labourlaborn.

Brit.

/ˈleɪbə/, U.S.

/ˈleɪbər/

Forms: Middle English labowr, Middle English labure, Middle English laubour, Middle English lawbore, Middle English lawbour, Middle English lawboure, Middle English lobour, Middle English–1500s labore, Middle English–1500s labur, Middle English–1500s labyr, Middle English–1600s laboure, Middle English– labor (now chiefly U.S.), Middle English– labour, 1500s labyre, 1600s labovr; Scottish pre-1700 labore, pre-1700 laboure, pre-1700 labure, pre-1700 labyr, pre-1700 laubir, pre-1700 laubor, pre-1700 laubour, pre-1700 lauboure, pre-1700 laubur, pre-1700 laubyr, pre-1700 lavbour, pre-1700 lawbir, pre-1700 lawbore, pre-1700 lawboure, pre-1700 lawbur, pre-1700 1700s– labour, pre-1700 1800s– lawbor, pre-1700 1800s– lawbour, pre-1700 1900s– labor, pre-1700 1900s– lauber, 1800s labber, 1800s– laaber (northern and Shetland), 1800s– laabor, 1900s– laabir (Shetland), 1900s– laabour (Orkney).

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French labour; Latin labor.

Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman labure, Anglo-Norman and Old French labur, labor, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French labour, Old French, Middle French labeur (French labeur ) trouble, effort, affliction, misfortune (first half of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman), hard work (1155), burden, task (c1170 or earlier in Anglo-Norman), suffering (c1270 or earlier in Anglo-Norman), outcome, product, or result of work (1283), fatigue (c1349), difficulty (c1370), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin labor work, toil, industry, task, result or product of work, struggle, hardship, physical pain, distress, pain of childbirth, eclipse (of the sun or moon), wear and tear, in post-classical Latin also exercise (13th cent. in a British source), of uncertain origin: perhaps related to lābī to fall (see labent adj.). Compare Old Occitan labor, Catalan labor (14th cent.), Spanish labor (1030 as lavor), Portuguese lavor (a1065), Italian labore (a1294; now archaic).With sense 2c compare ancient Greek πόνος work, labour, bodily exertion, exercise (see ponerology n.). With sense 4 compare classical Latin hominumque boumque labores ‘the works of men and oxen’, used by Virgil ( Georgics 1. 118) to describe cultivated land as the product of hard work. With labour of Hercules n. at Phrases 3 compare classical Latin Herculis labor . In sense 11 apparently after American Spanish labor (although this is apparently first attested slightly later: 1825). The form in -our is now usual in British English, while that in -or is usual in the United States: see further -or suffix. In the 15th cent. sometimes found in sense ‘labourer’, usually in texts where labourer occurs as a variant in other manuscripts. It is unclear how far this reflects actual usage and how far it reflects abbreviations in manuscripts. Compare the following:a1425 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1960) A. v. l. 135 Labouros [c1400 Trin. Cambr. laboureris & louȝ folk þat lay be hemselue].c1425 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Soc. of Antiquaries) (1960) A. vii. l. 291 Laboures [c1400 Trin. Cambr. Laboureris þat haue no land but lyue on here handis].?c1425 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Royal 17 D.vi) (1897) l. 1348 A labour [a1450 Harl. Swych laborer þe kythe heere in þys lyf, Þat god þi soule..Reioise may].

1. An instance of physical or mental exertion; a piece of work that has been or is to be performed; a task.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > instance of

labourc1300

labouragea1460

c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 49 (MED) The reve..that hem scholde to here labour lede, Nuste he..what him was to rede.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2229 I rede we bigin a laboure..and make a toure.

1457 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1883) II. 365 For mendyng of a bowt and oder labors.

a1475 ( S. Scrope tr. Dicts & Sayings Philosophers (Bodl. 943) (1999) 54 (MED) Be temperat..in lieng with wommen and in alle other labours.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Rev. xiv. 13 Yee the sprete sayeth, that they rest from their laboures.

1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 48 That I might gather up the gleanings of my labours, and sende money to Rome.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. vii. 226 They are two insupportable labours in searching of the mettall; first to digge and breake the rockes, and then to drawe out the water all together.

1657 R. Tomlinson To Rdr. in R. Tomlinson tr. J. de Renou Medicinal Dispensatory sig. d My Imployments..and defatigable diuturnal Labours.

1702 N. Rowe Tamerlane Ded. When they shall reckon up his Labours from the Battle of Seneff.

1729 W. Law Serious Call iii. 32 Whose lives have been a careful labour to exercise these virtues.

1792 T. Jefferson Jrnl. 29 Feb. in Papers (1990) XXIII. 186 My mind was immediately made up to make that the epoch of my own retirement from those labors, of which I was heartily tired.

1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. i. i. 11 My labours, of the body, at least, have been light enough.

1871 C. Davies Metric Syst. ii. 29 The rich treasures of their labors.

1923 T. Fane What's Wrong with Movies vi. 101 Using their noodles has long been classed..as one of life's hard labors.

1961 Science 13 Jan. 80/1 One hundred years ago G. T. Fechner published the fruits and findings of a ten-year labor.

2001 Geogr. Rev. 91 333 Archival research is situated somewhere between the labors of a novelist and those of an atomic physicist.

a. Bodily or mental exertion particularly when difficult, painful, or compulsory; (hard) work; toil; esp. physical toil. Also personified.forced, hard, prison labour: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > labour or toil

workeOE

i-swincheOE

swenchOE

swote971

swingc1000

swinkOE

swinkinga1225

travailc1275

cark1330

sweatc1380

the sweat of (one's) brow (brows), facec1380

laboura1382

swengc1400

labouragec1470

toil1495

laborationa1500

tug1504

urea1510

carp1548

turmoil1569

moil1612

praelabour1663

fatigue1669

insudation1669

till?a1800

Kaffir work1848

graft1853

workfulness1854

collar-work1871

yakka1888

swot1899

heavy lifting1934

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Eccles. x. 15 The labour [a1425 L. V. trauel] of foolys shal tormenten hem that kunnen not in to the cite gon.

1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope 2 He that wylle haue..worship and glorye may not haue hit withoute grete laboure.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Eccl. ii. 18 I was weery of all my laboure, Which I had taken vnder the Sonne.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10770 Hit were labur to long hir lotis to tell.

a1596 G. Peele Loue King Dauid & Fair Bethsabe (1599) sig. Civ Mine eares shall neuer leane to such delight, When holy labour cals me forth to fight.

1611 Bible (King James) Psalms civ. 23 Man goeth forth vnto his worke: and to his labour, vntill the euening.

1650 Andrewes's Pattern Catechistical Doctr. (new ed.) x. 141 The heathen call labour the husband of hope.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 1021 So he with difficulty and labour hard Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour hee.

1703 tr. L. de Lahontan New Voy. N.-Amer. II. 50 They never touch Sallade, upon the Plea that all cold Herbs oblige the Stomach to hard labour.

1752 D. Hume Polit. Disc. i. 12 Everything in the world is purchas'd by labour, and our passions are the only causes of labour.

1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 5 Nature..Still grants her bliss at Labour's earnest call.

1827 E. Bulwer-Lytton Falkland 15 Nothing seemed to me worth the labour of success.

1832 Ld. Tennyson Lotos-eaters: Choric Song iv, in Poems (new ed.) 113 Ah! why Should life all labour be?

1836 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion ii. iv. 284 The stomach, having less labour imposed upon it, will require less blood.

1881 Cent. Mag. Nov. 24/1 He worked incessantly, and, after a day of severe labor, commonly spent four hours at an evening life-class.

1927 Amer. Mercury Feb. 201/2 I shall forever eschew the labor of mounting to the iron observation tower on top of Bear Mountain.

1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iii. 68 A good patchwork quilt has a prestige value in keeping with the labour that goes into the making of it.

2006 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Jan. 148/3 The backbreaking labor of millions of Third World peasants.

b. Agricultural work, esp. tillage. Now only as passing into sense 2a. Cf. labour v. 1b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > [noun]

earth-tilthOE

earth-tillingOE

tilling?c1225

delving1377

laboura1393

land-tillingc1420

culturec1450

tilthing1495

labouring1523

manurea1547

manuring1550

digging1552

cultivation1553

tilth1565

manurance1572

agriculture1583

nithering1599

culturation1606

gainor1607

delvage1610

agricolation1623

gainage1625

cultivage1632

manurementa1639

groundwork1655

fieldwork1656

proscission1656

field labour1661

manuragea1670

subduing1776

management1799

subjugation1800

geopony1808

clodhopping1847

agriculturism1885

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 3252 (MED) The Erthe it is, which everemo With mannes labour is bego..The mannes hond doth what he mai To helpe it forth and make it riche.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. vi. l. 253 (MED) Þe freke þat fedeth hym-self with his feythful laboure, He is blessed by þe boke.

?c1405 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) f. 89^v (margin) Adam..Was dryue o[ut] of his hye prosperitee To labour [and] to helle and to meschance.

1550 in R. Renwick Abstr. Protocols Town Clerks Glasgow (1894) I. 8 The proffet of ilk hors in werk, lawboure, ryding, and hyirgang.

1568 in W. Mackay & H. C. Boyd Rec. Inverness (1911) I. 163 That..he fand him nocht ane wark horse to his laubour fra Candilmes to vpwark.

1669 in Rothesay Town Council Rec. (1935) I. 167 [Animals may be put] befoir the commoune hird or in tyme of labour in the commoune.

1792 J. Belknap Foresters vii. 93 They were not allowed to use black cattle in the labour of the field.

1860 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 21 332 The labour of the field should be so adjusted that the plough may follow the cart closely enough to bury the dung before it has lost its moisture.

1876 W. H. Willshire Descriptive Catal. Playing & Other Cards in Brit. Mus. ii. 143 The eagle symbolizes spring..; the ox, autumn, when there are labour and sowing.

1929 W. Littlejohn Buchan Cottar Stories 7 The farmer drank a glass himself, then filled the glass again, and poured it over the bridle of the plough, at the same time repeating the words, ‘Gweed speed the lawbour’.

†c. Physical exercise. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > exercise > [noun]

playeOE

stirringa1400

laboura1530

exercisea1533

activity1542

motion1568

gymnastic1598

gymnastics1652

capriccio1665

grind1857

physical drill1873

ekker1891

physical jerks1917

daily dozen1918

workout1923

sexercise1942

a1530 T. Lupset Exhort. to Yonge Men (1535) sig. Cii Exercise you continually: for in labor your bodye shall fynde strengthe.

1543 J. Hales tr. Plutarch Preceptes Preseruacion Healthe sig. dvi But it is rather ambityon and ye parte of a young foole, then a thing healthfull to vse cold baines after labour of the body [Gk. λουτρῷ δὲ χρήσθαι γυμνασαμένους ψυχρῷ].

1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health i. 1 Labour then, or exercise, is a vehement mouing, the end whereof is alteration of the breath or winde of man.

1666 G. Harvey Morbus Anglicus x. 28 Moderate labour of the body is universally experienced to conduce to the preservation of health.

1707 G. Hickes tr. F. de S. de la Mothe-Fénelon Instr. Educ. Daughter xiv. 265 A clean and slender Diet, frequent and moderate Labour, with Ablutions and Bathings in cold Water.

†3. Hardship, suffering (esp. physical); pain; distress. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > anguish or torment

piningOE

anguishc1225

pinsing?c1225

tormentc1290

afflictiona1382

martyrdomc1384

tormentryc1386

labourc1390

martyryc1390

throea1393

martyre?a1400

cruelty14..

rack?a1425

hacheec1430

prong1440

agonya1450

ragea1450

pang1482

sowing1487

cruciation1496

afflict?1529

torture?c1550

pincha1566

anguishment1592

discruciament1593

excruciation1618

fellness1642

afflictedness1646

pungency1649

perialgia1848

perialgy1857

racking1896

c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 142 (MED) Strengþe stont vs in no stide, But longyng and beoing in laboure.

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 422 The newe loue, labour or oþer wo, Or ellys selde seynge of a wyght Don olde affeccions al ouer go.

c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) i. Prol. l. 33 (MED) When thy fadre is ouercome with dethis laboure, Thow may helpe thysilf.

a1500 (?c1425) Speculum Sacerdotale (1936) 80 (MED) The bisshop or his viker..fro the tyme that they haue..seen contricion, pouerte, infirmite, and laboure of a womman, they may myche of here enioyned penaunce relese.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. ix. 131 Feare, sicknesse, age, losse, labour, sorrow, strife, Payne, hunger, cold, that makes the hart to quake.

1677 G. Keith Way cast Up xv. 199 I could willingly by the Grace of God endure much labour, suffering and affliction both inwardly and outwardly.

1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful ii. §24. 71 Of Feeling little more can be said, than that the idea of bodily pain, in all the modes and degrees of labour, pain, anguish, torment, is productive of the sublime.

1844 tr. St. Gregory Morals on Bk. of Job I. vi. 345 While we are afflicted with transitory labour, we are rescued from everlasting pain.

4. An outcome, product, or result of work. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > work > product of work > [noun] > accomplished by toil

laboura1400

toil1612

elaboration1765

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1986 Ȝeildes til your creatur þe tend part o your labour.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 7 (MED) Y..intende to compile a tretys..excerpte of diuerse labores of auctores.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms civ. 44 They toke the labours of the people in possession.

1550 R. Crowley One & Thyrtye Epigrammes sig. Bii^v To worcke what they can, and lyue on theyr laboures.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 116 The waxen labour of the Bees.

1709 J. Swift Vindic. I. Bickerstaff 8 I saw my Labours, which had cost me so much Thought and Watching, bawl'd about by common Hawkers.

1736 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1851) IV. 176 The Thing they want is the peaceable Possession of their Labours.

1822 Ann. Reg. 1812 (new ed.) Chron. 55/2 Between four and five o'clock on this morning the Highgate Tunnel fell in. The labour of several months was thus in a few moments converted into a heap of ruins.

1866 H. Ottley Biogr. & Crit. Dict. Painters & Engravers 77/2 His most important labours in this line, however, are the illustrations for a new edition of Shakespeare.

1944 Reader's Digest July 110 A huge alligator gar rips their nets to pieces, destroying the labor of weeks.

1985 G. Naylor Linden Hills 11 The painted walls, additional bedrooms, and raked dirt yards were the labor of people who had hopes of building on, not over, their past.

†5.

a. Effort made or trouble taken in accomplishing or attempting to accomplish a task; endeavour; an instance of this. Obsolete. †to do one's labour: to do one's utmost (to do something).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > trouble taken to accomplish anything

whilec1175

painc1330

pine?c1335

teenc1380

adoc1400

labourc1405

painsc1480

trouble1577

fatigue1669

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 202 Absolon may blowe the Bukkes horn He ne hadde for his labour but a scorn.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Prioress's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 11 To telle a storie I wol do my labour.

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 4335 (MED) Agamenoun To ȝif hym counforte & consolacioun Dide his labour.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) III. 1213 He wolde have made ony laboure for pease, he sholde have made hit or thys tyme.

c1503 Beuys of Southhamptowne (Pynson) sig. Cii^v Haue this he sayde for thy labour.

1520 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 27 The auditors..be diligent and take labors herapon.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. i. 125 If it please you, take it for your labour; And so good-morrow Seruant.

a1656 J. Ussher Power of Princes (1683) ii. 141 He caused the Fellow to be soundly whipped for his labour.

