labour
verb/ˈleɪbə(r)/
/ˈleɪbər/
(US English labor)
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they labour | /ˈleɪbə(r)/ /ˈleɪbər/ |
| he / she / it labours | /ˈleɪbəz/ /ˈleɪbərz/ |
| past simple laboured | /ˈleɪbəd/ /ˈleɪbərd/ |
| past participle laboured | /ˈleɪbəd/ /ˈleɪbərd/ |
| -ing form labouring | /ˈleɪbərɪŋ/ /ˈleɪbərɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] to try very hard to do something difficult
- labour (away) He was in his study labouring away over some old papers.
- labour to do something They laboured for years to clear their son's name.
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- [intransitive] to do hard physical work
- We laboured all day in the fields.
- (old-fashioned) the labouring classes (= the working class)
- [intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to move with difficulty and effort synonym struggle
- The horses laboured up the steep slope.
- With engine labouring, the car struggled up the hill.
struggle
work hard
move with difficulty
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French labour (noun), labourer (verb), both from Latin labor ‘toil, trouble’.
Idioms
See labour in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishlabour the point
- to continue to repeat or explain something that has already been said and understood
- I understand what you’re saying—there’s no need to labour the point.
Check pronunciation:
labour