What does labor mean?

Definitions for labor
ˈleɪ bərla·bor

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word labor.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. labor, labour, working class, proletariatnoun

    a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages

    "there is a shortage of skilled labor in this field"

  2. labor, labour, toilnoun

    productive work (especially physical work done for wages)

    "his labor did not require a great deal of skill"

  3. parturiency, labor, labour, confinement, lying-in, travail, childbednoun

    concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child

    "she was in labor for six hours"

  4. labor movement, trade union movement, labornoun

    an organized attempt by workers to improve their status by united action (particularly via labor unions) or the leaders of this movement

  5. British Labour Party, Labour Party, Labour, Labornoun

    a political party formed in Great Britain in 1900; characterized by the promotion of labor's interests and formerly the socialization of key industries

  6. Department of Labor, Labor Department, Labor, DoLnoun

    the federal department responsible for promoting the working conditions of wage earners in the United States; created in 1913

  7. undertaking, project, task, laborverb

    any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted

    "he prepared for great undertakings"

  8. tug, labor, labour, push, driveverb

    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"

  9. labor, labour, toil, fag, travail, grind, drudge, dig, moilverb

    work hard

    "She was digging away at her math homework"; "Lexicographers drudge all day long"

  10. labor, labourverb

    undergo the efforts of childbirth

Wiktionary

  1. labornoun

    Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.

  2. labornoun

    Workers collectively; the workforce; the working class.

  3. labornoun

    The labor union movement; organized labor.

  4. labornoun

    The act of a mother giving birth or the time period during which a mother gives birth.

  5. laborverb

    spelling of labour; see British/Commonwealth entry for definitions, etymology, pronunciation, translations, etc.

  6. Labornoun

    The Australian Labor Party.

ChatGPT

  1. labor

    Labor refers to the physical or mental effort that individuals put into the production of goods and services. This can include work done by both employed individuals and those who are self-employed. It is one of the key factors of production in an economy, alongside capital and land. Labor can also refer to the collective workforce of an organization or economy.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Labornoun

    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

  2. Labornoun

    intellectual exertion; mental effort; as, the labor of compiling a history

  3. Labornoun

    that which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort

  4. Labornoun

    travail; the pangs and efforts of childbirth

  5. Labornoun

    any pang or distress

  6. Labornoun

    the pitching or tossing of a vessel which results in the straining of timbers and rigging

  7. Labornoun

    a measure of land in Mexico and Texas, equivalent to an area of 177/ acres

  8. Labornoun

    to exert muscular strength; to exert one's strength with painful effort, particularly in servile occupations; to work; to toil

  9. Labornoun

    to exert one's powers of mind in the prosecution of any design; to strive; to take pains

  10. Labornoun

    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

  11. Labornoun

    to be in travail; to suffer the pangs of childbirth

  12. Labornoun

    to pitch or roll heavily, as a ship in a turbulent sea

  13. Laborverb

    to work at; to work; to till; to cultivate by toil

  14. Laborverb

    to form or fabricate with toil, exertion, or care

  15. Laborverb

    to prosecute, or perfect, with effort; to urge stre/uously; as, to labor a point or argument

  16. Laborverb

    to belabor; to beat

  17. Etymology: [OE. labouren, F. labourer, L. laborare. See Labor, n.]

Editors Contribution

  1. labor

    The act and process of work or employment.

    The local labor laws were very effective.


    Submitted by MaryC on March 8, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. Labor

    Labor vs. Labour -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Labor and Labour.

  2. Labor

    Labour vs. Labor -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Labour and Labor.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. LABOR

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Labor is ranked #35489 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Labor surname appeared 634 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Labor.

    67.3% or 427 total occurrences were White.
    7.8% or 50 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    7.7% or 49 total occurrences were Asian.
    7.1% or 45 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    5.3% or 34 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    4.5% or 29 total occurrences were Black.

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for labor »

  1. lobar

  2. Balor

  3. bolar

  4. boral

How to pronounce labor?

How to say labor in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of labor in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of labor in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of labor in a Sentence

  1. Jimmy Baker:

    As soon as we pulled over, my water broke, and my husband jumped out with his arms up, saying,' My wife's in labor and I really need help.'.

  2. Donald Duncan:

    In 1997 we were the fastest growing manufacturing metro area in the country and four years later it collapsed, what you can see on the ground today is 3,000 job openings. China's emergence as the world's low-cost producer and export superpower following its World Trade Organization entry in 2001 dealt a heavy blow to traditional industrial communities such as Hickory. Economists David Autor, David Dorn and Gordon Hanson have tried to separate the impact of trade from other factors affecting U.S. manufacturing employment and they estimate that between 1990 and 2007 Hickory lost 16 percent of its manufacturing jobs just due to surging imports from China. DEEP SCARS. Buffeted by other headwinds, such as the 1994 North American Free Trade agreement and the lifting of textile quotas in 2004, the area lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs overall, half the total, between 2000 and 2009. Nationally, more than 5 million manufacturing jobs have disappeared since 2000, a period that also included the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The collapse left deep and still visible scars that help explain the appeal of Trump's pledge to bring back manufacturing's glory days. In Hickory, disability rolls soared more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2014, swollen by older workers who struggled to return to the workforce. At the same time, the share of the 25-34 year old in the population fell by almost a fifth between 2000 and 2010. Consequently, even as the unemployment rate tumbled from a peak above 15 percent in 2010 to 4.6 percent today, below the national average, so did the labor force participation rate. It fell from above 68 percent in 2000 to below 59 percent in 2014. Poverty levels doubled. Yet the manufacturing upswing in areas that suffered the most during the downturn is evident. Rust belt states, such as Michigan, Indiana and Ohio that may prove pivotal in the Nov. 8 presidential election, have been adding manufacturing jobs faster than the economy as a whole. Michigan, for example, which lost nearly half of its manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2009, has since then seen a 25 percent rise, well above the 4 percent gain nationally. Manufacturing employment there is still well below the levels in the 1990s. Economists debate whether returning to that level is realistic given technological advances that have reduced manufacturing's share of the workforce from a high of above 30 percent in the 1950s to around 8 percent today. But they also feel that have already seen the bottom, particularly when it comes to China's impact.

  3. Tom Bailey:

    Even though we’re seeing inflationary pressures ease, we still have a war in Ukraine, fertilizer costs have improved, but they still remain very high. Energy costs have improved, but they still remain relatively high. Labor costs still remain a problem — and the list goes on.

  4. Randy Frederick:

    We have been in this sweet spot where the labor market has been strong, which implies the economy is doing well or at least people are optimistic about it, but at the same time we have very low inflation which is keeping the Fed at bay on rates, so this maybe just affirms that a little bit.

  5. Biden TransitionPeople of color:

    I must tell you, it reinforced what I thought from the beginning : We're ready to come together. And the unity was astounding, it was really encouraging, quite frankly, to get people -- business and labor -- together agreeing on the way forward.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for labor

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"labor." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/labor>.

Discuss these labor definitions with the community:

1 Comment
  • Agha Channa
    Agha Channa
    I WANT TEACH ABOUT LABOR OFFICER RESPOSIBILTY
    LikeReply 29 years ago

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