1707 J. Stevens tr. Justina in Spanish Libertines 54 They should all allow me a small matter for my Labour, because they were Lame, and lost more time in fetching and carrying than three times my Pay amounted to.

1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. ix. 228 The least ye can do is to gie him that o't that's left behind for his labour.

b. spec. Effort made to further a matter, obtain a favour, etc., esp. on behalf of another; intervention; the exertion of influence. Obsolete. to make labour: to exert influence; frequently in to make labour to (a person) (cf. labour v. 5b).In quots. 1423, 1446 (as a count noun) perhaps: a legal intervention.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > intercession or influence on someone's behalf > intercede or use influence on someone's behalf [verb (intransitive)] > ask for exertion of influence

to make labour to (a person)1423

society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > action of courts in claims or grievances > [noun] > joining of two parties against another > intervention in a suit

labour1423

intervention1860

society > authority > power > influence > have influence [verb (intransitive)] > exert influence

labour1442

to make labour1603

influence1670

to make interest1709

to weigh in1909

1423 Petition in Fenland Notes & Queries (1907–9) 7 308 (MED) Thai have sued writtes of errour and oder processe..whiche have cost hem c marc and more with oder labours of the said tenaunts.

1446 in L. Morsbach Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1923) 25 Sir William hath graunted..to ye seid Robert..the manere of Wodosom..Payng yerely..the ferme of viii marces..And also beryng the charge of suytes and othour labures that belongeth in defence of the seid manere.

1448 in L. Morsbach Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1923) 4 (MED) Yf hit fortune ony variaunce to fall be-twix them..theire councell be theire labur..make reformacion be-twix them.

1454 T. Denys in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 86 Aftirward my wif was sumdele easid bi the labour of the Wardeyn of Flete, for the cursid Cardenale had sent hir to Neugate.

1491–2 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1491 §15. m. 7 I pray you make laboure unto my lady Warwyk to write to the king of Fraunce.

a1525 (?1472) Coventry Leet Bk. (1908) II. 378 (MED) The Abbot of Kelyngworth, the Abbot of Combe..shuld be desired to be here at Couentre..by the labour of Joh. Smyth.

1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 42 §2 Without any further sute or labour to be made to kyngs highnes..for the same.

1565 Stow in Three 15th c. Chron. (Camd.) 136 Y^e paryshe of S. Marie Magdalyn in Mylke~stret, makynge labour to y^e byshope, had by hym a mynister apoyntyd to serve them with communion that day.

1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 434 Laelius, sued to be consull of Rome; him he favoured and set forward his sute in all that hee could: by which occasion hee demanded of one Pompeius, who was thought to make labour for the same dignitie, whether it were true that hee was a competitor or no?

c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) I. 112/27 Leving..to sinistruous meanis, labour is, unlauchfull middis to attene to premotioun.

†6. A labourer, an unskilled worker. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [noun] > manual worker > labourer or unskilled

labourera1393

laboura1425

pioneer1543

hand1551

heaver1587

yard boy1776

son of toil1779

spalpeen1780

hacker1784

khalasi1785

tiger1865

cafone1872

mucker1899

mazdoor1937

bracero1946

manamba1959

nkuba kyeyo1991

a1425 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1960) A. v. l. 135 Labouros [c1400 Trin. Cambr. laboureris] for loþ folk þat lyuen be hemselue.

1442 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 387 For brede and hale and chese for warkemen and laboras.

a1500 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Dublin 213) (1960) A. iii. l. 234 Þat labores [c1400 Trin. Cambr. laboureris]..takys..Is no maner of mede.

7. A collective term for: a group of moles.One of many alleged group names found in late Middle English glossarial sources. Revived in 19th cent.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Talpidae > genus Talpa (mole) > group of

labour1471

1471 MS Pepys 1047 in Notes & Queries (1978) Feb. 8/2 A labour of wantys.

c1475 in J. Hodgkin Proper Terms (1909) 52 (MED) A Labyr of mollys.

1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. fvi^v A Labor of Mollis.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. vii. 132/1 Moeles, a Labour.

1832 J. Timbs Knowl. People vi. 14 When beasts went together in companies, there was said to be a herd of harts..and a labour of moles.

1864 R. Chambers Bk. Days I. 554/2 There was said to be a pride of lions..and a labour of moles.

1976 Lebende Sprachen 21 102/1 Moles made up labors.

2006 J. Nicholls Molecatcher ii. 22 Although you may never experience it, the collective noun for a group of moles is a labour.

a. The process of childbirth from the onset of uterine contractions to delivery of the fetus and placenta; an instance of this. Also: this process in mammals generally. Cf. earlier travail n.¹ 2. in labour: (esp. of a woman) undergoing the process of giving birth; to go into labour: (esp. of a woman) to begin the process of giving birth; to begin uterine contractions.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun]

childbeda1200

bend1297

gesinea1400

lying-inc1440

labour1472

down-lying1561

groaning1579

groaning-time1579

partion1656

crying out1692

accouchement1730

inlying1734

confinement1774

accubation1853

the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective] > labour or pains

in travailc1300

travailingc1405

labouring1540

child labour1585

laborious1615

in labour1623

1472 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 452 God spede yow, and Owre Ladye hyre to hyre plesure, wyth as easye labore to overkom that she is abowt as euyre had any lady or [gentyll]-woman saff Owre Lady heer-selffe. And soo I hope she shall to hyre greet joye and all owres.

?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman sig. Kiv^v Wherfore she was worthy to beare a chylde with great payne and werynes: and in her labour to be delyuered of her chyde [sic] and her lyfe both.

1580 T. Newton Approoued Med. f. 84 ^v In the tyme of the byrthe & labour bounde to the Leage, it bryngeth forthe the chylde wythout payne.

1595 E. Spenser Epithalamion in Amoretti & Epithalamion xxi. sig. H6 Sith of wemens labours thou hast charge, And generation goodly dost enlarge.

1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xxxv. 16 Rachel traueiled, and she had hard labour [ Coverdale: the byrth came harde vpon hir] .

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. i. 18 The Queens in Labor They say in great Extremity, and fear'd Shee'l with the Labour, end.

1744 Philos. Trans. 1742–3 (Royal Soc.) 42 614 They hold a Piss-pot over the Womens Heads whilst in Labour, thinking it to promote hasty Delivery.

1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 2 477 [She] had then been in labour about two hours... Interrogating her afterwards respecting her former labours [etc.].

1819 P. B. Shelley in Dowden Life (1887) II. 308 She has..brought me a fine little boy, after a labour of the very, very mildest character.

1845 W. Youatt Dog xiii. 226 The patience of bitches in labour is extreme.

1911 R. Jardine Delayed & Complicated Labour xiv. 185 If the third stage of labour is properly conducted, post-partum hæmorrhage can be largely prevented.

1984 I. Banks Wasp Factory 106 Agnes duly went into labour about lunch-time one hot still day.

2004 Nat. Health Nov. 43/1 Although water can't take away the pain it can help you to relax, making labour easier.

b. figurative and in figurative contexts.

ΚΠ

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xvii. 176^v Mine eyes euen great in labour with their teares.

1634 T. Heywood Maidenhead Lost i. B 3 b My brain's in labour, and must be deliuered Of some new mischeife.

1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 121 And now that sentence is brought forth, wherewith..the Warre had now been in labour for the space of nine years.

1754 S. Fielding & J. Collier Cry II. iv. ii. 301 Do we not perceive all the mountains in labour, and find the produce to be—a mouse?

1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It iii. 30 I knew that he was in labor with another of those winks of his.

1887 H. R. Haggard She vii. 92 And so it went for a little space, till Time was in labour with an evil Day.

1955 A. Wilkinson Hangman ties Holly 13 Rivers swell in tumbling towers of praise, Ice in aqua risen hails The bearing down in labour of the sun.

2001 New Statesman (Nexis) 26 Mar. This sense of wonder and achievement when, after a long gestation and difficult labour, you actually produce your very own book.

9. An eclipse of the moon. Usually in plural in labours of the moon. Chiefly poetic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > light of moon > [noun] > eclipse

labour1580

1580 A. Fleming tr. F. Nausea Bright Burning Beacon sig. B1^v The lacke of light which dims the Sunne, The labours of the Moone likewise.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 91 Teach me the various Labours of the Moon, And whence proceed th' Eclipses of the Sun [L. defectus solis varios, lunaeque labores] .

1748 H. Layng Several Pieces Prose & Verse 21 I..Describ'd the Ocean, and explain'd the Tide ; the Labours of the Moon ; and where the Sun And Planetary Orbs their courses run.

1838 Mirror Lit., Amusement, & Instr. 32 404/2 His [sc. the sun's] burning rays would dry up and consume the earth, but for the kindly rain and refreshing dews, which they ascribed to the labours of the moon.

1975 Classical Q. New Ser. 25 154 Ovid likens a girl's deep blush to the dark hue of roses amid lilies or the moon in labour, when her horses are bewitched.

10.

a. Work (esp. physical work) considered as a resource or commodity, typically when necessary to supply the needs of the community or for the execution of a particular task; the contribution of the worker to production.child, casual, free, slave labour: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > work > [noun]

workOE

travailc1350

workmanshipa1393

overage1415

tew1644

labour1662

1662 W. Petty Treat. Taxes x. 49 Labour is the Father and active principle of Wealth, as Lands are the Mother.

1685 T. Budd Good Order Established in Pa. & New-Jersey in Amer. 13 Did we make our own Sail-cloth and Cordage, we could make Ships, Sloops and Boats at much easier Rates than they can build for in England, the Timber costing us nothing but Labour.

1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. Introd. 6 The..British product..whether we mean its produce as the growth of the country, or its manufactures, as the labour of her people.

1758 R. Dossie Handmaid to Arts I. p. vi Several circumstances both of our œconomical and political condition..are depriving us of the share we had of the grosser manufactures that depend on labour.

1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. Introd. 1 The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniencies of life which it annually consumes.

1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. v. 35 Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities.

1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) iv. iv. 511 If the population of this country were better proportioned to its food, the nominal price of labour might be lower than it is now.

1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. I. i. iii. §1. 55 Labour is indispensable to production, but has not always production for its effect.

1931 A. D. Hall Soil (ed. 4) iv. 116 With the increased cost of labour, tile draining has latterly become too expensive to be generally applicable.

2003 What Home Cinema Jan. (Hispek Electronics Suppl.) 6/3 (advt.) All products we sell come with at least one years manufacturers guarantee, which covers parts and labour on a return to base, basis.

b. Workers (esp. manual workers) considered collectively, esp. as a social group or political force. Cf. sense 6.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > in relation to employer or capitalist > collectively

employed1600

human capital1799

working force1826

labour1830

labour force1844

workforce1910

1830 Examiner 24 Oct. 675/2 The lower classes having obtained the elective power, it is next apprehended that the representation of labour would follow.

1839 J. F. Bray (title) Labour's wrongs and labour's remedy; or, The age of might and the age of right.

1880 S. Walpole Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 228 Labour..was gradually discovering the truth of the old saying, that God helps those who help themselves.

1885 Act 48 & 49 Victoria c. 56 Preamble Doubts have arisen as to whether or not it be lawful for an employer of labour to permit electors in his regular employ to absent themselves.

1900 Leicester Chron. & Leics. Mercury 6 Oct. (Suppl.) 3/3 The endeavour to secure Parliamentary representation of labour.

1940 W. Temple Hope of New World 61 If there is to be tension at all, let it be between the financial interests of Shareholders and the productive interests of Management and Labour in co-operation.

1970 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 652/2 Until after the turn of the century organized labour seldom gained any measure of public sympathy.

1971 C. J. White Introd. Coal Mining Industry iv. 24 The National Coal Board..became the biggest employer of labour in the Western world.

2005 E. Morrison Last Bk. you Read 139 The need to work cheaper than the old unionised labour.

c. With capital initial. Short for ‘the Labour Party’ (see Labour Party n. at Compounds 2).

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > Labourism > Labour Party

Lab1892

Labour Party1905

labour1906

1906 Times 19 Jan. 10/1 Just before going to press the news arrived that Lord Stanley..had been defeated..by Mr. W. T. Wilson (Labour).

1949 R. Lewis & A. Maude Eng. Middle Classes i. iv. 81 Both Conservatives and Labour competed for the middle-class vote.

1966 M. Edelman The ‘Mirror’ viii. 151 Its brilliance was that at no time did the Mirror specifically urge its voters to vote Labour.

1971 D. Williamson Don's Party (1973) 24 I take it you'll be barracking for Labor tonight?

2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) xi. 230 To a party like Labour, seeking to make some peace with its collectivist past, communitarianism provided some positive ideas.

d. Short for Labour Exchange n. 2a.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employment exchange

employment office1801

slave market1835

registry office1839

employment agency1851

Labour Exchange1852

employment bureau1865

employment exchange1867

labour bureau1872

pool office1884

employment service1915

buroo1934

labour1934

job agency1952

job centre1970

1934 H. L. Beales & R. S. Lambert Mem. Unemployed 87 If I can get enough cleaning to do I shall give up the ‘Labour’ altogether and the factory.

1963 T. Parker Unknown Citizen iii. 88 I'll ring you up Monday to tell you how I went on at the Labour.

1971 R. Rendell One Across iv. 37 Work's not easy to come by when you've no qualifications... Can't they find you anything down at the Labour?

1995 J. Murphy Brothers of Brush ii. 69 Lar. You could be seen by someone from the dole out there... Heno. What would someone from the labour be doing walking by this kip, at this hour of the morning, in this poxy weather!

11. U.S. regional (Texas). A measure of land, usually equivalent to around 177 acres (approx. 72 hectares). Now historical.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of area > [noun]

nail1442

mat1613

centrobaric1624

labour1825

1825 T. Gray Let. 19 Jan. in E. C. Barker Austin Papers (1924) I. ii. 1022 I have made choice of the seventh Labour, on the west side of the river.

1845 T. J. Green Jrnl. Texian Exped. xiii. 212 The valley—a basin of about thirty by sixty English miles, [is] laid off in labours.

1883 A. E. Sweet & J. A. Knox On Mexican Mustang 213 To the man who brought a colony of a hundred families to Texas was granted five leagues and five labors of land.

1907 San Antonio (Texas) Gaz. 24 Apr. 2/1 The water for irrigating the labors or fields.

1948 True May 123/2 The land was apportioned to the settlers at the rate of..one labor (177 acres) to each family that preferred dirt farming.

2003 A. C. C. Crimm De León, Tejano Family Hist. v. 132 Fernando had claimed his own ranch of five leagues and five labors, also on the La Vaca Bay peninsula.

Phrases

P1. to lose one's labour: to work on something without benefit or result; to waste one's effort. Now rare.

ΚΠ

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. Prol. l. 181 [They] helden hem vnhardy and here conseille feble, And leten here laboure lost & alle here longe studye.

a1500 (?a1410) J. Lydgate Churl & Bird (Lansd.) l. 309 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 481 I lost my labour, To teche the sich proverbis of substaunce... Rewde is thi remembraunce.

1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. 1 Cor. iii. f. x^v If eythers worke be with fyre destroyed, the workeman shall lose his labour.

1642 D. Rogers Naaman 100 All well affected Christians would be loth to lose their labour and sweat, till they haue enjoyed the promise.

1694 R. Franck Northern Mem. 95 [To bait for trout] I commend the Canker..or, if with a depinged Locust, you will not lose your Labour.

