh criticism

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verbbeat soundly

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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From be- (“on, upon, about, over”) + labor.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

belabor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belabor

MLA

“belabor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belabor. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “belabor,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belabor.

Source: belabor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.