labor: Meaning and Definition of

la•bor

1. productive activity, esp. for the sake of economic gain.
2. the body of persons engaged in such activity, esp. those working for wages.
3. this body of persons considered as a class (distinguished from management and capital).
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.
8. (cap.) Also calledthe Department of Labor.

1. to perform labor; exert one's powers of body or mind; work; toil.
2. to strive, as toward a goal; work hard (often fol. by for): to labor for peace.
3. to act, behave, or function at a disadvantage (usually fol. by under): to labor under a misapprehension.
4. to be in the actual process of giving birth.
5. to roll or pitch heavily, as a ship.

1. to develop or dwell on in excessive detail: Don't labor the point.
2. to burden or tire: to labor the reader with unnecessary detail.
3. to work or till (soil or the like).

1. of or pertaining to workers, their associations, or working conditions: labor reforms.