1735 T. Dallowe tr. H. Boerhaave Elements Chem. I. ii. 385 If a person has a mind to distill Honey, for instance, or Wax, for any valuable purpose, he will lose his labour.

1820 T. Mitchell tr. Aristophanes Acharnians in tr. Aristophanes Comedies I. 101 Uncheated he his stalls may spread, nor lose his time and labour.

1866 M. Arnold in Cornhill Mag. May 547 In looking for traces of Normanism in our national genius..we do but lose our labour.

1908 A. H. Harrison In Search of Polar Continent xiii. 203 I had lost my labour and my patience.

P2. [Compare classical Latin labor irritus < labor labour n. + irritus irrite adj.]

a. labour in vain: work done for no benefit; wasted effort. Formerly also: †an instance of this; a fruitless task (obsolete). Now rare.From the early modern period a popular name for public houses; cf. quot. 1679.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > unprofitable or useless labour

unspeeda1400

wastec1400

labour in vaina1470

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 527 Whan he sih..that his labour was in vein.]

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 377 Som..counceyled..for to seke sir Launcelott..other barownes..seyde that hit was laboure in vayne.

1533 T. Paynell tr. U. von Hutten De Morbo Gallico f. 64 And for as moche as I haue shewed before, what euyls come with this syckenes, it were but labour in vayne to repete them.

1578 T. Brasbridge Poore Mans Iewel 14 It is almoste a labour in vaine, to shewe meanes how to purge the wickednes of priuate men, vnlesse Publique offences be first cured.

1616 N. Breton Crossing of Proverbs sig. A5 Labour in vaine is losse of time.

a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) ii. 67 That Commission ended at Labour in vain; not, as the old Emblem is, to go about to make a Black-moor white, but to make him that was White to appear like a Black-moor.

1679 J. Dryden Troilus & Cressida ii. ii. 15 The signe-post for the Labour in vain.

1767 D. Garrick Cymon i. 12 The pow'rs of a god Cannot quicken this clod, Alas!—It is labour in vain.

1831 Times 7 Oct. 4/4 The Oaks winner maintained her position till a few lengths beyond the Duke's Stand, where John Day went to work at her. It was labour in vain, Camarine passed her, and without the slightest effort won..by four lengths.

1864 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia IV. xv. iv. 34 Friedrich..has to retire behind the Sazawa, and ultimately behind the Elbe, with much Labour in Vain.

1909 J. C. Van Dyke New N.Y. xvii. 303 One has merely to stand at the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge and look up at it to realize that sculptural ornamentation in connection with it would be only so much labor in vain.

1957 Y. Hsien-yi & G. Yang tr. Sel. Wks. Lu Hsun 264 Before this happened, I doubt if anyone could have foretold such a tragedy; at most, you would expect this to be merely one more case of labour in vain.

b. labour lost (also lost labour): wasted effort; an instance of this. Cf. to lose one's labour at Phrases 1.

ΚΠ

c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) ii. B. l. 2217 (MED) What availleth hooly scripture and doctours techyng..When men in hir hertis haue noo deuocioun? It is but laboure lost and veyn mocioun.

a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 258 The labour lost and liell seruice.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. lvii. f. xxxii/2 And whan they had well aduysed euery thyng they thought it was but a lost labour.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxxvii. 2 It is but lost labour that ye ryse vp early.

a1626 L. Andrewes 96 Serm. (1629) 307 All that Christ hath done for us is in vaine; whose paines and sufferings we ought specially to tender, knowing that Supra omnem laborem labor irritus, No labour to lost labour; and Christ then hath lost His labour for us.

1653 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian 14 Garden Arrach. Called also Orach, and Orage; It is so commonly known to every Houswife, it were but labor lost to describe it.

1747 J. Wesley Primitive Physick p. xviii Add to the rest (for it is not labour lost) that Old Unfashionable Medicine, Prayer.

1797 in tr. C. C. de Rulhière Hist. or Anecd. Revol. Russia Note p. iii They might send him to the Bastille, nay force his manuscript from him, but..it would prove labour lost, because it was engraven on the table of his memory.

1806 M. Edgeworth Leonora II. lviii. 76 It is lost labour to civilize him, for sooner or later he will hottentot again.

1863 Times 25 Dec. 4/5 The serious criticism of most novels is a lost labour.

1947 French Rev. 21 62 Hall and Denoeu have performed here many a pedagogical labor of love, but much too often it is labor lost.

1991 E. T. H. Brann World of Imagination iii. i. 408 The attempt to verify the representational relation by recovering the projection would be lost labor.

P3.

labour of Hercules n. (also Hercules' labour) (in classical mythology) each of the twelve tasks which Eurystheus, king of Argos, imposed upon the hero Hercules; (hence) an exceptionally difficult undertaking; a seemingly impossible task. Cf. Herculean adj. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > difficulty > types of difficulty > [noun] > difficulty or laboriousness > a difficult or laborious task

travailc1350

labour of Hercules?a1475

task1597

punisher1827

back-breaker1867

bashing1940

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 11 (MED) What man wolde not laȝhe..if that a pigmei scholde make him redy to conflicte after the labores of Hercules?

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. i. 342 I wil..vndertake one of Hercules labors.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. ii. 88 Rules, so curiously disposed in order, as it is a labour of Hercules to obserue them.

1779 G. Keate Sketches from Nature I. 64 The labours of Hercules were a flea-bite to it.

1865 Dublin Uni. Mag. Nov. 577/1 The organization of the feast itself was a labour of Hercules.

1965 Mod. Lang. Rev. 60 130 Carmine Jannaco has undertaken this veritable labour of Hercules.

2008 Express (Nexis) 16 Apr. 13 It is scarcely a labour of Hercules to walk upstairs and check that all is dark and quiet when it should be.

P4.

labour of love n. [with allusion to 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (see quot. 1535¹ and compare Hellenistic Greek τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης ) and Hebrews 6:10 (see quot. 1535²)] a task undertaken either for love of the work itself or out of love for a person, cause, etc.; work of this nature.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > love > [noun] > work undertaken out of or for love

labour of love1592

society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > other types of work

church worka1225

kirk work1418

fieldwork1441

labour of love1592

life's work1660

shop work1696

outwork1707

private practice1724

tide-work1739

sales-work1775

marshing1815

work in progress1815

life-work1837

relief work1844

sharp practice1847

near work1850

slop-work1861

repetition work1866

side work1875

rework1878

wage-slavery1886

work in progress1890

war work1891

busywork1893

screen work1912

staff-work1923

gig work1927

knowledge work1959

WIP1966

telework1970

playwork1986

laboratory work2002

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Thess. i. 3 Youre worke in the faith, and youre laboure in loue.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Heb. vi. 10 God is not vnrighteous, that he shulde forget youre worke and laboure of loue, which ye shewed in his name.]

1592 R. Greene Philomela To Rdr. sig. A4 I com contrary to vow and promise once againe to the presse with a labour of loue which I hatched long ago.

1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling ii. iii. §12 Women..founded Hospitals, and yet with a labor of love, as the Apostle styles it, Hebrew vi. 10, disdain'd not somtimes to serve in them.

1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote II. vii. i. 108 You must submit to the lowest offices in this labour of love.

1878 W. Black Goldsmith xiv. 131 During this labour of love [sc. the composition of the Deserted Village].

1930 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 28 Apr. 15/5 Whatever he had done for the Railway Cricket Club was a labour of love.

2001 Western Daily Press (Nexis) 11 Mar. 14 The lace-like pattern of flowers in urns and Prince Of Wales feathers must have been an extraordinary labour of love.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

labour dispute n.

ΚΠ

1853 Manch. Guardian 30 Nov. 4/4 (heading) The labour disputes.

1966 S. Beer Decision & Control x. 210 Perhaps the contestants in most important games nowadays (from labour disputes..to international diplomacy) too readily regard their games as zero-sum.

2003 Globe & Mail (Toronto) May 31 a25/1 A labour dispute between Toronto's Roman Catholic elementary teachers and their board deteriorated further yesterday.

labour master n.

ΚΠ

1841 Preston Chron. & Lancs. Advertiser 6 Nov. The appointment of a labour master to superintend the out and in-door labour of the poor of the union.

1901 Daily News 10 Jan. 9/3 The labour master..certified him able to do the work.

2001 M. López-Garza & D. R. Diaz Asian & Latino Immigrants in Restructuring Econ. i. 3 Totally cut off from communication with the world outside the compound, forced to buy basic household and food products from their labor masters..these women were trapped in a hopeless situation.

labour member n.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > other types of member

burgessc1425

private member1606

recruiter1648

university member1774

unofficial member1822

labour member1871

Labour-Liberal1890

service member1890

front-bencher1907

back-bencher1910

shire-member1910

society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > Labourism > Labour Party > member of

labour member1871

1871 Pall Mall Gaz. 22 Sept. 2/2 A common ground of interest between the labour-heads and the labour members must be found.

1895 Whitaker's Almanack 134 The House of Commons..Liberals, 267 (including 4 Labour Members).

1932 J. Buchan Gap in Curtain iii. 149 Collinson, a young Labour member from the Midlands, declared that Geraldine was the best Socialist of them all.

2001 Independent 18 May 8/2 A Labour member announced he was quitting the party yesterday.

labour migration n.

ΚΠ

1871 Times 7 Sept. 8 It [sc. charity]..can bring into discredit the whole subject of labour migrations.

1984 Amer. Hist. Rev. 89 562/2 Labor migration is a fundamental element in contemporary Kittitian and Nevisian life.

2004 Culture, Health & Sexuality 6 276 Graham..confirms the findings of other studies in pointing to far-flung labour migrations as a key contributor to dietary change.

labour mobility n.

ΚΠ

1910 J. R. Commons & J. B. Andrews Labor Movement Introd. 45 in Documentary Hist. Amer. Industr. Soc. (1958) 9 The control of emigration for the protection of trade unions against the new menace of steam transportation and labor mobility.

2000 Econ. Affairs 20 35/2 Labour mobility in the euro area is likely to play a substantially smaller role..than it does in the United States.

labour permit n.

ΚΠ

1884 St. Louis Globe-Democrat 4 Apr. 4/3 Under the regulations labor permits are issued in the following form [etc.].

1927 Melody Maker Aug. 777/1 Al Payne should have been leader, but the necessary labour permits could not be obtained, and the band remains in America.

1994 Pacific Affairs 67 344 All nonlocals who cannot produce the necessary papers—a temporary resident's permit, labour permit, work contract and ID card—are turned back on the spot.

labour power n.

ΚΠ

1841 Alton (Illinois) Tel. & Democratic Rev. 19 June The labor-power of the country would immediately be employed to the full extent of its capacity.

1959 B. Wootton Social Sci. & Social Pathol. ix. 280 He matters in himself, and not merely as a unit of cannon-fodder, labour-power or population.

1997 G. Hosking Russia (1998) iii. iii. 203 The commonest criterion for allotting land was the amount of labour power at the disposal of each household.

labour question n.

ΚΠ

1838 Times 18 June 5/4 The results of this inquiry naturally bear upon the labour question at large.

1888 E. Bellamy Looking Backward v. 66 What solution, if any, have you found for the labor question?

1991 Hist. Workshop Spring 109 Abolitionists like Garrison had no interest in labour questions, something central to the immediate concerns of the immigrants.

labour shortage n.

ΚΠ

1899 Logansport (Indiana) Pharos 9 Aug. 1/3 The labor shortage is greater than ever, and wages average $2 a day.

1948 B. Griffith Amer. Me ii. ii. 122 When the war created a demand for railroad labor..braceros were brought in to augment the serious labor shortage.

2000 R. W. Holder Taunton Cider & Langdons iii. 13 Automation in American farming had been driven by a chronic labour shortage.

labour song n.

ΚΠ

1784 T. Robertson Inq. Fine Arts vi. 404 The Labour-Songs, for the purpose of which they are said admirably to be constructed..have had in general a less deep and serious subject.

1841 W. Osburn Antiq. of Egypt v. 107 This most ancient labour song is inscribed over a man driving two yoke of oxen, treading out a floor of corn, in a tomb at Elethya.

1974 Times 25 Sept. 14/8 She..sang a labour song about joining the union.

2004 College Eng. 67 178 Huber..cites two labor songs popular among striking coal miners in the 1920s and 1930s.

labour sphere n.

ΚΠ

1833 J. H. Newman Lyra Apost. iv. iv, in Brit. Mag. 4 266 O Comrade bold of toil and pain! Thy trial how severe, When severed first by prisoner's chain From thy loved labour-sphere.

1903 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 24 Oct. 13/5 A straw vote taken along the water front the other day, gave Schmitz the astounding total of 305 out of 32—this, however, being in almost a strictly labor sphere.

2002 M. Hopkins Labour Market Planning Revisited vii. 187 The poor quality of data and conceptualization in the labour sphere.

labour unrest n.

ΚΠ

1886 Tyron (Pa.) Herald 20 May 2/3 The most dangerous feature of the labor unrest in the country is the fact that nine-tenths of those engaged in the strikes are foreigners.

1919 Empire Rev. Aug. 255 The loss of wealth, high taxation, the dislocation of trade and industry with their attendant evils, labour unrest and the prolating of unemployment.

2002 Mariner's Mirror 88 309 There was labour unrest in the port with seamen and dockworkers on strike.

labour waste n.

ΚΠ

1893 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 12 May The financiers of the northeast laugh to scorn the idea that there is not enough money in the country to do business and utilize the labor waste that is going on in other sections.

2005 G. Thomas & M. Thomas Constr. Partnering & Integrated Teamworking xix. 107 Some estimates put the labour waste associated with standing time on site as high as 30%.

b. Objective and objective genitive, as labour-easing, labour-employing, labour-loathing, labour-supplying, etc., adjs.

ΚΠ

a1618 J. Sylvester New-polished Spectacles in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Diuine Weekes & Wks. (1621) 1178 Th' idle Lubber, labour-loathing.

1775 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 9 Dec. (1778) The common saw-horse makes the cutting of it [sc. firewood] a tedious labour-consuming piece of business.

1837 C. A. Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes Comedies I. 196 The fertile vine, whose tendrils bear The labour-easing grape.

1850 Southern Literary Messenger Apr. 199/2 The singularly rapid increase of labour-employing capital at the North.

1925 Morning News Rev. (Florence, S. Carolina) 1 Feb. All continually strive to find labor easing devices.

1981 Guardian (Nexis) 20 Sept. 20 There is a rigid hierarchy dividing the ringers (the labour-dodging crooks)..and the moilers who do the manual work.

1991 Impact of Sci. on Society (UNESCO) No. 162. 184 Employing cheaper crews from one of the labour-supplying countries such as the Philippines, the Indian sub-continent, or mainland China.

2002 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 23 Apr. 19 She sees no conflict in moaning about disloyalty and then selling her memoirs to the Labour-loathing Daily Mail.

c. Instrumental, as labour-bent, labour-coarsened, labour-controlled, labour-dimmed, labour-dominated, labour-run, labour-tired, labour-wearied, etc., adjs.

ΚΠ

1595 T. Lodge Fig for Momus sig. I2 The refuse race, of labour-tyred men.

1798 R. Anderson Poems on Var. Subj. 16 The cheerful cottager no longer views His lengthen'd shadow talk across the plain; But, labour-wearied, marks his far-off hut.

