- labor
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—laboringly, adv. —laborless, adj./lay"beuhr/, n.1. productive activity, esp. for the sake of economic gain.2. the body of persons engaged in such activity, esp. those working for wages.4. physical or mental work, esp. of a hard or fatiguing kind; toil.5. a job or task done or to be done.6. the physical effort and periodic uterine contractions of childbirth.7. the interval from the onset of these contractions to childbirth.v.i.9. to perform labor; exert one's powers of body or mind; work; toil.10. to strive, as toward a goal; work hard (often fol. by for): to labor for peace.11. to act, behave, or function at a disadvantage (usually fol. by under): to labor under a misapprehension.12. to be in the actual process of giving birth.13. to roll or pitch heavily, as a ship.v.t.14. to develop or dwell on in excessive detail: Don't labor the point.15. to burden or tire: to labor the reader with unnecessary detail.16. Brit. Dial. to work or till (soil or the like).adj.17. of or pertaining to workers, their associations, or working conditions: labor reforms.Syn. 2. working people, working class. 4. exertion. See work. 6. parturition, delivery. 9. drudge. 14. overdo.Ant. 1, 4. idleness; leisure. 1, 4, 9. rest.
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(as used in expressions)Canadian Labor CongressFarmer Labor PartyLabor Management Relations ActAmerican Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations* * *
Universalium. 2010.