labour
An effort expended on a particular taskAn effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
Recorded UK: Celestianpower, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons · Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Perhaps it's necessary that you finish your labour now.
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9 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 4
By meaning 3
Examples
53 sentencesPerhaps it's necessary that you finish your labour now.
After a lifetime, I reaped the fruits of my labours.
What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
deWas hat der Mensch für Gewinn von all seiner Mühe, die er hat unter der Sonne? — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Meaning
9 senses(countable, uncountable)An effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
Arbeit
трудtrud, рабо́таrabóta
пра́цяprácja, трудtrud
(countable, uncountable)The act or process of a mother giving birth.
Near-synonyms: childbirth, parturition
Wehen
ро́дыródy
ро́диródy, роди́ныrodýny, ро́дивоródyvo
(uncountable)Workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.
Arbeiter
рабо́чий классrabóčij klass, рабо́чиеrabóčije
More meanings 6
(countable, uncountable)That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort.
тяжёлая рабо́таtjažólaja rabóta
(uncountable)A political party or force aiming or claiming to represent the interests of labour.
(countable, uncountable)The time period during which a mother gives birth.
(countable, uncountable)The pitching or tossing of a vessel which results in the straining of timbers and rigging.
(countable, historical, uncountable)A traditional unit of area in Mexico and Texas, equivalent to 177.1 acres or 71.67 ha.
(collective, countable, rare, uncountable)A group of moles.
- a political party formed in Great Britain in 1900; characterized by the promotion of labor's interests and formerly the socialization of key industries
- a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
- concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child
- productive work (especially physical work done for wages)
Origin
From Middle English labor, labour, labur, from Old French labor (modern labeur) and its etFrom Middle English labor, labour, labur, from Old French labor (modern labeur) and its etymon, Latin labor.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: laboursSynonyms
21 synonyms- a political party formed in Great Britain in 1900; characterized by the promotion of labor's interests and formerly the socialization of key industries:British Labour PartyLabour PartyLabor
- a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages:laborworking classproletariat
- concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child:parturiencylaborconfinementlying-intravailchildbed
- productive work (especially physical work done for wages):labortoil
- any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted:undertakingprojecttasklabor
- an organized attempt by workers to improve their status by united action (particularly via labor unions) or the leaders of this movement:labor movementtrade union movementlabor
Word family
31 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.