- [uncountable] work, especially physical work
- manual labor (= work using your hands)
- The price will include the labor and materials.
- The company wants to keep down labor costs.
- The workers voted to withdraw their labor (= to stop work as a means of protest).
Definitions on the go
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- [countable, usually plural] (formal) a task or period of work
- He was so exhausted from the day's labors that he went straight to bed.
- People look forward to enjoying the fruits of their labors during retirement.
- [uncountable] the people who work or are available for work in a country or company
- a shortage of labor
- Companies are making huge profits by exploiting cheap labor in poor countries.
- There is a growing demand for skilled labor.
- New labor laws make it more difficult for employers to sack workers.
- good labor relations (= the relationship between workers and employers)
- [uncountable, countable, usually singular] the period of time or the process of giving birth to a baby
- in labor Jane was in labor for ten hours.
- She went into labor early.
- labor pains
- It was a difficult labor.
Idioms
See labor in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarya labor of love
- a hard task that you do because you want to, not because it is necessary
- Writing the book was a labor of love.