Library / English Dictionary

LABOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Productive work (especially physical work done for wages)

Example:

his labor did not require a great deal of skill

Synonyms:

labor; labour; toil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("labor" is a kind of...):

work (activity directed toward making or doing something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "labor"):

roping (capturing cattle or horses with a lasso)

corvee (unpaid labor (as for the maintenance of roads) required by a lord of his vassals in lieu of taxes)

donkeywork; drudgery; grind; plodding (hard monotonous routine work)

effort; elbow grease; exertion; sweat; travail (use of physical or mental energy; hard work)

hunt; hunting (the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts)

hackwork (professional work done according to formula)

haymaking (cutting grass and curing it to make hay)

manual labor; manual labour (labor done with the hands)

overwork; overworking (the act of working too much or too long)

slavery (work done under harsh conditions for little or no pay)

Derivation:

labor (work hard)

laborious (characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted

Example:

he prepared for great undertakings

Synonyms:

labor; project; task; undertaking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("labor" is a kind of...):

work (activity directed toward making or doing something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "labor"):

venture (any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome)

large order; tall order (a formidable task or requirement)

proposition (a task to be dealt with)

no-brainer (anything that requires little thought)

endurance contest; marathon (any long and arduous undertaking)

labor of love; labour of love (productive work performed voluntarily without material reward or compensation)

endeavor; endeavour; enterprise (a purposeful or industrious undertaking (especially one that requires effort or boldness))

baby (a project of personal concern to someone)

assignment (an undertaking that you have been assigned to do (as by an instructor))

adventure; dangerous undertaking; escapade; risky venture (a wild and exciting undertaking (not necessarily lawful))

breeze; child's play; cinch; duck soup; picnic; piece of cake; pushover; snap; walkover (any undertaking that is easy to do)

Instance hyponyms:

Manhattan Project (code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II)

Derivation:

labor (strive and make an effort to reach a goal)

labor (work hard)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The federal department responsible for promoting the working conditions of wage earners in the United States; created in 1913

Synonyms:

Department of Labor; DoL; Labor; Labor Department

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("Labor" is a kind of...):

executive department (a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States)

Meronyms (parts of "Labor"):

Occupational Safety and Health Administration; OSHA (a government agency in the Department of Labor to maintain a safe and healthy work environment)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages

Example:

there is a shortage of skilled labor in this field

Synonyms:

labor; labour; proletariat; working class

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("labor" is a kind of...):

class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)

Meronyms (members of "labor"):

prole; proletarian; worker (a member of the working class (not necessarily employed))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "labor"):

labor force; labor pool (the source of trained people from which workers can be hired)

lumpenproletariat ((Marxism) the unorganized lower levels of the proletariat who are not interested in revolutionary advancement)

organized labor (employees who are represented by a labor union)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A political party formed in Great Britain in 1900; characterized by the promotion of labor's interests and formerly the socialization of key industries

Synonyms:

British Labour Party; Labor; Labour; Labour Party

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("Labor" is a kind of...):

labor party; labour party (a left-of-center political party formed to represent the interest of ordinary working people)

Meronyms (members of "Labor"):

Labourite (a member of the British Labour Party)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An organized attempt by workers to improve their status by united action (particularly via labor unions) or the leaders of this movement

Synonyms:

labor; labor movement; trade union movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("labor" is a kind of...):

reform movement (a movement intended to bring about social and humanitarian reforms)

Meronyms (parts of "labor"):

brotherhood; labor union; trade union; trades union; union (an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "labor"):

I.W.W.; Industrial Workers of the World; IWW (a former international labor union and radical labor movement in the United States; founded in Chicago in 1905 and dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism; its membership declined after World War I)

trade unionism; unionism (the system or principles and theory of labor unions)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child

Example:

she was in labor for six hours

Synonyms:

childbed; confinement; labor; labour; lying-in; parturiency; travail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("labor" is a kind of...):

birth; birthing; giving birth; parturition (the process of giving birth)

Meronyms (parts of "labor"):

uterine contraction (a rhythmic tightening in labor of the upper uterine musculature that contracts the size of the uterus and pushes the fetus toward the birth canal)

effacement (shortening of the uterine cervix and thinning of its walls as it is dilated during labor)

asynclitism; obliquity (the presentation during labor of the head of the fetus at an abnormal angle)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "labor"):

premature labor; premature labour (labor beginning prior to the 37th week of gestation)

Holonyms ("labor" is a part of...):

gestation; maternity; pregnancy (the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus)

Derivation:

labor (undergo the efforts of childbirth)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Undergo the efforts of childbirth

Synonyms:

labor; labour

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "labor" is one way to...):

undergo (pass through)

"Labor" entails doing...:

bear; birth; deliver; give birth; have (cause to be born)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

labor (concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Strive and make an effort to reach a goal

Example:

She is driving away at her doctoral thesis

Synonyms:

drive; labor; labour; push; tug

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "labor" is one way to...):

fight; struggle (make a strenuous or labored effort)

Verb group:

bear on; push (press, drive, or impel (someone) to action or completion of an action)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "labor"):

reach; strain; strive (to exert much effort or energy)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

labor (any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted)

laborer (someone who works with their hands; someone engaged in manual labor)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Work hard

Example:

Lexicographers drudge all day long

Synonyms:

dig; drudge; fag; grind; labor; labour; moil; toil; travail

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "labor" is one way to...):

do work; work (be employed)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

labor (productive work (especially physical work done for wages))

labor (any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted)

laborer (someone who works with their hands; someone engaged in manual labor)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The condition results in high blood sugar levels, which can increase the risk of early labor and a larger than average baby, which may result in problems during delivery.

(Healthy diet may reduce high blood pressure risk after gestational diabetes, NIH)

Finally, you will see the fruits of your labors if not immediately, then in the weeks and months ahead.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

They are twin thieves who live upon our labor.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Terminology for concepts associated with Pregnancy, Labor and Delivery contributed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

(NICHD Pregnancy and Childbirth Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)

An abnormality in the position of the fetus during the labor and delivery process.

(Abnormal Fetal Attitude, NCI Thesaurus)

A position of the fetus during the labor and delivery process where the fetal back is straight, the head position is deflexed and upright on the spine.

(Deflexed Fetal Attitude, NCI Thesaurus)

The period of time preceding labor and delivery.

(Antepartum, NCI Thesaurus)

It is associated with thrombosis, spontaneous abortion, and complications during labor.

(Anticardiolipin IgG Antibody, NCI Thesaurus)

An external intervention during labor and delivery to break the bag of membranes or the amniotic sac to facilitate childbirth.

(Artificial Rupture of Membrane, NCI Thesaurus)

Fetal death greater than or equal to 20 weeks of gestation prior to labor and Apgar scores of 0 at 1 minute, 5 minutes and beyond.

(Antepartum Stillbirth, NCI Thesaurus)