labor 1 of 2

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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labor

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun labor contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of labor are drudgery, grind, toil, travail, and work. While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

Where would drudgery be a reasonable alternative to labor?

The words drudgery and labor can be used in similar contexts, but drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When is it sensible to use grind instead of labor?

The words grind and labor are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

When might toil be a better fit than labor?

The synonyms toil and labor are sometimes interchangeable, but toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When could travail be used to replace labor?

While in some cases nearly identical to labor, travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

When would work be a good substitute for labor?

Although the words work and labor have much in common, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of labor
Noun
Home care workers who provide assistance to elderly and disabled Californians could see more wage equality, according to a recent labor report, by shifting contract negotiations to the state level instead of bargaining individually with California’s 56 individual counties. William Melhado, Sacramento Bee, 8 Jan. 2025 Diggers, bent to their labors, paid the onlookers no mind. Peter Ross, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025
Verb
The actor-writer-director labored with love for seven years on this mutant hybrid of The Fountainhead, The Conformist and The Godfather movies, and it should be met with an equal amount of awe and admiration. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Dec. 2024 His breathing is labored, like he’s got fluid in his lungs, or maybe some broken ribs. Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for labor 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for labor
Noun
  • Other volunteers set up in the job center’s parking lot to divide donations into care packages of food, toiletries, water and clothing.
    Yvonne Condes, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Trump campaigned on putting 20% tariffs on all goods coming into the U.S. If that happens quickly – say, in the months between when a job is bid and when it's finished – that could make a solar project unprofitable.
    Jeff Brady, NPR, 12 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Los Angeles Chief Kristin Crowley on Friday blasted the city over a recent budget cut that has hampered the department’s ongoing firefighting efforts.
    Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 11 Jan. 2025
  • The changes are just the latest effort by Meta given that Trump and his allies have targeted the platform and Zuckerberg himself.
    Caroline Frost, Deadline, 11 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • This, in some ways, underlined Watkins’ toils; scoring but more cautious, less sure of himself.
    Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
  • The on-pitch toil from Sean Dyche’s team merited such a response, but now the hard work starts in earnest for all, including TFG.
    Patrick Boyland, The Athletic, 23 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • Medicaid covers more than 40% of U.S. childbirths, ensuring healthier babies and protecting families from financial ruin.
    Robert Pearl, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
  • Relaxin prepares the body for pregnancy and, later, for childbirth.
    Laura Dorwart, Verywell Health, 2 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • His production was especially encouraging given how little UCLA has gotten from its two big men, prompting Cronin to play him a season-high 27 minutes.
    Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025
  • Many Hollywood productions have been forced to stop filming, amid the high winds, smoke and dangerous fires.
    Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, 18 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • The spike in egg prices comes on the heels of a slow COVID-19 pandemic recovery, as many restaurants in Southern California continue to struggle.
    Cindy Carcamo, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025
  • The old heavyweights of space launch — the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and Europe’s Arianespace — struggled with delays in developing new rockets, and Western sanctions removed Russian rockets as an option.
    Jeremy Bogaisky, Forbes, 11 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • At the Brentwood location of popular Italian eatery Jon & Vinny’s, staff complained of headaches and sore throats in a text message group chat.
    Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025
  • The common symptoms of POTS include light-headedness, fainting, brain fog, fatigue, headache, blurred vision, tremors, and nausea.
    Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • First performed in 1927, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s work is a pioneering tale of romance, race and American culture at a turning point.
    Joshua Barone, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025
  • The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
    Joseph Cimpian, The Conversation, 8 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near labor

Cite this Entry

“Labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labor. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on labor

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