labour

[[t]le͟ɪbə(r)[/t]]

♦

labours, labouring, laboured

(in AM, use labor)

1) N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl, oft supp N Labour is very hard work, usually physical work.

→ See also hard labour

...the labour of seeding, planting and harvesting...

The chef at the barbecue looked up from his labours; he was sweating.

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PHRASE If you do something as a labour of love, you do it because you really want to and not because of any reward you might get for it, even though it involves hard work.

Writing this book has been a great pleasure, a true labour of love.

2) VERB Someone who labours works hard using their hands.

...peasants labouring in the fields...

Her husband laboured at the plant for 17 years.

3) VERB If you labour to do something, you do it with difficulty.

[V to-inf] For twenty-five years now he has laboured to build a religious community.

[V under n] ...a young man who's labouring under all kinds of other difficulties.

Syn:

struggle

4) N-UNCOUNT: oft supp N Labour is used to refer to the workers of a country or industry, considered as a group.

Latin America lacked skilled labour.

...the struggle between capital and labour...

They were cheap labour.

5) N-UNCOUNT: oft poss N The work done by a group of workers or by a particular worker is referred to as their labour.

Every man should receive a fair price for the product of his labour...

The unemployed cannot withdraw their labour - they have no power.

6) N-PROPER-COLL In Britain, people use Labour to refer to the Labour Party.

He believes that, historically, Labour has been most successful as the party that helped people get on in life...

They all vote Labour.

7) ADJ A Labour politician or voter is a member of a Labour Party or votes for a Labour Party.

...a Labour MP...

Millions of Labour voters went unrepresented.

8) VERB If you labour under a delusion or misapprehension, you continue to believe something which is not true.

[V under n] She laboured under the illusion that I knew what I was doing...

[V under n] You seem to be labouring under considerable misapprehensions.

9) VERB If you labour a point or an argument, you keep making the same point or saying the same thing, although it is unnecessary.

[V n] I don't want to labour the point but there it is.

10) N-UNCOUNT Labour is the last stage of pregnancy, in which the baby is gradually pushed out of the womb by the mother.

By the time people knew she was in labour, it was too late...

Some women prefer to move about during labour.