Dictionary
la•bor
Pronunciation: (lā'bur), [key]—
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.
1. to perform labor; exert one's powers of body or mind; work; toil.
2. to strive, as toward a goal; work hard (often fol. by
for):
to labor for peace.
3. to act, behave, or function at a disadvantage (usually fol. by
under):
to labor under a misapprehension.
4. to be in the actual process of giving birth.
5. to roll or pitch heavily, as a ship.
—
v.t.
1. to develop or dwell on in excessive detail:
Don't labor the point.
2. to burden or tire:
to labor the reader with unnecessary detail.
3. Brit. Dial.to work or till (soil or the like).
—
adj.
of or pertaining to workers, their associations, or working conditions:
labor reforms. Also, esp. Brit.,labour.Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
