hard labor

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s hard labor, but nothing in her life has been easy.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026

After the war, Faÿ was sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor, but he escaped from prison in 1951 dressed in ecclesiastical costume, with the help of—here one reaches for the phrase “incredible but true”—Toklas.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

As a result, the trial judge denied Griner’s request for bail or house arrest, instead sentencing her to nine years of hard labor.

From Slate • May 4, 2024

At first condemned to hard labor, Wenjie catches the eye of the architects of a nearby scientific project run by the government.

From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2024

For any ranked society, whether a chiefdom or a state, one thus has to ask: why do the commoners tolerate the transfer of the fruits of their hard labor to kleptocrats?

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond