What (who) is Labour - definition
WIKIMEDIA DISAMBIGUATION PAGE
Labor; Labor (disambiguation); Labour (disambiguation); Labors; Labours; Labored; Laboured; Laboring; Labouring
labour
(US & Austral. labor)
¦ noun
1. work, especially hard physical work.
2. workers, especially manual workers, collectively.
3. (Labour) [treated as sing. or plural] the Labour Party.
4. the process of childbirth from the start of uterine contractions to delivery.
¦ verb
1. work hard.
work at an unskilled manual job.
archaic till (the ground).
2. have difficulty despite working hard.
move with difficulty.
(of an engine) work noisily and with difficulty.
(of a ship) roll or pitch heavily.
3. (labour under) be misled by (a mistaken belief).
Phrases
a labour of love a task done for pleasure, not reward.
labour the point explain or discuss something at excessive length.
Origin
ME: from OFr. labour (n.), labourer (v.), both from L. labor 'toil, trouble'.
labour
see labor
labour
(labours, labouring, laboured)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: in AM, use 'labor'
1.
Labour is very hard work, usually physical work.
...the labour of seeding, planting and harvesting...
The chef at the barbecue looked up from his labours; he was sweating.
N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl, oft supp N
see also hard labour
2.
Someone who labours works hard using their hands.
...peasants labouring in the fields...
Her husband laboured at the plant for 17 years.
VERB: V, V
3.
If you labour to do something, you do it with difficulty.
For twenty-five years now he has laboured to build a religious community.
...a young man who's labouring under all kinds of other difficulties.
= struggle
VERB: V to-inf, V under n
4.
Labour is used to refer to the workers of a country or industry, considered as a group.
Latin America lacked skilled labour...
They were cheap labour.
N-UNCOUNT: oft supp N
5.
The work done by a group of workers or by a particular worker is referred to as their labour.
The unemployed cannot withdraw their labour-they have no power.
N-UNCOUNT: oft poss N
6.
They all vote Labour.
N-PROPER-COLL
7.
A Labour politician or voter is a member of a Labour Party or votes for a Labour Party.
...a Labour MP...
Millions of Labour voters went unrepresented.
ADJ
8.
If you labour under a delusion or misapprehension, you continue to believe something which is not true.
She laboured under the illusion that I knew what I was doing...
You seem to be labouring under considerable misapprehensions.
VERB: V under n, V under n
9.
If you labour a point or an argument, you keep making the same point or saying the same thing, although it is unnecessary.
I don't want to labour the point but there it is.
VERB: V n
10.
Labour is the last stage of pregnancy, in which the baby is gradually pushed out of the womb by the mother.
I thought the pains meant I was going into labour.
N-UNCOUNT
Wikipedia
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
- Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
- Labour (human activity), or work
- Manual labour, physical work
- Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
- Organized labour and the labour movement, consisting principally of labour unions
- The Labour Party (UK)
Pronunciation examples for Labour
1. Labour-- and
Dubner _ Talks at Google
2. called the Labour Party, the leader of the Labour Party
Democracy at Work - Curing Capitalism _ Richard Wolff _ Talks at Google
3. I'm not new Labour.
Lessons from the Top _ BBC's Gavin Esler _ Talks at Google
4. Labour voters than Conservative voters.
The Signal and the Noise _ Nate Silver _ Talks at Google
5. attack Labour on their economic record, or Labour to
Lessons from the Top _ BBC's Gavin Esler _ Talks at Google
Examples of use of Labour
1. New Labour morphs before our eyes into Old Labour.
2. "They are not Labour women, they act like Labour men.
3. Full coverage More on the Labour conference Agenda 22.0'.2005: Labour conference highlights Useful link Labour party: conference page
4. Tony Blair is not an Attlee socialist: under his leadership, Labour is New Labour, not Old Labour.
5. Seventy per cent of Labour voters say they regard themselves as supporters of new Labour not old Labour, a point unlikely to be lost on Gordon Brown.