1864 M. S. Cummins Haunted Hearts xxv. 399 One of these side glances revealed to her the stout, labor-bent form of Van Hausen.

1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life xx. 345 Her labour-coarsened hands.

1867 M. Arnold Heine's Grave 89 The weary Titan! with deaf Ears, and labour-dimm'd eyes.

1934 Chillicothe (Missouri) Constitution-Tribune 22 Mar. (Daily ed.) 2/3 It would give Labor even more power than in the Labor-dominated countries of New Zealand and Australia.

1959 Times 22 Oct. 8/2 An appeal..for an inquiry into the city's Labour-controlled administration has been rejected.

1995 Guardian 5 July i. 11/7 Labour-run Lewisham council, in south London.

2001 Jrnl. Public Health Policy 22 67 The UMWA pioneered the building of ten labor-sponsored hospitals and the establishment of many excellent medical groups in the coal mining areas.

C2.

labour bank n. (a) a bank or depot in which goods may be deposited or converted into labour notes (labour note n.) for use in a labour exchange (Labour Exchange n. 1b) (now historical); (b) (chiefly U.S.) a bank organized or run by a labour organization or union.

ΚΠ

1832 Poor Man's Guardian 7 Jan. 239/1 The best means of establishing a Labour Bank for the exchange of Labour.

1847 Illustr. London News 28 Aug. 135/3 The Chartists are raising subscriptions to establish a bank, to be called the ‘Labour Bank’.

1904 Boston Daily Globe 24 Jan. 8/3 Establish a labor bank; deposit therein the funds from the treasuries of the unions of Chicago... Do not let labor's money any longer draw interest for capitalists.

1958 Oxf. Econ. Papers 10 357 The First Western Co-operative Union in London..added a labour bank to its shop in 1831–2.

2005 Washington Post (Nexis) 15 June a25 Unite-Here cannot risk the withdrawal of massive union deposits from Amalgamated Bank (the nation's one labor bank, which Unite-Here owns).

labour bill n. (a) a proposed piece of legislation concerned with labour conditions, the workforce, etc. (see bill n.³ 3); (b) a bill for payment for work done; (c) a piece of legislation proposed by a Labour Party.

ΚΠ

1818 Morning Chron. 21 Apr. A Member under the Gallery asked at what time it was intended to bring on the Cotton Factories Labour Bill?

1845 Amer. Agriculturist Jan. 10/2 Under this system, the labor bills would be comparatively small.

1912 T. W. Holderness People & Probl. India vi. 140 The peasant has no labour bill, as he and his family work the holding.

1986 Guardian (Nexis) 24 Feb. Some rights bestowed under Tory legislation would be retained in the Labour bill.

2001 M. V. Murillo Labor Unions, Partisan Coalitions, & Market Reforms in Lat. Amer. iv. 65 In 1990, after the CTV organized a public demonstration to demand the sanction of the labor bill, the Congress passed it.

labour book n. now chiefly historical a book used to keep an account of workers employed or labour done.

ΚΠ

1790 Gen. Rules & Orders in Gen. Regulations Inspection Prisons xxx. 36 If any prisoner committed to hard labour..shall be inclined to execute more than his or her task..every such prisoner shall be entitled to two thirds of the profits of such extra labour, an account of which shall be kept in a column of the labour book.

1824 Times 15 Dec. 4/1 (advt.) The Labour Book, consisting of forms ruled for keeping an account of workmen's labour and wages for 1824-5.

1936 A. Rand We the Living i. iii. 35 Every citizen over sixteen had to have a labor book and was ordered to carry it at all times.

2004 D. Mitch in D. Mitch et al. Origins Mod. Career xiii. 294 Further indication of the use of transient labour was the extensive listing of women, boys and girls on the labour book for this period.

labour brigade n. (a) colloquial (with the) workers, or members of a Labour Party, considered collectively; = sense 10b; (b) a band or unit of workers, esp. one into which individuals are forced or compelled.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > group of workers

work team1809

labour brigade1886

lads1888

span1913

work group1928

1886 Christian Union 9 Sept. 5/2 Some of the devices made it plain that the labor brigade has an eye on the main chance in politics.

1922 H. Robinson Devel. Brit. Empire xxv. 451 Outside of the self-governing Dominions many colored troops were obtained, and South Africa furnished large numbers for labor brigades.

1965 M. Michael tr. J. Myrdal Rep. from Chinese Village (1967) i. 44 Every member of the labour brigade is given a private plot.

1988 Herald (Melbourne) (Nexis) 23 Mar. In contrast to the rest of the wheezing Labor brigade, front-bench veterans Barry Jones and Barry Cohen have just been elevated to glory.

2005 Washington Post (Nexis) 21 Apr. (Metro section) b5 During World War II,..[he] worked as an administrator of a labor brigade, which many Jews were forced to join.

labour bureau n. (also with capital initials) †(a) = Labour Exchange n. 1b (obsolete); (b) an office or department concerned with labour and employment; esp. a labour exchange (Labour Exchange n. 2a).

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > place for exchange of goods

labour bureau1832

Labour Exchange1832

commodity exchange1881

society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employment exchange

employment office1801

slave market1835

registry office1839

employment agency1851

Labour Exchange1852

employment bureau1865

employment exchange1867

labour bureau1872

pool office1884

employment service1915

buroo1934

labour1934

job agency1952

job centre1970

1832 Crisis 11 Aug. 90/3 Perhaps the best preliminary mode..will be by the establishment of Equitable Exchange Labour Bureaus.

1872 Leeds Mercury 31 Oct. During the year 1871 the Labour Bureau at Castle Garden procured employment for 31,384 immigrants.

1889 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 52 520 This was followed by a report by Mr. Bateman, on the work of the Labour Bureau of the Board of Trade.

1941 Times 22 July 5/7 The large increase in industrial accidents which according to Labour Bureau statistics, were nearly twice as high in 1940 as in 1936.

2003 N. Nattrass in J. Daniel et al. State of Nation 143 Unemployed men crowded the rural labour bureaux in unprecedented numbers.

labour camp n. a camp whose inhabitants are employed in physical labour; esp. a prison camp in which a regime of hard labour is enforced.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > penal settlement > labour camp

labour camp1833

labour colony1857

work camp1877

1833 Times 20 May 3/1 Four other camps, to be called Camps de Travaux, or Labour Camps, will be established in La Vendée and the west, destined to form roads and bridges.

1900 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 11 May 510/1 Prisoners..might serve their time in..quarries, which would be turned into labour camps.

1958 Spectator 6 June 723/3 Recsk, one of the most abominable labour camps in the world.

2005 M. Lewycka Short Hist. Tractors in Ukrainian xxvi. 268 The labour camp at Drachensee was a huge, ugly, chaotic and cruel place.

labour candidate n. (chiefly with capital initial) (in early use) a political candidate representing the general body of labourers or workers (see sense 10b); (later) a candidate representing an organized political Labour Party (see Labour Party n.).

ΚΠ

1870 Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper 13 Feb. 6/4 London Alderman (who is now a candidate for Southwark against the Labour candidate).

1893 H. F. McLelland Jack & Beanstalk 16 You'd make a good Labour Candidate.

1963 J. Blondel Voters, Parties, & Leaders v. 136 Labour candidates are mainly drawn from the middle and lower middle classes.

2004 Sunday Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 4 July 91 She found that the values of Coalition candidates are much closer to the people who vote for them than Labor candidates are to Labor voters.

labour class n. = working class n.; cf. labouring class n. at labouring adj. Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > working class

working class1757

population1817

proletaire1833

proletariat1847

labour class1848

industrial proletariat1871

1848 Hogg's Weekly Instructor 1 45/2 A very large proportion of the whole population..belongs to the labour class, who are dependent upon wages for their living.

1891 Times 7 Sept. 7/5 He trusted that from the coming Local Government Bill there might spring great advantages to the labour classes of Ireland.

1935 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 180 103/1 Unemployment developed hatred and suspicion among the labor classes against the capitalists.

2007 S. Y. Gottlieb & H. Arendt Refl. Lit. & Culture 132 The dangerous illusion that somehow the despised bourgeoisie and the despising labor class were right and at home in this world.

labour coach n. chiefly U.S. a person (often the father of the child or a friend or relative of the mother) who gives emotional support and practical help to a woman during childbirth; cf. doula n.

ΚΠ

1964 De Moines (Iowa) Reg. 4 July 6/1 Husbands make fine ‘labor coaches’ when their wives are giving birth to a child.

1983 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 83 68/2 Pregnant teens are encouraged to bring a special friend or relative who will become a labor coach or support person during labor and delivery.

2002 P. Vincent Baby Catcher ii. 55 She attended many births as a labor coach, a person we now call a doula, and soon she was catching babies on her own.

labour colony n. = labour camp n.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > penal settlement > labour camp

labour camp1833

labour colony1857

work camp1877

1857 Daily News 27 Jan. 4/4 Better a convict labour colony on Dartmoor, than a convict penal settlement in the Falkland Islands.

1888 Charity Organ. Rev. Jan. 43 The Council would gladly see an experiment made in the form of a Labour Colony, to which unemployed townspeople might be sent for a time, and where they would be employed with a view to undertaking labouring work in a colony.

1934 Cape Times 12 Jan. 9/7 The ‘scollie’ boys could be rounded up and sent to labour colonies.

2000 Europe-Asia Stud. 52 1258 The Central Corrective Labour Administration of Compulsory Labour..directed correction and work houses and provincial and district labour colonies in rural areas.

labour content n. chiefly Economics the quantity of labour required to manufacture a particular commodity, carry out a particular task, etc.

ΚΠ

1948 Spectator 9 Jan. 38/2 Fine worsteds..have a high ‘labour content’, and raw material is a low item in the cost of their production.

2005 D. Harvey Brief Hist. of Neoliberalism (2007) v. 130 The only sectors where clear initial successes were recorded were in those sectors exporting goods with high labour content.

labour cost n. chiefly Economics the cost incurred by employing labour (chiefly in plural).

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > for labour or wages

labourage1715

labour cost1821

pay bill1828

wage bill1919

wage-price1946

wage cost1958

1821 T. R. Malthus Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. 104 But when cost is estimated upon the principles of Mr. Ricardo, by the quantity of labour applied, the labour cost and labour value scarcely ever agree.

1903 Westm. Gaz. 9 July 2/1 The imposition of such duties as will equalise our labour-costs with the labour-costs of our foreign competitors.

2003 E. Schlosser Reefer Madness ii. 83 One of the easiest ways to reduce labor costs is to keep workers off the books.

† labour-fellow n. [after Hellenistic Greek συνεργός (see synergist n.)] Obsolete a fellow labourer.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > fellow-worker

fellowOE

labour-fellow1526

work fellow1526

yokefellow1526

fellow worker1534

yokemate1567

co-brother1590

workmate1763

butty1791

side-partner1845

deskmate1850

co-labourer1859

bobber1860

with-worker1884

society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun] > colleague or fellow-worker

fellowOE

consort1419

confrerec1425

companionc1523

labour-fellow1526

yokefellow1526

colleaguea1533

associate1533

adjunct1554

yokemate1567

colleagen1579

co-agenta1600

co-operatora1600

collateralc1600

co-workman1619

co-workera1643

partner1660

co-operatrix1674

co-agitator1683

co-adjoint1689

adjoint1738

side-partner1845

co-operatress1865

maugh1868

with-worker1884

society > faith > sect > Christianity > person > [noun] > fellow

even-ChristianlOE

labour-fellow1526

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Philipp. iv. 3 My labour felowes whose names are in the boke off lyfe.

1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Phil. iv. f. ix My labourfelowes [L. participes..laborum] in y^e gospell.

1557 Bible (Whittingham) 1 Thess. iii. 2 Timotheus..our labour felowe in the Gospel of Christe.

Labour government n. a government formed by a Labour Party; (also, as a mass noun) government by such a group.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > a or the government > [noun] > other types of government

regency1643

myriarchy1650

responsible government1782

charter-government1796

co-government1834

minority government1859

internationalism1879

minority rule1886

Labour government1892

provisional government1916

paepae1937

1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Aug. 6/2 It was the fundamental duty of the Labour party to sit it opposition until they crossed the House to form a Labour Government.

1920 Manch. Guardian 5 Jan. 6/2 Could any conceivable Labour Government have made blunders so gross?

1949 Times 1 Dec. 4/3 The general desire of New Zealanders for a change after 14 years of Labour government..contributed largely to the National Party's victory.

2005 D. McWilliams Pope's Children vii. 101 The interface of middle England and under England which the Labour government is intent on privatising.

labour hero n. (also with capital initial(s)) (chiefly in the People's Republic of China) a title awarded to a male worker in recognition of an exceptionally high output. [After Chinese láodòng yīngxióng (1938; < láodòng labour (see Labour Day n.) + yīngxióng hero ( < yīng flower, hero + xióng powerful person)), probably ultimately after Russian Geroj Truda, lit. ‘Hero of Labour’ (1927; also more fully Geroj Sočialističeskogo Truda, lit. ‘Hero of Socialist Labour’ (1938); both now historical).]

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > [noun] > maker or manufacturer > who exceeds production quota

udarnik1931

labour hero1945

labour heroine1945

1945 G. Stein Challenge of Red China iv. xvi. 159 We wanted to know how Wu Men-yu had become a Labor Hero.

1979 China Now Jan.–Feb. 11/1 Several Chinese have reportedly received awards as labour heroes.

1998 I. Crook & D. Crook First Years Yangyi Commune xiii. 147 Wang Xi-tang like his father was both a farmer and a craftsman. When the Communists came to Ten Mile Inn he set his heart on becoming a Labour Hero.

labour heroine n. (also with capital initial(s)) [after Chinese láodòng yīngxióng (see labour hero n.)] (chiefly in the People's Republic of China) a title awarded to a female worker in recognition of an exceptionally high output.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > [noun] > maker or manufacturer > who exceeds production quota

udarnik1931

labour hero1945

labour heroine1945

1945 G. Stein Challenge of Red China xxv. 200 A young Labour Heroine whom I had interviewed on factory problems told me her life story.

1973 Times 12 Apr. ii. p. iii./6 She worked 12-18 hours a day from her childhood at a textile mill... After liberation, she..has become Labour Heroine in the benevolent bosom of President Kim II Sung.

2000 Population & Devel. Rev. 28 34 ‘Labor heroines’..were portrayed as role models for all women in China.

labour house n. (a) poetic a laboratory; (b) a workhouse (now historical).

ΚΠ

1712 R. Blackmore Creation iv. 169 Did Chymic Chance the Furnaces prepare, Raise all the Labour-Houses of the Air, And lay crude Vapours in Digestion there? When Nature is employ'd with wondrous Skill To draw her Spirits, and her Drops distil.

1778 J. Bentham View Hard-labour Bill 1 This Bill has two capital objects: 1st, To provide a new establishment of Labour-houses all over England.

1885 M. Arnold Poems III. 191 Somewhere, surely, afar, In the sounding labour-house vast Of being, is practised that strength.

1887 Times 10 Oct. 3/3 George Green, 20, was charged with stealing two coats and two bugles..from Dr. Barnardo's Youths' Labour House.

a1924 M. Ghose Coll. Poems (1974) III. ii. 368 His forge, this labour house of being, His purpose to shape out Through flickering shadows, smoke and gloom.

