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.
See Examples For:
There’s not a building in the Rio Grande Valley that was built without immigrant labor.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
Cook said AI-fueled demand for data centers could introduce price pressure to other sectors by relying on inputs like construction labor and energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Nothing that happens this October will be relevant to the new labor agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
It’s good news that the academic labor market is starting to self-correct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
But soon, especially with so much labor needed for the tobacco fields, Africans were brought to Virginia and sold as slaves for fife.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
“I don’t like using the word ‘bucket list,’ but all these things are labors of love,” Hoffs says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
In New York, this month brings a wealth of opportunities to appreciate the fruits of these labors, principally at the Museum of Modern Art’s annual festival of film preservation, “To Save and Project.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
After all, since 1776, millions of Irishmen and women and their descendants have helped make America great through their labors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
Flynn deserves a break from his heroic theatrical labors, but he’s not done yet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
Raynar Northbrook's day's labors were almost at an end.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
The noise of backhoes, cranes and bulldozers echoed across Colombia's quake-hit cities on Sunday as workers labored to remove rubble, though the chance of finding survivors was slim a week after the disaster.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Rather, they meant to establish what Lincoln called a “standard maxim for free society,” which should be constantly looked to, labored for and more nearly approximated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Last Thanksgiving, Megan Thee Stallion labored for days to prepare an elaborate holiday dinner for then-boyfriend Klay Thompson and his family.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2026
The Eastern District of California said the time it spent reviewing her alleged misconduct was a “waste of limited time and judicial resources in a district that has labored under a longstanding caseload crisis.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
Meggie turned hesitantly to look at him as Elinor's car labored up the last hill.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
Spirit has been laboring to emerge from its second trip to bankruptcy in less than a year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
You probably know it already — you’ve seen oil pumpjacks laboring away in nutty places, like on the La Cienega Boulevard shortcut through Baldwin Hills to the airport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
Montiel, 62, said Chavez’s legacy continues to reverberate as the union has pushed for improved working conditions for people laboring in extreme heat, at times without adequate breaks or water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
"For decades, while laboring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all," the Democrat said.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026
It kept rotating to the grind of the laboring gears, which sounded louder now.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
Vocabulary lists containing labor
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Labor Day Lexicon: Words That Put You To Work
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Working Together: The Language of Unions
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
