labor
Usage
What are other ways to say labor?
Labor particularly denotes hard manual work: backbreaking labor; arduous labor. Drudgery suggests continuous, dreary, and dispiriting work, especially of a menial or servile kind: the drudgery of household tasks. Toil suggests wearying or exhausting labor: toil that breaks down the worker's health. Work is the general word and may apply to exertion that is either easy or hard: fun work; heavy work.
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.
There is a “thick, mostly invisible layer of human labor holding the whole thing together,” the report said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026
But despite the jump in inflation expectations, signs of higher energy costs feeding through to broader price pressures so far look limited given the frail economic outlook and growing distress within the U.K. labor market.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
“Certainly we don’t have the labor force that we did back in the ’60s and the ’70s,” said Diebel, who also serves as the president of the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Back in 2022, when the labor market was much stronger, a soft landing was achievable.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
Both the city and the President’s House were being built with enslaved labor.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Vocabulary lists containing labor
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Labor Day Lexicon: Words That Put You To Work
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Working Together: The Language of Unions
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