2002 E. O'Sullivan in P. O'Mahony Criminal Justice in Ireland x. 185 One of the labour houses to be established for vagrants and other persons of bad character.

labour-intensive adj. requiring a great deal of labour; characterized by this (see intensive adj. 5b).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [adjective] > laborious or toilsome > accomplished with much labour

busy1448

laboured1566

elaborate1592

pumped1731

labour-intensive1928

1928 Jrnl. Farm Econ. 10 108 The Commission unequivocally favors larger farms, more extensive methods on the poorer land, but power and capital goods intensive, not labor intensive.

1976 New Society 10 June 562 The labour intensive character of the Post Office could be reduced with a more zealous drive to mechanize.

2001 R. G. Castro Chicano Folklore 218 Making tamales is very labor-intensive work and is usually performed by women.

labour law n. a law relating to the rights and responsibilities of workers; (as a mass noun) the body of such laws.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > branch of the law > [noun] > other branches or departments of law

military law1678

family law1728

administrative law1827

labour law1842

1842 Preston Chron. & Lancs. Advertiser 21 May I fear his advocacy of a labour law and his denouncement of rent laws will not be palatable to his employers.

1902 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 20 241 Labor laws, however good, cannot enforce themselves.

2002 Nation 2 Dec. 7/2 Call them temps, braceros, guest workers or seasonal employees, these workers have few legal protections and no rights under US labor law.

labour leader n. (also with capital initial) (a) the leader of a labour group or movement; a representative of workers or employees; (b) the leader of a political Labour Party; a high ranking Labour Party official.

ΚΠ

1872 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 64 It cannot be necessary to quote further from the writings of the labor leaders, to show what is the foundation of their hostility to ‘coined gold and silver’!

1924 Manch. Guardian 2 May 9/1 The Labour party and Labour leaders have always been divided upon the subject of P.R. [i.e. Proportional Representation].

1995 Independent 9 Nov. 3/1 At the time of his election the Labour leader was portrayed as the ultimate Islington man.

2006 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Sept. a24/2 Other labor leaders are pushing an alternative known as ‘card check’, whereby paid union organizers, um, ‘persuade’ employees to sign pro-union cards.

Labour-Liberal adj. (and n.) British Politics (in early use) of or relating to members of the labour movement acting in association with the Liberal Party; (later) of or relating to the Labour and Liberal parties, esp. with reference to any of various temporary alliances between these parties; also as n.

ΘΚΠ

burgessc1425

private member1606

recruiter1648

university member1774

unofficial member1822

labour member1871

Labour-Liberal1890

service member1890

front-bencher1907

back-bencher1910

shire-member1910

1890 Western Mail 8 Apr. 3/3 Mr. Morgan Weeks proposed..that the motion should be to form a ‘National Labour Liberal Organisation’, but this was opposed by Mr. W. Allen.]

1890 Leeds Mercury 3 Nov. 8/4 The most activity was displayed in the Lindley-cum-Quarmby Ward, where a Labour Liberal candidate was brought out by the Huddersfield Trades Union.

1904 Daily Chron. 7 Jan. 5/4 Two English Liberal Members (one Liberal and one Labour-Liberal).

1957 E. P. Lawrence Henry George in Brit. Isles xiii. 182 In the House, the tiny Labour-Liberal bloc could not hope to save the land taxes, but they were determined to humiliate the Government.

2004 J. H. Morrow Great War vii. 300 The Labour-Liberal victory of December 1923 that propelled Ramsay MacDonald into office.

labour market n. the supply of available labour considered with reference to the demand for it; the sphere of action within which workers compete for jobs, and employers compete for workers (cf. job market n. at job n.² Compounds 2c).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun]

labour market1816

job market1917

1816 Times 13 Aug. 2/3 Thus, under improved management, the colony of New South Wales may afford the most efficient relief to our manufacturing and labouring poor, by drawing off superfluous hands from the labour market.

1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 160 There must be many a man..awaiting his release with some trepidation on account of uncertainty about his future in the labour market.

2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) xi. 233 In a new world of employment where the flexible labour market is god, people will go in and out of work, dependent upon the needs of the employer.

labour movement n. (also with capital initial) the effort by organized labour to improve the rights and conditions of workers; the organizations and individuals involved in this.

ΚΠ

1844 Northern Star & Leeds Gen. Advertiser 19 Oct. 1/1 Bound up as he is with the Labour Movement.

1922 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 102 78/1 What the American labor movement holds is that..we stand ready to give where we can give as freemen to freemen, with honesty on both sides.

1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax ix. 88 Her ignorance of Party matters, Labour Movements, working-class life.

2003 S. Roth Building Movement Bridges ii. 25 This working women's movement posed a challenge to the labor movement.

labour note n. now historical a note indicating value in terms of work, for use as a medium of exchange in a system of cooperative labour exchanges (see Labour Exchange n. 1b).

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > promissory notes or bills of exchange > [noun] > voucher > specific kind of

scrip1818

box top1820

labour note1831

punch-out1899

book token1932

record token1939

slop-chit1946

luncheon voucher1955

dinner card1963

1831 Times 13 Dec. 4/1 To receive provisions, clothing, and other property, to be exchanged on the equitable principle of labour for equal labour, through the medium of labour notes.

1949 A. E. Briggs tr. R. Rocker Pioneers of Amer. Freedom ii. 58 So-called labor notes, whose value was rated in terms of working hours, served as a medium for exchange—four labor hours equalling in exchange one customary dollar.

2007 P. North Money & Liberation iii. 45 Goods could be produced in return for labor notes, but could the income be spent?

labour-only adj. designating or relating to a form of contracting in which the contractor supplies only the labour for a particular piece of work; (also) designating or relating to a contractor, company, etc., operating in this way.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > business affairs > [adjective] > of sub-contracting which supplies only labour

labour-only1950

society > occupation and work > worker > employer > [adjective] > type of sub-contractor

labour-only1950

1950 Times 16 Dec. 3/3 The piecework type of labour-only sub-contracting is liable to abuses.

1969 M. Gagg in R. Fraser Work II. 133 For the past seven years I have been a labour only sub-contractor.

2002 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 18 Mar. 3 He said labour-only carpenters were being paid between $25 and $26 an hour.

labour pains n. pains experienced during childbirth.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun] > labour or pains

cothec1000

throea1200

pining throesc1225

travailc1300

showera1350

paina1398

travailinga1400

throng1540

labouring1598

travail pang1652

travail pain1662

labour pains1703

mother-pain1709

mother-pang1710

breeding sicknessa1714

bearing pain1787

troublea1825

birth throe1837

1703 W. F. Divine Gram. 226 Putting Plaisters to her Breast tossing in Bed with a Neighbour, shewed A. of Labour Pains on't only that day.

1851 Lancet 2 Aug. 103/2 A full dose of opium given to induce repose will often excite efficient labour pains.

1988 Mother Apr. 21/1 Mums learnt to pant their way through labour pains.

Labour Party n. (also with lower-case initial(s)) any of various political parties formed to support the interests of working people, often characterized by left-of-centre policies and strong ties with trade unions.From the mid 19th cent. labour party was used of and by various political groups seeking direct political representation for working people. The U.K. Labour Party was formed in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee, from a combination of trade unions and other left-wing political organizations. It became the Labour Party in 1906. The Australian Labor Party is Australia's oldest political party.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > a party > [noun] > types of party generally (in various countries)

country party1648

war-party1798

Conservative Party1830

Progressive Party1830

national party1847

Labour Party1850

Nationalist Party1884

Social Credit1935

Third Force1936

third force1956

demandeur1966

People's Power1974

Green Party1977

society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > Labourism > Labour Party

Lab1892

Labour Party1905

labour1906

1850 A. Alison Ess. Polit. Hist. & Misc. I. 473 All other countries which follow in any degree the example of the great parent republic, by the popularising of their institutions, will from the influence of the labour party, do the same.

1871 Manch. Weekly Times 30 Dec. 6/2 It was..resolved that the Spanish members [of the International Working Men's Assocation] should no longer abstain from politics, but that a labour party should be formed distinct from all existing parties.

1892 Roydhouse & Taperell (title) The Labour Party in New South Wales.

1896 Labour Annual 39 This [of 1895] was the first General Election in which an organized Labour party, independent of either Liberal or Tory, and opposing either or both, has taken part in the United Kingdom.

1905 J. R. Macdonald in W. T. Stead Coming Men 222 The Labour Party..will represent trades; it will represent the working class; it will represent a coherent body of fundamental Labour opinion.

1971 Sunday Austral. 8 Aug. 3/4 The Federal President of the Australian Labor Party..yesterday called on his party to dissociate itself from extremist students.

2006 Northern Echo (Nexis) 20 June 4 He joined the Labour Party at the age of 15 and served as..an Easington district councillor before he was selected for the new Euro seat of Durham.

labour relations n. the relations between management and the workforce.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [noun]

industrial relations1833

labour relations1858

production relations1892

1858 De Bow's Rev. Dec. 633 What races and what labor relations did it contemplate?

1943 J. S. Huxley TVA 116 The TVA's work in making a comparative survey of rates and conditions in all the fertilizer plants of the region, which helped materially in promoting better labour relations.

2000 N.Y. Times 17 Dec. iv. 3/1 The Railway Labor Act, the 74-year-old law that governs labor relations in the airline industry.

labour-saver n. a labour-saving device.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > [noun] > for easing or eliminating work

labour-saver1842

1842 Daily Whig & Courier (Bangor, Maine) 26 Apr. 2/1 They should roast an ox on the occasion of the introduction of this labor saver.

1929 A. Huxley Do what you Will 86 The machine..is..a labour-saver.

2006 Good Woodworking June 12/4 The worktop jig is something they learn at college, but the lock, hinge and letter plate jigs were the ones they reckon will be the true labour-savers.

labour-saving adj. designed to reduce or eliminate the work necessary to achieve a task.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > saving effort

labour-saving1791

society > occupation and work > equipment > [adjective] > for easing or eliminating work

labour-saving1791

1791 E. Corrie Consideration Corn Laws 37 Manufacturers are increasing more rapidly than the progress of population, aided by labour saving machines, can sufficiently furnish hands to carry on.

1870 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. (1873) 1st Ser. 110 Only too thankful for any labor-saving contrivance whatsoever.

1964 M. McLuhan Understanding Media xvi. 161 The American farmer, confronted with new tasks and opportunities, and at the same time with a great shortage of human assistance, was goaded into a frenzy of creation of labor-saving devices.

2006 Fast Company Jan. 40/1 The 1950s version of the future focused primarily on labor-saving gadgetry with a ‘gee whiz!’ factor.

labour secretary n. (frequently with capital initials) an official with responsibility for issues relating to employment, labour relations, etc.; spec. the U.S. cabinet member in charge of the Department of Labor (cf. secretary n.¹ 3a).

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > a or the government > government minister > [noun] > specific U.S. cabinet member

labour secretary1892

1892 Econ. Jrnl. 2 749 The Labour Association..has within the last few years been incorporated under the superintendence of a labour secretary.

1913 N.Y. Times 27 Feb. 1/4 E.H. Farr may be Attorney General and Congressman Wilson new Labor Secretary.

1961 Newark Evening News 14 Mar. 24/1 Treasury Secretary Dillon and Labor Secretary Goldberg fell into line.

2005 Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 2 Dec. (Finance section) 17 The union put its request..to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which guarantees company pensions, and to the labor secretary.

† labour-show n. Obstetrics Obsolete a discharge of blood-streaked mucus from the vagina (a sign of impending labour); cf. show n.¹ 23.

ΚΠ

1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 73 Leucorrhea Nabothi. Labour-show.

1848 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 7) 629/2 One, two, or three days before labour, a mucous discharge, streaked with blood, takes place from the vagina, which is called the Signum,..Labour-show, or Show.

labour spy n. U.S. (now historical) a person engaged in covert observation of the activities of fellow workers, esp. those belonging to a union.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > those involved in labour relations > [noun] > one who spies on fellow workers

labour spy1903

the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > procedures used in spying > [noun] > private detection > person engaged in > employed by a business, etc.

spotter1867

house detective1891

labour spy1903

1903 N.Y. Times 9 Aug. 3/2 Pursued by a crowd of angry strikers, an alleged labor ‘spy’ plunged into the Calumet River..to escape the angry men who were close at his heels.

1959 C. E. Bonnett Labor-Managem. Relations vii. 130 So long as there are strikes, detectives (labor spies and union spies) will continue to operate in some form or manner, legally or illegally.

2002 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 89 265/2 The Citizens Alliance..supplied employers with the necessary muscle.., intelligence (labor spies and blacklists), and financial and legal assistance to win almost any strike until the 1930s.

labour-starved adj. lacking available workers; suffering as a result of the absence of labour.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > [adjective] > without workers

labour-starved1873

workerless1906

1873 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Oct. 4/1 The dried-up, labour-starved owner of hundreds of broad acres seemed as much nonplused as English employers have been by Mr. Arch's strong utterances.

1898 J. Arch Story of Life viii. 183 Hundreds and hundreds of labour-starved acres.

1956 Times 14 Nov. 17/6 To maintain production in this labour-starved region.

1999 T. M. Barrett At Edge of Empire i. 6 The demands of their labor-starved economies forced them to shirk military service to attend to their farms and livestock.

labour theory of value n. Political Economy (esp. in Marxist economic thought) the theory that the value of a commodity is influenced or determined by the amount of labour expended in its production (cf. value theory n. (a) at value n. Compounds 2).

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > specific theories or doctrines > value theory

value theory1871

labour theory of value1888

imputation1893

1888 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 3 27 The criticisms passed by him..on such views as..the ‘labor theory’ of value, masterly as they often are..might have been used by economists like Wagner or Cohn.

1971 I. Deutscher Marxism in our Time (1972) i. 18 In the classical economy..Marx saw the main elements out of which he developed his own theory, especially the labor theory of value.

2000 Econ. & Philos. 16 39 The theoretical foundations of Genovesi's economics are significantly different from Smith's: Genovesi presents a subjective theory of value, in contrast to the labour theory of value used by Smith.

labour time n. time devoted to labour; such time considered as a commodity or as a measure of value, effort, etc.

ΚΠ

1832 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 4 Aug. Thinks he that it is of more consequence to cautiously regulate the labour time of English children, than to consult the feelings and interests of the entire Irish nation.

1887 Kirkup in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 212/1 The labour-time which we take as the measure of value is the time required to produce a commodity under the normal social conditions of production with the average degree of skill and intensity of labour.

1953 P. O. Steiner & W. Goldner Productivity ii. 5 Should the unit of input be one worker, or one hour of labor time, or one machine, or a ton of raw materials or a kilowatt hour of electricity?

2002 M. Desai Marx's Revenge v. 56 Capitalism was a new phase of world history, a new mode of production where, for the first time, labour time was ubiquitously bought and sold.

labour turnover n. = turn-over n.² 6c.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > lack of work > [noun] > action or fact of vacating office > resigning or laying down office > proportion who leave work

labour turnover1915

quit rate1926

turn-over1955

churn1977

1915 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 61 128 By labor turn-over is meant the number of hirings and firings in a plant and the relation which that bears in a year to the total number employed.

1989 Appl. Econ. 21 1465 This paper examines the determinants of labour turnover within an industry.

2006 Slavic Rev. 65 385 Due to the high rates of labor turnover and the general shortage of workers, factory administrators were reluctant to fire or otherwise punish their workers.

labour union n. = trade union n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > working > association of employers or employees > [noun] > trade union

covin1764

union1818

trade union1825

trades combination1831

combination1833

labour union1849

syndical chamber (occasionally union)1864

sindicato1936

1849 Northern Star & Nat. Trades' Jrnl. 27 Jan. 4/3 The Colliers' Union, which while in its strength was the most powerful Labour Union ever known in this country.

