1
as in job
a dull, unpleasant, or difficult piece of work
one of the labors of Hercules in classical mythology was to clean out the stables of King Augeas
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in effort
the active use of energy in producing a result
a superhuman amount of labor must have gone into designing and building the pyramids of Egypt
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3
as in toil
very hard or unpleasant work
a political dissident forced to do six months of hard labor in the salt mines as punishment
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4
as in childbirth
the act or process of giving birth to children
the mother's labor lasted for six hours
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5
as in production
something produced by physical or intellectual effort
a small, personal film that was clearly a labor of love for the director and actors
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as in to struggle
to devote serious and sustained effort
the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of labor
Mariana Mazzucato, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
The big picture: The investment comes amid a U.S. labor shortage fueled in part by the pandemic.
—Worth Sparkman, Axios, 25 Feb. 2025
Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 20 Jan. 2025
Last year, President Joe Biden and presidential candidate Kamala Harris labored to persuade voters that the historic inflation surge of 2022 was over, and that rising wages had effectively erased its effects.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for labor
Noun
Decades of economic policies that weakened labor laws, underinvested in education and health care, and bolstered the financial services sector have perpetuated structural inequalities in the United States.
—Mariana Mazzucato, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
The big picture: The investment comes amid a U.S. labor shortage fueled in part by the pandemic.
—Worth Sparkman, Axios, 25 Feb. 2025
Verb
Upstate New York rescuers from the Department of Environmental Conservation labored for more than two hours in and atop an icy lake last week to successfully save an enormous moose that could not climb out (video).
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 20 Jan. 2025
Last year, President Joe Biden and presidential candidate Kamala Harris labored to persuade voters that the historic inflation surge of 2022 was over, and that rising wages had effectively erased its effects.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for labor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for labor
Noun
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Another was fired just a month into her job after relocating more than 1,700 miles to take it.—
Zac Anderson,
USA TODAY,
18 Feb. 2025
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But uncertainty remains for organizations whose missions rely on government dollars to carry out projects that benefit populations in developing nations while also supporting jobs and the broader economy at home.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2025
Noun
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And yet, from the ACLU to the Washington Post and the New York Times, the institutional guardians of the Left made a concerted effort to cede those causes to the mosh posh of crunchy anti-war peaceniks, classical conservatives, frat bros, and ordinary Americans who make up MAGA.—
Tiana Lowe Doescher,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
28 Feb. 2025
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The period from July, 1957, to December, 1958, was designated the International Geophysical Year, a global scientific effort to understand the Earth and its environment.—
Bill McKibben,
The New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Traven Sharon stalked the center mat at Ball Arena Saturday night with two letters and a number, faded by sweat and toil — BB1 — scribbled on the outside of his left shoe.—
Sean Keeler,
The Denver Post,
16 Feb. 2025
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Too much mainstream music now sees itself as a refuge from real-world toils.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
3 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The female reproductive system is the internal and external organs involved in fertility, conception, pregnancy, and childbirth in people assigned female at birth.—
Andrea L. Braden,
Verywell Health,
14 Feb. 2025
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Women will learn what bodily changes to expect after giving birth, how to prepare for childbirth and how to maximize recovery.—
Orlando Sentinel Staff,
Orlando Sentinel,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Sydney Borchers is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital.—
Sydney Borchers,
Fox News,
23 Feb. 2025
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But the production industry was hurt by the Hollywood strikes in 2023, because most of the spending comes from the United States.—
Eshe Nelson,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2025
Verb
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And that excludes the knock on effects that might ensue The aerospace industry, and Boeing in particular, has been struggling for the past five years to shore up its fragile supply chain in the wake of the pandemic shutdown and multiple quality issues.—
Jerrold Lundquist,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
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Why is Skype Shutting Down? Skype, which Microsoft acquired for $8.5 billion back in 2011, has struggled to maintain relevance in the face of competition from apps like Zoom, WhatsApp, and FaceTime.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Both conditions also involve symptoms outside the intestines, such as headaches or brain fog.5 Only celiac disease involves symptoms related to malnutrition, which occurs because the small intestine is damaged.—
Sarah Bence,
Health,
28 Feb. 2025
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Less frequent side effects can include chest discomfort, weakness, headache, rhinitis, hypoglycemia and vitamin B12 deficiency (with long-term metformin use).—
Leslie Baumann,
Miami Herald,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Saturnine Martial & Lunatic (1996) Each Tears For Fears album has been the result of years of arduous work, and that means that a lot of interesting material was left on the cutting room floor for a rarities compilation.—
Al Shipley,
SPIN,
25 Feb. 2025
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The time to act is now—because the companies that prioritize mental well-being today will lead the future of work tomorrow.—
Stephen Sokoler,
Forbes,
25 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labor. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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