noun
labour
LAY-buh
noun
1
Hard physical or mental effort put into a task; work.
"Years of labour went into restoring the old cottage."
"The harvest is a labour of love for the whole family."
2
Workers as a group, especially the working class, or a political movement representing them.
"The strike drew support from labour unions across the country."
3
The process of childbirth, including the contractions leading up to it.
"She was in labour for almost fourteen hours before the baby arrived."
verb
1
To work hard at something, or to move forward with great effort or difficulty.
"He laboured up the steep hill carrying two heavy bags."
"She laboured over every sentence of her thesis."
How to Use Labour
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishHard work in general, workers as a group, a political party representing them, or the process of giving birth.
UK vs US
British spelling; American English uses "labor." The UK's Labour Party keeps this spelling regardless of context.
Common pairings
manual labour
labour force
in labour
Labour Party
Word Forms
laboured past tense, labours plural, labours singular
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Etymology
From Old French labor and Latin labor, both meaning "work" or "toil."