1944 H. A. Wallace Cent. Common Man 25 July 84 The people of America know that the second step towards Nazism is the destruction of labour unions.

2000 B. F. Reskin in M. S. Kimmel & A. Aronson Gendered Society Reader 258 When other groups, such as labor unions, amassed enough power, they modified the ‘market’ principle.

labour ward n. a hospital ward set aside for childbirth.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > rooms for childbirth

delivery room1793

labour ward1827

birthing room1925

1827 Lancet 29 Sept. 813/1 He may, if he be very diligent, and live, as it were, in the labour-ward, see a few of these complicated cases.

1933 A. W. Bourne et al. Queen Charlotte's Text-bk. Obstetr. (ed. 3) xiv. 266 No person is allowed in the hospital labour ward without a mask.

1991 D. Bolger Woman's Daughter (1992) 180 The mother died after two days in a coma. Her grandmother blamed it on her father for being in the labour ward where a man had no business.

Labour Weekend n. (also with lower-case initial in the second element) New Zealand the long weekend at the end of October preceding and including Labour Day; cf. Labour Day Weekend n. at Labour Day n. Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > weekend > specific

Labour Weekend1948

May two-four1991

May long1999

1948 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 22 Oct. 6 The tradition of wet Labour weekends.

1976 Sea Spray (N.Z.) Dec. 98/1 Opening of the season at Labour Weekend featured a mystery cruise in the Marlborough Sounds.

2004 Evening Standard (Palmerston North, N.Z.) (Nexis) 30 Jan. (Sport section) 36 Taupo also hosts a big event each year at Labour Weekend.

labour yard n. now historical (a) a yard in a prison or workhouse in which the inmates carry out enforced labour; (b) a yard established as an alternative to the workhouse, in which the unemployed carry out manual labour in return for basic relief from poverty.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > yard > place of enforced labour

labour yard1835

1835 Hagerstown (Maryland) Mail 4 Dec. 3/2 He was honored with a block chained to his leg, while he is in the labor yard.

1904 Times 23 Nov. 10/1 The Poor Law had no longer at its disposal the same means for dealing with the unemployed as formerly in connexion with either the workhouse or with the labour yard.

2000 G. Miller On Fairness & Efficiency xi. 308 In three months alone in 1843, about 40,000 healthy but unemployed men were put through the labour yards.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

labourlaborv.

Brit.

/ˈleɪbə/, U.S.

/ˈleɪbər/

Forms: Middle English labir, Middle English labore, Middle English laborie, Middle English labory, Middle English labourne, Middle English labowre, Middle English labre, Middle English lobore, Middle English lobur, Middle English–1500s laber, Middle English–1500s laboure, Middle English–1500s labur, Middle English– labor, Middle English– labour, late Middle English babourde (past tense, transmission error), 1500s labyr; Scottish pre-1700 laboure, pre-1700 labowr, pre-1700 laubeir, pre-1700 laubir, pre-1700 laubour, pre-1700 lauboure, pre-1700 laubowr, pre-1700 laubur, pre-1700 laubyr, pre-1700 lawber, pre-1700 lawbore, pre-1700 lawboure, pre-1700 lawbre, pre-1700 lawbur, pre-1700 leber, pre-1700 lebre, pre-1700 1700s– labour, pre-1700 1800s lawbour, pre-1700 1900s– labor, pre-1700 (1900s– Shetland) lauber, pre-1700 1900s– laubor, pre-1700 1900s– lawbor, 1800s– laaber (Shetland), 1800s– labber, 1900s– laabour (Orkney).

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French labourer.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman laburer, Anglo-Norman and Middle French laborer, labourer, Middle French labeurer (French labourer ) to work, to exert oneself (a950 in Old French), to plough, to work the land (1119 or earlier in Anglo-Norman), to suffer (c1240 or earlier in Anglo-Norman), to be busy (with) (mid 13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman), to strive (towards) (mid 13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman), to produce (14th cent.), to suffer in childbirth (c1374), to work on (someone), to persuade (1436 or earlier in legal use) < classical Latin labōrāre to perform physical work, toil, to exert oneself, take pains, to be distressed physically, to suffer from strain, (of ships) to be in difficulties at sea, to be in trouble or difficulties, to be adversely affected (by), to suffer (from), to suffer from pain or disease, to be ill, to suffer the pains of childbirth, to be anxious or worried, to work or toil at, to till, to cultivate, in post-classical Latin also to travel (from 13th cent. in British sources), to harass (c1350 in a British source), to work on (someone), to persuade (1443 or earlier in legal use) < labor labour n. Compare Old Occitan laborar to work, to exert oneself (also laorar to plough), and also Catalan laborar (also labrar (16th cent.), llavorar (1378)), Spanish labrar (1207; also laborar (first half of the 15th cent. or earlier)), Portuguese lavrar (13th cent.; also laborar (a1583)), Italian lavorare (13th cent.), all earliest in sense ‘to work, to perform physical or mental labour’.In many of the Romance languages (e.g. French, Spanish, and Portuguese) the dominant sense of the word is now ‘to plough, to work the land’ (compare sense 1b), the wider sense of ‘to work, to perform physical or mental labour’ in those languages now being more usually expressed by the verbs cited at travail v. On the variation between -our and -or forms see discussion at labour n.

a. intransitive. To perform physical or mental labour; to exert oneself physically or mentally; to work, esp. hard or against difficulties (frequently at or on some task); esp. to do (usually manual) work, particularly in order to earn a living.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work hard or toil

workeOE

swingc1000

to the boneOE

labourc1390

toilc1400

drevyll?1518

drudge1548

droy1576

droil1591

to tug at the (an) oar1612

to stand to it1632

rudge1676

slave1707

to work like a beaver1741

to hold (also keep, bring, put) one's nose to the grindstone1828

to feague it away1829

to work like a nigger1836

delve1838

slave1852

leather1863

to sweat one's guts out1890

hunker1903

to sweat (also work) one's guts out1932

to eat (also work) like a horse1937

beaver1946

to work like a drover's dog1952

to get one's nose down (to)1962

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > toil

sweatc897

swingc1000

swinkOE

travailc1275

carka1350

tavec1350

to-swinkc1386

labourc1390

byswenke?a1400

tevelc1400

toilc1400

pingle1511

carp1522

moilc1529

turmoil1548

mucker1566

tug1619

tuggle1650

fatigue1695

hammer1755

fag1772

bullock1888

slog1888

to sweat one's guts out1890

schlep1937

slug1943

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 117 (MED) We haue no lymes to labore [C text c1400 Huntington HM 137 ix. l. 135 laborie] with.

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 259 Þat Fisyk schal..beo Fayn..his Fisyk to lete, And leorne to labre wiþ lond leste lyflode Faile.

c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 387 He..preyde hem to labouren in this nede And shapen þ^t he faille nat to spede.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 42 (MED) Theise folk..tylen not the lond ne þei laboure nought, for þei eten no bred.

a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 142 (MED) This serche..hath be a digression ffrom the mater in wich we labour.

a1475 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Harl. 875) (1867) A. vii. l. 26 I wol helpe þee to labore whil my lyf lastiþ.

c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. l. 267 (MED) Rewlers of rewmes..Were..yffoundid..to laboure on þe lawe as lewde men on plowes.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 5862 He..Hade laburt so longe, hym list for to rest.

?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors xvi. sig. E2 He that laboryth not, let him not eate.

1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xlix. 4 I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 181 It is not enough, for a man to labour for the maintenance of his life.

1659 J. Fergusson Brief Expos. Paul to Galatians i. vii. 5 People, who are in hazard of seduction, or already seduced unto Error, are to be tendered, and by all means fervently to be laboured with, in order to their confirmation or recovery.

1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus 535 The Student has..laboured hard at the little Books together with the Register, which I take to be the best pointer out of original Lawes.

1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 111 Who Run..or else Dance so many hours to a Tune..when they labour as much as a Lancashire man does at Roger of Coverly.

1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. i. 23 You must be instructed and labour'd with to be a good Child.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. v. 336 We laboured indefatigably at getting in our water.

1763 J. Brown Diss. Poetry & Music v. 63 An Italian Castrato (who hath laboured at this Refinement through his whole Life).

1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives (1879) I. 239 Those who laboured at the oars.

1836 H. Rogers Life J. Howe (1863) iii. 67 The letters..serve to show, with what single-minded purpose, these great men laboured.

1867 All Year Round 6 July 33/2 The wretched man was to be taken at once to a stone-quarry..where he was to labour all day and be bound all night.

1895 Bookman Oct. 16/2 [He] labours hard over his proofs of the book.

1938 Life 6 June 19/1 He..spent a little on a girl who ‘two-timed’ him while he labored on the night shift.

1977 J. Knappert tr. Bantu Myths & other Tales vii. 175 He reached the hills and there he saw a strange sight: a silent army of workers labouring in the fields, hoeing all night, planting maize, clearing fields.

2007 P. Parsons City Sharp-nosed Fish iii. 39 At the quarries..the workforce (free, slave and convict) laboured under military guard.

b. transitive. To work (land); to farm, cultivate, till, plough. Formerly also: †to work (a mine) (obsolete). Now archaic and poetic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivate or till [verb (transitive)]

begoc890

workOE

tillc1200

exercise1382

dightc1400

labourc1400

manure1416

cultive?1483

tilth1496

culture1510

trim1517

dress1526

subdue1535

toil1552

use1558

farm1570

cultivate1588

tame1601

husbandize1625

culturate1631

to take in1845

society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)]

minea1398

win1447

to work out1545

broach1582

labour1897

c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 503 (MED) To labor vyne watz dere þe date.

1481 W. Caxton tr. Siege & Conqueste Jerusalem (1893) viii. 29 They laboured no londe by eryng.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) viii. l. 1607 The abill ground gert laubour thryftely.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. clxxxviii. 223 The landes were voyde and nat laboured.

c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xv. 97 The grond that i laubyr.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 197 He gaue her landes and steddings with seruandes to labour thame.

1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 82 To labor the Lords vineyard.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 18 Labouring the soile, and reaping plenteous crop.

1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) To Labour the Ground, is to manure the Ground by removing the Earth.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 115. ¶5 The Earth must be laboured before it gives its Encrease.

1792 A. Young Trav. France 411 The English labourer..hazards much when he labours land for himself.

1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well III. ii. 19 The garden was weeded, and the glebe was regularly laboured.

1843 Knickerbocker June 513 They expended their strength in laboring the mine of vain philosophy, and wrought out many a shaft.

1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd ii. 140 Fair then was the son of Sigmund as he toiled and laboured the ground.

1897 Westm. Gaz. 3 Sept. 2/1 A claim must be properly laboured [for mining] by the owner or by someone paid by him.

1969 D. Du Maurier House on Strand i. 12 Throwing open the carriage window in the morning to see foreign fields fly by, villages, towns, figures labouring the land.

1999 N. Wood Vectors of Mem. vi. 158 The urban tradesmen amongst them were equally ill-suited to the physical demands of labouring the land.

†c. transitive (reflexive). To occupy oneself in physical or mental labour. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself [verb (reflexive)] > with toil

swinkOE

travaila1393

laboura1413

toil1560

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 1009 I mene as þough I laboured me in þis To enqueren which þyng cause of which þyng be.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. 108^v/1 Grete in contemplacion of heuenly thynges, and a tylyar in labouryng hym self.

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. MMMii^v The more thou enforcest & labourest thyselfe in the begynnyng.

a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) i. xix. sig. E.i Me thinke I doe you very much wrong to geue you occasion to labor your selfe so muche in matter of some study, with long talkyng at once.

1596 A. Munday tr. 1st Pt. Palmerin of Eng. xxiv. sig. H Syr (quoth the greene Knight) for what cause doo you labour your selfe in his search?

1652 C. Cotterell tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Cassandra iv. v. 31 Ah! Sir, (sayd I) is it possible that you should labour your self for the ruine of Arsaces who has so much honour'd you?

1746 Fool (1748) I. 356 Who have laboured themselves into a Knowledge of the dead Languages.

1811 Communications to Board Agric. VII. i. iii. 54 Giving them plenty of sweet (green saved) hay, they will (no doubt) do much better than ranging abroad in the cold, hungry fields, labouring and fatiguing themselves for food.

a. transitive. To work on (something); to produce, obtain, or construct by labour. Also occasionally with cognate object. Now archaic and rare. †to labour one's needs: to work for one's living (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work for one's living

to labour one's needsa1393

the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > produce with effort or difficulty

laboura1393

force1551

constrain1607

screw1630

toil1671

to work up1675

scratch1922

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [verb (transitive)] > perform with labour, toil at

swinkc1175

travailc1384

laboura1393

ply1548

toil1552

sweat1589

belabour1604

drive1814

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 970 (MED) In an houre He lest al that he mai laboure The longe yer.

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 6688 A man..That..wole but oonly bidde his bedis And never with hondes labour his nedes.

c1450 tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Lyfe Manhode (Cambr.) (1869) 99 Litel rouht hire of spinnynge or to laboure oother labour.

c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 4 Now haue I ymagyd and cast all myn hool werk of þis welle; which I schal laboure to ȝou lxxxix. dayes and v., ere it be performyd.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 67 In eny other welle whiche hathe be laborede [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. trauailled wel ofte and souȝte þereafter, L. elaboratum] by diuerse kynges of Egipte.

1523 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 328 All manere goods and marchandis as shalbe labored, tracted, and adventured by ony of the inhabitants of this citie.

1553 J. Withals Shorte Dict. f. 11^v/2 Claye labored to make pottes.

1599 Master Broughtons Lett. Answered vii. 24 With this Rabbinicall rubbish..haue you laboured a lomie and sandie building.

1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 1 Whether it be by deuising any thing our selues, or reuising that which hath bene laboured by others.

1623 R. Whitbourne Disc. New-found-land 82 The other are to labour the fish at land, (of which sixteene) seuen are to be skilfull headders, and splitters of fish.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 124 They..labour Honey to sustain their Lives.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 388 Anvils labour'd by the Cyclops Hands.

1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. viii. 317 A wond'rous Net he labours.

1775 T. Sheridan Lect. Art of Reading II. ii. 111 In vain to such readers has Milton laboured the best proportioned numbers in blank verse.

1830 Ld. Tennyson Poems 111 Love laboured honey busily. I was the hive and Love the bee.

1832 F. H. Standish Maid of Jaen 8 The diamond labour'd from the mine.

1925 Times 24 June 11/3 The relation of one thing to another is better preserved than if they [sc. a series of drawings and paintings] had been laboured separately.

†b. transitive. With complement. To bring into a specified condition or position by labour or exertion. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [verb (transitive)] > bring into specific condition by

doc1175

labour?c1500

force1551

work1599

mistake1667

worry1727

?c1500 Mary Magdalene (Digby) l. 1823 Þer is a woman..þat hether hath laberyd me owt of mercyll.

1550 R. Crowley Way to Wealth sig. Av^v Loke if thou haue not laboured him oute of his house or ground.

1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge v. iii. sig. I3^v I haue beene labouring generall fauour firme.

