labor

la|bor1 [ `leıbər ] noun ***

1. ) uncount all the workers in a particular country, industry, or company considered as a group:

the declining demand for labor in agriculture

a plentiful supply of cheap labor

skilled/unskilled labor: The demand for skilled labor in the building industry is high.

casual labor: Hotel managers need skilled, helpful staff and can't afford to rely on casual labor.

a ) uncount the organizations to which workers belong. or their leaders considered as a group:

a meeting between management and labor

organized labor: The Republican-controlled Congress has reversed many of the laws that are critical to the survival of organized labor.

b ) only before noun relating to or involving workers:

a labor dispute

labor costs: The company is passing its higher labor costs on to its customers.

labor unrest: increasing labor unrest in the car industry

labor relations (=relationships between employers and workers): The agreements were hailed as a quantum leap for workers and future labor relations.

=> SLAVE LABOR

2. ) uncount work:

the traditional division of labor between men and women in the home

The price quoted includes the cost of all labor and materials.

a ) labor or labors uncount FORMAL work that involves effort, especially physical effort:

In return for his labors, he receives food and shelter.

b ) fruit(s) of your labor the benefits of your hard work:

It's an efficient lawn mower that leaves you time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

3. ) singular or uncount the process by which a baby is pushed from its mother's body during birth:

in labor: She was in labor for six hours.

go into labor: She went into labor early this morning.

labor pains: My wife called to say that her labor pains had started.

labor

la|bor 2 [ `leıbər ] verb intransitive *

1. ) to work hard, especially physically:

Five generations of his family have labored as fishermen.

a ) to put a lot of effort into achieving something:

labor over: At midnight, she was still laboring over the accounts.

labor to do something: He labored to make them understand his reasons.

2. ) to move very slowly and with difficulty:

He labored up the stairs with his bags of groceries.

labor the point

to repeat something too many times

labor under a misapprehension/delusion/misconception

to continue to believe that something is true when it is not