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.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation, a labor union based in London that represents a million seafarers, has received about 1,000 inquiries since the start of the conflict from crew near the strait, asking for support.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
Owens has continued to work consistently since the viral moment, taking on roles across television and film while also speaking openly about the importance of valuing all forms of labor.
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026
In pursuit of aesthetic purity, these designs erase any trace of human labor or the complex mechanisms beneath the surface.
From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026
Stepping back, the labor market in many ways has narrowed to a single engine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Still, Karl received five years of hard labor for reading the leaflets, and Rudi was given ten years, because he had implicated himself more during the interrogations.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