1611 Second Maiden's Trag. (1909) v. ii. 74 Our armes and lipps Shall labour life into her, wake sweet mistres.

1615 T. Adams Spirituall Nauigator 34 in Blacke Devill Whiles he labours them to hell, winde and tide are on his side.

a1617 P. Baynes Comm. Epist. First Chapter Paul to Ephesians (1618) iii. 43 Men must labour their hearts to a sense and feeling of the worth of the benefits.

1631 Earl of Manchester Contemplatio Mortis 12 To labour the eye to see darknesse.

1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. viii. 70 Drink..a good draught of your strongest beer..and then labour it out (as Ploughmen do).

1719 J. Breval Mac-Dermot iv. 33 What fruitful Fields my hapless Fathers lost, And Castles labour'd up with Princely Cost.

a. transitive. To employ or use in labour; to set or compel (a person or animal) to work; to use (the body or mind) in some work or activity. Now poetic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > [verb (transitive)] > work animals

labourc1405

pinea1425

jade1615

slave1699

drive1889

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [verb (transitive)] > perform with labour, toil at > cause to toil

labourc1405

the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > use or make use of [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person or animal > specifically the body, body parts, or the mind

labourc1405

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Shipman's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 108 I trowe..that oure goode man Hath yow laboured sith the nyght bigan.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 1085 The hors was passyng lusty and frycke because he was nat laboured a moneth before.

c1500 Young Children's Bk. (Ashm. 61) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 19 A byrde hath wenges forto fle, So man hath Armes laboryd to be.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Deut. xxi. 3 A yonge cowe which hath not bene laboured, ner hath drawen in the yocke.

1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus i. f. 13^v A pastyme..where euery parte of the bodye must be laboured.

1611 Tarlton's Jests (1866) 215 My fore horse..being let bloud and drencht yesterday, I durst not labour him.

1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1298 This Idols day..Labouring thy mind More then the working day thy hands.

1726 N. B. Farrier's & Horseman's Dict. at Cholick The Antients used to give the Horse a Glyster..and to labour him after the Glyster.

1735 Sportsman's Dict. I. at Lesson Labour him in some gravelly and sandy place, where his footsteps are discernible.

1862 T. J. Graham tr. D. Barnstorff Key Shakespeare's Sonnets 95 What self-delusion on his part to labour his brains for invention to show his ego in all its beauty, when after all, it had been in the world before.

1872 Ld. Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 31 But Kay the seneschal who loved him not Would hustle and harry him, and labour him Beyond his comrade of the hearth.

1963 W. A. C. H. Dobson tr. Mencius in Mencius vi. 151 They passed on to us the principles of government based on fellow-feeling, having laboured their minds to the point of exhaustion in contriving them.

1994 J. D. Schmidt tr. Huang Zunxian Poetry xv. 223 Many renowned scholars of Tang and Song times Wrote stacks of commentaries on these classical books. They labored their minds for us lucky latecomers.

†b. transitive. To wear down by exertion; to cause to become fatigued; to tire. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > weariness or exhaustion > weary or exhaust [verb (transitive)]

wearyc897

tirea1000

travailc1300

forwearya1325

taryc1375

tarc1440

matec1450

break1483

labour1496

overwearya1500

wear?1507

to wear out, forth1525

fatigate1535

stress1540

overtire1558

forwaste1563

to tire out1563

overwear1578

spend1582

out-tire1596

outwear1596

outweary1596

overspend1596

to toil out1596

attediate1603

bejade1620

lassate1623

harassa1626

overtask1628

tax1672

hag1674

trash1685

hatter1687

overtax1692

fatigue1693

to knock up1740

tire to death1740

overfatigue1741

fag1774

outdo1776

to do over1789

to use up1790

jade1798

overdo1817

frazzlea1825

worry1828

to sew up1837

to wear to death1840

to take it (also a lot, too much, etc.) out of (a person)1847

gruel1850

to stump up1853

exhaust1860

finish1864

peter1869

knacker1886

grind1887

tew1893

crease1925

poop1931

raddle1951

1496 Treat. Fysshynge wyth Angle in Bk. St. Albans (rev. ed.) sig. hv Yf it fortune you to smyte a grete fysshe wyth a smalle harnays: thenne ye must lede hym in the water and labour him there tyll he be drownyd and ouercome.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 13490 A tempest hym toke..Þat myche laburt the lede er he lond caght.

1632 J. Featley Honor of Chastity 25 I will not labour your eares with the many and vulgar arguments to prove a God.

1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xviii. 331 So may his Rage be tir'd, and labour'd down; And Dogs shall tear him, e'er he sack the Town.

a. intransitive. To strive or endeavour strenuously to accomplish, bring about, or do something; to exert oneself for an end.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > to bring about or gain

laboura1425

pumpa1639

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 7620 This man to serue you laboureth And clepith you his freend so deere.

c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Add. MS.) xxviii. 196 Where that was cissime and debate amonge any, he labored for to make accorde, that good accorde shold be had.

1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xviii. lxxxvii. sig. ffiij^v/1 They..labouren to helpe eche other wyth all theyr myghte.

c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) l. 847 Laboryng the Seruyce of God to Multyply.

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Aiiii^v They laboured..to knowe the natures of thynges in this worlde.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxx. 7 I laboured for peace.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Macc. iv. 7 Iason the brother of Onias laboured to be hye prest.

1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 198 Is nane of ws..bot laubo^ris ay for vþeris distructioun.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. iv. 131 They which saile from West to East, labour alwaies to be out of the burning Zone.

1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxii. 4 I will weepe bitterly, labour not to comfort me.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. ii. 192 For your Highnesse good, I euer labour'd More then mine own.

1682 J. Dryden Mac Flecknoe 11 When false Flowers of Rhet'rick thou wouldst cull, Trust Nature, do not labour to be dull.

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 95. ⁋4 True Affliction labours to be invisible.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. vi. 93 I laboured to become chearful.

1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice II. xvii. 201 Most earnestly did she labour to prove the probability of error.

a1862 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) III. v. 387 Water is constantly labouring to reduce all the inequalities of the earth to a single level.

1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §3. 371 Parker was labouring for a uniformity of faith and worship amongst the clergy.

1914 W. S. Churchill Let. 23 Apr. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) iv. 84 I have systematically laboured to reduce them to good order & discipline.

1957 E. Dahlberg Sorrows of Priapus i. 12 Few labor for anything else but to exchange their sexual properties with blowsy dowds.

1999 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Aug. 191/1 Patricia labored to become a political power in her own right, co-founding..Show Coalition, a sort of political-education-forum for the film community.

b. transitive. In early use: †to press or prosecute (a writ or legal case) (obsolete). Later: to strive, endeavour, or exert oneself to bring about or accomplish (an end or outcome); esp. to work hard for (a cause). Now archaic and rare.In early legal use often associated with sue (see sue v. 10).

ΘΚΠ

society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > accusation, allegation, or indictment > charge, accuse, or indict [verb (transitive)] > bring (a charge or accusation)

bringc1000

presenta1325

pretend1398

labour1439

pursue1530–1

subsume1601

1439 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 118 (MED) I woll Elysabeth Keston haue iiijxx marke paid to Norman Waschebourne for her mariage; And yef he gruche therwith, the mater so to be laboryd and sewyd that he be constrayned ther to do hit.

1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 40 If ony wil laboure the contrarye.

1484 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 42 Ye forsaid forged and untrue testimonyall, shewed [perh. read sewed] & labord by ye said Richard Davis.

1523 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 328 If ony such parson..shall sue or laboure ony such writte.

1597 F. Bacon Ess. Ep. Ded. sig. A3 These fragments of my conceites were going to print. To labour the staie of them had bin troublesome.

1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. sig. E4 Two things I must labour, That neither they vpbraid, nor you repent you.

1617 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 3) v. vii. 589 The Mother of Echebar..laboured a peace, but not preuailing, fell sicke.

1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. xviii. 199 [She] laboured his cause day and night.

a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Oxf. 325 When Shot-over Woods..were likely to be cut down, the University by Letters laboured their preservation.

1680 J. Dryden Kind Keeper ii. i. 16 Is this a Song to be sung at such a time, when I am labouring your reconcilement?

1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Third 20 And labour that First Palm of noble Minds, A manly Scorn of Terror from the Tomb.

1793 E. Burke Observ. Conduct Minority in Two Lett. Conduct Domestick Parties (1797) 11 How much I wished for, and how earnestly I laboured that re-union.

1826 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India (ed. 3) II. iii. iv. 417 In labouring the ruin of Nujeeb ad Dowlah.

1926 R. H. Tawney Relig. & Rise Capitalism iv. 219 Expelled from the world of fact, where it had always been a stranger and a sojourner, it survived in the world of ideas, and its champions in the last half of the century laboured it still the more.

†5.

a. transitive. To advocate (a matter) strenuously. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 88 (MED) Bifore al þingz be it laboured [L. laboret] þat þe akyng be cessed.

1477 T. Kela in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 436 Þat ȝe schuld labur þe mater to my maistur.

1536 R. Taverner tr. P. Melanchthon Confessyon Fayth Germaynes Pref. f. 4 ^v Accordyng to thoffyce of your maiestie ye wolde diligently laboure the matter with the byshope of Rome.

1543 T. Becon Invect. against Swearing f. xix^v Howe depely do menne of lawe sweare vnto theyr Clientes, yat they haue laboured theyr matters earnestly to the Iudges, whan many tymes they haue not spoken one worde.

1616 F. Cottington in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 183 Much it is laboured there that he should come as ordinary, and not for a small time.

1691 W. King State Protestants of Ireland ii. 143 When King James came to the Crown, they reckoned they had gained their Point, and did not fail to labour it with all possible Industry.

b. intransitive. To use one's influence in putting forward a request, obtaining something desired, etc.; to make an entreaty or solicitation to a person. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > request > make a request [verb (intransitive)] > to, of, or upon someone

clepec825

cryc1290

to pray (one) of a boon1393

to call on ——a1400

to seek on (also upon)a1400

to call upon ——c1405

sue1405

supplicate1417

peala1425

labour1442

to make suit1447–8

supply1489

suit1526

appeal1540

apply1554

incalla1572

invocate1582

beg1600

palaver1859

society > authority > power > influence > have influence [verb (intransitive)] > exert influence

labour1442

to make labour1603

influence1670

to make interest1709

to weigh in1909

1442 in J. Raine Corr., Inventories, Acct. Rolls, & Law Proc. Priory of Coldingham (1841) 137 (MED) Sir Alexandre..com to me in his propre person and labourd to haffe had graunt to him of the said bailyery.

1472 in J. B. Sheppard Let. Bks. Monastery Christ Church Canterbury (1889) 257 (MED) Speke unto our Soverayn Lord the Kyng..he wull graunte that we may labur to the Court of Rome to be dischargid of the said chantry.

1533 T. More Apol. viii, in Wks. 860/2 If I desired a manne to geue me a thynge, and laboured muche to hym therefore.

a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 236 He laboured to the Pope to have a dispensation.

1577 R. Holinshed Hist. Eng. 270/1 in Chron. I His coosen..which was about to labour to the king for his pardone.

c1613 ( in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 31 I have receaved from you diverse letters..that I shold labour to Sir John Pilkinton, to labor to my lord of Glocester or to the king.

c1613 ( in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 51 This day com Wylliam Plompton to labor for Haveray Parke.

1641 T. Heywood Life of Merlin x. 81 She was ready to undergoe any triall whatsoever, to give the World satisfaction of her innocence, who laboured to the King that their cause might have a just and legall hearing.

c. transitive. To endeavour to influence or persuade (a person); to urge, entreat, petition. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > request > request or ask for [verb (transitive)] > urge or importune

depressc1400

nurnc1400

pressc1440

labourc1450

instancea1513

instanta1513

importune1530

to lie at, upon1535

apply1559

urge1568

importunate1574

ply1581

to put on ——?a1600

flagitate1623

besiege1712

earwig1804

bone1856

tout1920

S.O.S.a1936

opportune1941

c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 143 (MED) Þis clerk laburd hur so att sho promysid hym att he suld lyg by hyr.

1461 J. Berney in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 242 Tudynham, Stapylton, and Heydon, with theyr affenyte, labur the Kyng and lordes vnto myn hurt.

1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lv. title The butterflie..fleeth into the tree: laboring the flies to haue the ant heerd speake ere he die.

c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) ii. iii. 83 [He] labored the kinge..ernestly for theire pardons, and obteyned.

1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1225/2 He was laboured and solicited dailie by wise and learned fathers, to recant his diuelish & erronious opinions.

1598 E. Spenser in Wks. (1882) I. 539 The landlords..began..to labour the Erle of Tireone vnto theire parte.

1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 604 He began cunningly to labour diuers of the noble men one by one.

1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 119 Yet would not the French King deliver him up to King Henry (as hee was laboured to doe).

1625 Let. in G. W. Johnson Fairfax Corr. (1848) I. i. 8 Sir Francis Cooke and Sir Edward Letch are labouring my Lord of Arundel.

†a. transitive. To burden, overwhelm, oppress, distress. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict

overharryeOE

aileOE

swencheOE

besetOE

traya1000

teenOE

to work (also do) (a person) woeOE

derve?c1225

grieve1297

harrya1300

noyc1300

travailc1300

to work (also do) annoyc1300

wrath14..

aggrievea1325

annoya1325

tribula1325

to hold wakenc1330

anguish1340

distrainc1374

wrap1380

strain1382

ermec1386

afflicta1393

cumbera1400

assayc1400

distressc1400

temptc1400

encumber1413

labour1437

infortune?a1439

stressa1450

trouble1489

arraya1500

constraina1500

attempt1525

misease1530

exercise1531

to hold or keep waking1533

try1539

to wring to the worse1542

pinch1548

affligec1550

trounce1551

oppress1555

inflict1566

overharl1570

strait1579

to make a martyr of1599

straiten1611

tribulatea1637

to put through the hoop(s)1919

snooter1923

the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)]

heavyc897

pineeOE

aileOE

sorryeOE

traya1000

sorrowOE

to work (also do) (a person) woeOE

angerc1175

smarta1200

to work, bake, brew balec1200

derve?c1225

grieve?c1225

sitc1225

sweam?c1225

gnawc1230

sughc1230

troublec1230

aggrievea1325

to think sweama1325

unframea1325

anguish1340

teen1340

sowa1352

distrainc1374

to-troublea1382

strain1382

unglad1390

afflicta1393

paina1393

distressa1400

hita1400

sorea1400

assayc1400

remordc1400

temptc1400

to sit (or set) one sorec1420

overthrow?a1425

visit1424

labour1437

passionc1470

arraya1500

constraina1500

misgrievea1500

attempt1525

exagitate1532

to wring to the worse1542

toil1549

lament1580

adolorate1598

rankle1659

try1702

to pass over ——1790

upset1805

to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823

to put (a person) through it1855

bludgeon1888

to get to ——1904

to put through the hoop(s)1919

the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > types or manners of hindrance > hinder in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > encumber > burden

charka1300

chargec1308

cark1330

liea1400

labour1437

onerate1453

endossa1500

onera1500

laden1514

load1526

aggravate1530

lay1530

honorate1533

ladea1538

burden1541

ballast1566

loaden1568

degravate1574

aburden1620

pregravate1654

comble1672

1437 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Jan. 1437 §38. m. 1 He wolle begynne a newe feyned suite ayen, so supposyng to laboure the seid suppliants insenytly [read infenytly] by untrue suites.

