v. 25B6; verb
he belaboured the driver about the head : BEAT, hit, strike, smack, batter, pummel, pound, buffet, rain blows on, thrash; N. Amer. beat up on; informal wallop, whack, clout, clobber, bop, biff, sock, plug; N. Amer. informal whale; archaic smite.
he was belaboured in the press : CRITICIZE, attack, berate, censure, condemn, denounce, denigrate, revile, pillory, flay, lambaste, savage, tear/pull to pieces, run down; informal knock, slam, pan, bash, take apart, crucify, hammer, lay into, roast; Brit. informal slate, rubbish, slag off; N. Amer. informal pummel, cut up; formal castigate, excoriate.
don't belabour the point : OVER-ELABORATE, labour, dwell on, harp on about, hammer away at; overdo, overplay, over-dramatize, make too much of, place too much emphasis on; informal flog to death, drag out, make a big thing of, blow out of all proportion.
praise, understate.