( BrE ) ( NAmE labor ) / ˈleɪbə(r); NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
WORK
1.
[ U ] work, especially physical work :
manual labour (= work using your hands)
The price will include the labour and materials.
The company wants to keep down labour costs .
The workers voted to withdraw their labour (= to stop work as a means of protest) .
He was sentenced to two years in a labour camp (= a type of prison where people have to do hard physical work) .
2.
[ C , usually pl. ] ( formal ) a task or period of work :
He was so exhausted from the day's labours that he went straight to bed.
PEOPLE WHO WORK
3.
[ U ] the people who work or are available for work in a country or company :
a shortage of labour
Employers are using immigrants as cheap labour .
Repairs involve skilled labour , which can be expensive.
good labour relations (= the relationship between workers and employers)
HAVING BABY
4.
[ U , C , usually sing. ] the period of time or the process of giving birth to a baby :
Jane was in labour for ten hours.
She went into labour early.
labour pains
POLITICS
5.
Labour [ sing.+ sing./pl. v . ] ( abbr. Lab ) the British Labour Party :
He always votes Labour.
Labour has / have been in power for nearly ten years.
•
IDIOMS
- a labour of love
■ verb
STRUGGLE
1.
labour (away) to try very hard to do sth difficult :
[ v ]
He was in his study labouring away over some old papers.
[ v to inf ]
They laboured for years to clear their son's name.
WORK HARD
2.
[ v ] to do hard physical work :
We laboured all day in the fields.
( old-fashioned )
the labouring classes (= the working class)
MOVE WITH DIFFICULTY
3.
[ v ] to move with difficulty and effort
SYN struggle :
The horses laboured up the steep slope.
•
IDIOMS
- labour the point
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- labour under sth
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old French labour (noun), labourer (verb), both from Latin labor toil, trouble.