belabor

verb

be·​la·​bor bi-ˈlā-bər 

bē-

belabored; belaboring; belabors

transitive verb

1

a

: to attack verbally

If I had been ill-natured, I should have shown up the little great man, who had once belabored me in his feeble way.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

b

: to beat soundly

… ancient battles in which the combatants belabored one another with swords, staffs, cudgels, halberds and other heavy-duty weapons until the blood flowed …

—James Rogers

2

: to explain or insist on excessively

her habit of belaboring the obvious

He needlessly belabored the point.

Synonyms

• dwell (on or upon)
• harp (on)

Examples of belabor in a Sentence

Her habit of belaboring the obvious makes her a very boring speaker.

Please don't belabor the point.

He uses his newspaper column to belabor writers for even the most minor grammatical errors.

Recent Examples on the Web

In stating the obvious, Smith didn’t belabor the obvious point. —John Tamny, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024

To the filmmakers’ credit, the formulaic aspects are never belabored, and the gentle hints of a possible romance with Gretchen are nicely underplayed. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

The segment is supposed to depict her loneliness and isolation, but the wordless 10 minutes is overlong and dull, belaboring a point that could have been made in less than half the time. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 26 Apr. 2024

What should be a sparkling recounting of a pivotal moment in U.S. history is flattened, becoming a mind-numbing and belabored affair of wig-wearing men shouting at each other in dark rooms. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing belabor

• labor/belabor the point

Kids Definition

belabor

verb

be·​la·​bor bi-ˈlā-bər 

1

: to keep explaining or insisting on to excess

I don't want to belabor the point

2

: assail, attack