— laboringly , adv. — laborless , adj.
/lay"beuhr/ , n.
1. productive activity, esp. for the sake of economic gain.
2. the body of persons engaged in such activity, esp. those working for wages.
3. this body of persons considered as a class (distinguished from management and capital ).
4. physical or mental work, esp. of a hard or fatiguing kind; toil.
5. a job or task done or to be done.
6. the physical effort and periodic uterine contractions of childbirth.
7. the interval from the onset of these contractions to childbirth.
8. ( cap. ) Also called Labor Department . Informal. the Department of Labor.
v.i.
9. to perform labor; exert one's powers of body or mind; work; toil.
10. to strive, as toward a goal; work hard (often fol. by for ): to labor for peace.
11. to act, behave, or function at a disadvantage (usually fol. by under ): to labor under a misapprehension.
12. to be in the actual process of giving birth.
13. to roll or pitch heavily, as a ship.
v.t.
14. to develop or dwell on in excessive detail: Don't labor the point.
15. to burden or tire: to labor the reader with unnecessary detail.
16. Brit. Dial. to work or till (soil or the like).
adj.
17. of or pertaining to workers, their associations, or working conditions: labor reforms.
Also, esp. Brit., labour .
[ 1250-1300; ME labour labor- (s. of labor ) work ]
Syn. 2. working people, working class. 4. exertion. See work. 6. parturition, delivery. 9. drudge. 14. overdo.
Ant. 1, 4. idleness; leisure. 1, 4, 9 . rest.