labor
Practical work, especially that which involves physical effort
کار، زحمت
The car parts themselves are not expensive, it's the labour that costs the money.
Oxford Essential Dictionary
labor
American English for labour
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
labor
I. la‧bor AC /ˈleɪbə $ -ər/ BrE AmE
the American spelling of ↑labour
II. labour1 S2 W1 AC BrE AmE British English, labor American English noun
[Word Family: noun: ↑labour, ↑labourer; verb: ↑labour]
1. WORK [uncountable] work, especially physical work:
The garage charges £30 an hour for labour.
Many women do hard manual labour (=work with their hands).
Workers withdrew their labour (=protested by stopping work) for twenty-four hours. ⇨ ↑hard labour
2. WORKERS [uncountable] all the people who work for a company or in a country:
a shortage of skilled labor
We need to reduce our labour costs.
3. BABY [singular, uncountable] the process of giving birth to a baby
in labour
Meg was in labour for ten hours.
Diane went into labour at 2 o'clock.
a long/short/difficult labour
The labour pains were unbearable.
labour ward/room (=a room in a hospital where women give birth)
4. a labour of love something that is hard work but that you do because you want to
5. sb’s labours formal a period of hard work:
After several hours' gardening, we sat down to admire the results of our labours.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + labour
▪ skilled/unskilled labour Employers want to keep skilled labour because of the cost of training.
▪ cheap labour (=workers who have low wages) Women and children were used as cheap labour.
▪ casual labour (=workers who do jobs that are not permanent) The industry makes use of a large supply of casual labour.
▪ child labour The shoe company was accused of using child labour in its factory.
▪ slave labour Cotton was grown using slave labor.
■ labour + NOUN
▪ the labour force (=all the people who work in a country or for a company) We need an educated labour force.
▪ the labour supply (=all the people available to work) What was the effect of the war on the labour supply?
▪ the labour market (=the people looking for work and the jobs available) the percentage of women in the labour market
▪ a labour shortage Immigrants came into the country to fill the labour shortage.
▪ labour costs There was pressure to keep down labour costs.
III. labour2 AC BrE AmE British English, labor American English verb [intransitive]
[Word Family: noun: ↑labour, ↑labourer; verb: ↑labour]
1. to work hard:
They laboured all day in the mills.
labour over
I’ve been labouring over this report all morning.
labour to do something
Ray had little talent but labored to acquire the skills of a writer.
2. labour under a delusion/misconception/misapprehension etc to believe something that is not true:
She had laboured under the misconception that Bella liked her.
3. labour the point to describe or explain something in too much detail or when people have already understood it
4. [always + adverb/preposition] to move slowly and with difficulty:
I could see the bus labouring up the steep, windy road.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
labor
labor AW [labor labors labored laboring] (especially US)
= labour
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
labour UK ( US labor ) / ˈleɪ.bə r / / -bɚ / noun (WORK)
C1 [ U ] practical work, especially that which involves physical effort:
The car parts themselves are not expensive, it's the labour that costs the money.
manual labour (= hard work using the hands)
C1 [ U ] workers, especially people who do practical work with their hands:
skilled/unskilled labour
labours ( US also labors ) [ plural ] literary all the effort and hard work that have been involved in doing a particular piece of work:
Are you tired after your labours?
West was paid very little for his labours.
Retirement is the time to enjoy the fruits of your labours.
labour UK ( US labor ) / ˈleɪ.bə r / / -bɚ / noun [ C or U ] (BIRTH)
C2 the last stage of pregnancy from the time when the muscles of the womb start to push the baby out of the body until the baby appears:
labour pains
She went into (= started) labour at twelve o'clock last night.
I was in labour for twelve hours with my first baby.
No two labours are ever the same.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
labor
[le͟ɪbə(r)]
see labour
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
1la·bor US or Brit la·bour /ˈleɪbɚ/ noun, pl -bors
1 a : physical or mental effort : work
[noncount]
• A day's labor should get the job done.
• Getting the job done will require many hours of difficult labor.
• menial/manual labor
[count]
• He rested from his labors.
✦A labor of love is a task that you do for enjoyment rather than pay.
• Restoring the old car was a labor of love for him.
✦When you enjoy the fruits of your labor/labors, you enjoy the things that you have gained by working.
• She worked hard for many years, but now she has retired and is able to enjoy the fruits of her labor/labors.
b [noncount] : work for which someone is paid
• The cost of repairing the car includes parts and labor.
2 [noncount]
a : workers considered as a group
• an area in which there is a shortage of cheap labor
- often used before another noun
• a labor dispute
• The company sought to cut labor costs by increasing its efficiency.
• The company has a history of poor labor relations. [=the workers and the managers of the company have had many disputes]
• the labor force [=the total number of people available for working]
b : the organizations or officials that represent groups of workers
• The proposed new law is opposed by organized labor.
3 : the process by which a woman gives birth to a baby
[noncount]
• She went into labor this morning.
• She has been in labor for several hours.
• She began to have/experience labor pains this morning.
[singular]
• She had a difficult labor.
4 Labour [singular] Brit politics : the Labour Party of the United Kingdom or another part of the Commonwealth of Nations
• a proposal that is opposed by Labour