1482 Monk of Evesham 19 Sore labouryd with gret febulnes and wekenes.

1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 240 The drede of god, by whiche she was ful sore laboured, & troubeled.

1596 Z. Jones tr. M. Barleti Hist. G. Castriot vii. 287 The daunger would be much greater and more to be feared, if hee should come and finde them wearied and sore laboured.

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xviii. 700/1 Nature being sore laboured, sore-wearied and weakned.

b. intransitive. To be burdened, distressed, or overwhelmed, as by disease, pain, etc.; to struggle under some disadvantage or defect. Frequently with under.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)]

tholec897

pinea1225

steada1300

endure1340

to well in woea1350

labourc1450

concernc1592

to have a good (bad, etc.) time (of it, formerly on it)1647

to have the wind in one's face1649

to be on (also at) the receiving end1909

to feel the draught1925

to have (one's) ass in a sling1960

to be in lumber1965

the mind > emotion > suffering > suffer mental pain [verb (intransitive)]

tholec897

throwOE

smarta1200

pinea1225

to well in woea1350

painc1350

labourc1450

to fight sore at heart1490

tear1666

the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] > fall ill > be brought near to death

starvec1330

labourc1450

c1450 Speculum Christiani (Harl. 6580) (1933) 48 (MED) When a ryghtful man laborez in the laste seknes to dye [L. in extremis agit].

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 345 Lawberand [v.r. laubourit] in mynd thai had beyne all that day.

1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 15^v No maruaile..if the eye in dolour labouryng, this Muscle sometyme be affected also.

1586 Indictment in Scott's Minstr. Scot. Bord. (1869) 457 That the bishop of St. Andrews laboured under sindrie diseases, sic as the ripples.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 106 Whereby vnprofitable marishes were drained..and such places relieued as laboured with the penury of waters.

1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 87 This our shaken Monarchy, that now lies labouring under her throwes.

1644 J. Bulwer Chirologia 15 Speech labours of a blinde crampe, when it is too concise, confused or obscure.

1662 H. More Coll. Several Philos. Writings (ed. 2) Pref. general xi Men of very excellent spirits may labour with prejudice against so worthy an Authour.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 118 The wheasing Swine With Coughs is choak'd; and labours from the Chine.

1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §83. 95 The Visive Faculty..may be found to Labour of two Defects.

1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 267. ¶3 Aristotle himself allows, that Homer has nothing to boast of as to the Unity of his Fable... Some have been of Opinion, that the Æneid also labours in this particular.

1714 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements (rev. ed.) Pref. P. Herigonius; whose Method..seems in my Opinion to labour under a double Defect.

1769 Bp. W. Warburton Lett. (1809) 434 I was then labouring on my old rheumatic disorder. I have not yet got rid of it.

1786 S. Henley tr. W. Beckford Arabian Tale 197 From time to time, he laboured with profound sighs.

1862 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. II. iv. 110 If he laboured under a perpetual toothache.

1863 Dublin Rev. Oct. 531 He works himself up to them with a solemnity under which his usually pleasant and graphic style labours into pomposity.

1890 Glasgow Herald 28 Aug. 4/6 The prose portion labours under the same monitorial disease though to a less degree.

1918 R. V. Dolbey Sketches East Afr. Campaign 68 But they made light of their troubles, as they learnt the difficulties we laboured with.

1958 New Statesman 11 Jan. 29/1 Whatever handicaps Mr. Macmillan labours under as Prime Minister, they do not include the death-wish; he is still jauntily determined to win the next election.

2005 D. Simonis et al. Spain (Lonely Planet) (ed. 5) 34 Castile and Aragón laboured under ineffectual monarchs from the late 14th century until the time of Isabel and Fernando.

c. intransitive. With under. To act upon, or be misled by, a mistaken belief or assumption.

ΚΠ

1663 R. L'Estrange Toleration Discuss'd ii. 8 I do not take every Error of Conscience to be a sin (understand me, of Consciences labouring under an Invincible Ignorance.)

1671 E. Fowler Design Christianity iii. xxi. 236 Whatsoever mistakes we may labour under, they can be none of them such as will undo our souls.

1714 R. Steele Let. to Member of Parl. 28 May 15 The Question is not whether he is mistaken; he labours under that Mistake.

a1742 A. Snape Forty Five Serm. (1745) vii. 218 Those gross Mistakes and Misapprehensions, under which we laboured, are now entirely rectified.

1809 M. A. Shee Elements Art i. 41 When we..elevate the barren stores of inert erudition above the fruitful acquirements of active science and philosophy; we..labour under the influence of literary superstition.

1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago III. vi. 171 You are labouring under an entire misapprehension.

1874 J. C. Geikie Life in Woods (ed. 2) xvi. 275 The poor fellow was only labouring under a delusion.

1920 Huon Times (Franklin, Tasmania) 19 Mar. 3/4 I have known dinkum diggers to labor under the impression that they were poets when they were merely sundowners.

1957 A. E. Stevenson New Amer. II. i. 33 I do not want to assume..power under any false pretenses nor do I want you to labor under any misapprehensions.

1998 R. Curtis et al. Blackadder: Whole Damn Dynasty p. xi He saw little future in the Ancient Britons, a race who laboured under the fatal misconception that painting themselves blue would in itself be enough to defeat organized troops.

a. intransitive. To move or travel, esp. laboriously, with great exertion or difficulty. Also transitive: to move or carry with great difficulty. Usually with adverb or preposition of direction. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > [verb (intransitive)] > toilsomely

swinkc1175

labourc1438

toil1563

jaunt1575

strivea1586

tug1619

swog1637

hag1728

flog1925

to lame-duck it1943

trog1984

the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > move or go slowly [verb (intransitive)] > slowly or with difficulty

labourc1438

work1474

c1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) ii. 234 (MED) Owr Lord sent leeuyn, thundyr, & reyne ny al þe tyme þat þei durst not labowryn owtward.

a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlii. l. 82 Nasciens that In the se was Abrod, Vpp and down labowred.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 4814 Þai babourde [read labourde] vp a-gayn þe lift an elleuen dais.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xxiv. 34 The kynge..retourned agayne into Englande, and laboured so longe that he came to Wyndesor.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 600/2 This horse is nat very fayre, but he laboureth well on the waye,..il chemine bien.

1611 Bible (King James) Josh. vii. 3 Let about two or three thousand men goe vp,..and make not all the people to labour thither.

1697 R. Blackmore King Arthur i. 157 The strongest Winds their Breath and Vigor prove. And thro' the Heav'ns th'unweildy Tempest shove. O'ercharg'd with Stores and Heav'ns Artillery They groan and pant and labour up the Sky.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 98 Sisyphus that labours up the Hill The rowling Rock in vain.

1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. xii. 458 He poiz'd, and swung it round; then toss'd on high, It flew with Force, and labour'd up the Sky.

1780 J. Thistlethwaite Corruption ii. 20 Still labouring onward with unblushing face, Cover'd with Infamy and black disgrace.

1836 Fraser's Mag. Apr. 437/1 My horse grew sensibly tired with his difficult and irregular progress; but generously laboured on.

1866 C. T. Brooks Our Land & Its Memories 86 Fades each fair vision with a puff of steam, As onward still we labor up the stream.

1877 L. Morris Epic of Hades i. 3 The stream Which laboured in the distance to the sea.

1934 H. Roth Call it Sleep iii. v. 319 She shuffled toward a nearby house and labored slowly up the stoop.

1970 J. Dickey Deliverance 124 We hauled and laboured away from the creek between the big water oak trunks.

1993 Event Summer 73 The square of rock that I carried was abysmally heavy. I laboured it up the winding path, stopping to catch my breath and my free-falling fears.

2004 C. J. Box Winterkill xxii. 189 The truck labored up the hill as well, sliding a little in loose shale and kicking out puffs of dislodged rock.

b. intransitive. Of a ship: To pitch or roll heavily at sea.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > pitch and roll

travaila1393

totterc1400

walterc1400

labour1587

senda1625

to bruise the water1836

stagger1840

pant1869

to walk turkey1888

pound1903

slam1958

1587 W. Bourne Arte of Shooting in Great Ordnaunce 53 in Mariner's Mirror (1987) 73 202 Any Shippe that doth heave, and set never so sore, doth hang as though she were uppon an Axiltree, there labouring least, except she doth seel or roule.

1615 W. Keeling Jrnl. (1971) 63 Our too much kintledge goods makes us labour.

1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ix. 40 We say a ship doth Labour much when she doth rowle much any way.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. x. 104 The ship laboured very much in a hollow sea.

1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto II xli. 139 The ship labour'd so, they scarce could hope To weather out much longer.

1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxv. 82 The ship was labouring hard under her top-gallant sails.

1922 A. Cherry-Garrard Worst Journey in World II. ii. 29 When the ship was labouring the task of those on the pump was not an enviable one.

1990 E. H. Daniels Eagle Seamanship (ed. 3) vii. 149 Sail should be reduced if the ship is laboring.

†c. intransitive. To make little progress in a matter; to encounter obstacles or hindrances. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > progress or advance in an action [verb (intransitive)] > make only slight progress

labour1736

to scratch the surface (of)1915

1736 S. Chandler Hist. Persecution iv. v. 360 This Job was labouring for three Years space, and at last obtain'd by Laud's Influence on the King.

1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (ed. 2) iii. 360 A petition of Capt. Hutchinson and others labored, although their title was originally derived from the Indian sachems and proprietors, and the lands had been long possessed.

d. transitive. to labour one's way: to make one's way laboriously or with difficulty.

ΚΠ

1754 E. Lewis Ital. Husband iii. iii. 27 We perceived an Hern, With long expanded wings, labouring her Way Across the liquid Air.

1812 Ipswich Jrnl. 17 Oct. 4/3 When at length the crowd had slowly laboured their way into the hull, they found other difficulties.

1832 New-Eng. Mag. Dec. 459 Suppose this calamity befalls a man who has labored his way near to the summit of improvement.

1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xxiii. 231 Laboring our way with great difficulty upon the ice-belt.

1957 J. G. Randall Mr. Lincoln (new ed.) xiii. 302 A Tribune correspondent, Henry E. Wing, with great difficulty labored his way through to Grant.

2005 Wales on Sunday (Nexis) 17 Apr. 18 Sure, we had Ian Woosnam carrying the flag, but what a sad figure he struck as his bad back forced him to labour his way to a back-marker finish.

e. intransitive. Of an engine: to work noisily and with difficulty, esp. to power a vehicle up a steep gradient.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [verb (intransitive)] > of an engine: work noisily and with difficulty

labour1827

society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > fly [verb (intransitive)] > (of engine) work noisily up steep gradient

labour1985

1827 London Jrnl. Arts & Sci. 13 95 There are many instances where immediately before one of these terrific explosions had taken place, the engine laboured.

1853 N.-Y. Daily Times 26 Jan. 4/4 A magnificent steamer set down in a shallow creek, where the paddles only stir up the mud and the engine labors away in vain.

1923 Times 2 Jan. 6/5 I turned the corner..on to Amersham Hill..and without a change defeated half the hill without the engine labouring.

1960 W. Percy Moviegoer i. vi. 50 Overhead a motor labors.

1985 R. L. Harrison Aviation Lore in Faulkner 114 At the onset of the stall, the controls go slack and the engine labors vainly to keep the machine climbing.

2002 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 11 Feb. (Home Forum section) 22 In the lowest gear, engine laboring, climbing very slowly, we hauled the trailer up and up and up the steep highway out of Death Valley.

a. transitive. To work at or consider laboriously or painstakingly; to give careful thought to; (in later use esp.) to work out in excessive detail; to over-elaborate. Now chiefly: to explain or discuss (a point, issue, question, etc.) at excessive length.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > take care about [verb (transitive)] > take pains with

paina1400

labourc1449

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > be copious [verb (intransitive)] > dwell on a point

stick1533

labour1797

c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 91 So preciose and vnlackeable occupacioun to be had and laborid among hem.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Pref. 13 b Verai fewe studentes dooe vse to reade and laboure any one autour in any one particuler facultee or disciplyne.

1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. E2 ^v It is no vpright conclusion to say whatsoeuer is long laboured, is lowsie and not worth a straw.

1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Zz3^v Science of Gouernmente, which wee see is laboured and in some parte reduced.

a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. xi. §4. 317 Which point, hee..hath laboured exactly, with much finenesse and subtility.

1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. lii The Invention of the New-River-Water was much labour'd.

1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 92. ⁋12 These lines, laboured with great attention.

c1750 W. Shenstone Solicitude 29 How the nightingales labour the strain.

1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 787 Th' accomplished plan That he has touch'd, retouch'd, many a long day Labor'd, and many a night pursued in dreams.

1797 E. Burke Lett. Peace Regic. France iv, in Wks. (1842) II. 357 Though he labours this point, yet he confesses a fact..which renders all his labours utterly fruitless.

1833 H. Ellis Elgin Marbles II. xii. 225 In a single figure parts are often highly laboured.

1863 C. C. Clarke Shakespeare-characters x. 254 The reason why the poet has so laboured the character of his hero.

1892 A. J. Balfour Speech in Standard 11 Apr. 3/5 I do not desire on the present occasion to labour this proposition.

1942 Times 22 May 5/7 It is not necessary to labour the point of which everyone is aware.

1972 J. B. Keane Lett. Irish Parish Priest 12 What's the point in labouring the issue.

2003 J. Caplan Coaching for Future ii. 26 You laboured the point a bit too much, I feel, by getting them to keep repeating their agreement.

†b. transitive. Of an organ of the body: to produce or form from other substances. Cf. elaborate v. 2. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > fashion, shape, or form

i-schapeOE

shapeOE

markc1330

forge1382

kneadc1400

frame?1518

fashion?1553

labour1578

appropriate1594

to shape out1600

elaborate1611

produce1611

moulda1616

fabric1623

coin1627

timber1646

laborate1662

condition1853

1578 J. Banister Hist. Man vii. f. 92 The hart, within this inuolucre closed, beyng the fountaine of vitall heate, and perfector of vitall spirites, after they are laboured in the lunges..is also the originall roote of all Arteries.

1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 373 In the cauity of this ventricle the vitall spirits are laboured.

1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) ii. vi. 96 The Heart..is the fountain of Life and labors the vital Spirits.

9. intransitive. Of a woman: to undergo childbirth; to be in labour; = travail v. 3. Also figurative and in figurative contexts.Also occasionally of other mammals.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (intransitive)] > suffer the pains necessary to create

labour1454

the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > be confined [verb (intransitive)] > be in labour

travailc1330

labour1454

the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > be confined [verb (intransitive)] > give birth

kenc1000

childc1175

beara1382

labour1454

to cry out1623

parturiate1649

pup1708

to fall in two1788

accouche1819

to have one's bed1848

pip1973

to put to bed1973

1454 T. Denys in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 86 Aftir she was arestid she laboured of hir child that she is with-all.

1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. K iv Yf a woman dronke it, the chylde sholde dye, and she sholde laboure before her ryght tyme.

1544 Letanie in Exhort. vnto Prayer sig. Bviii All women labouryng of chyld.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. i. 130 But my Muse labors, And thus she is deliuer'd.

1653 Parish Reg. Finghall, Yks. (MS.) Baptised Elizabeth the daughter of John Parke of Wensley, whose wife laboured at Burton in her journey homeward.

1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 22 Here, like some furious Prophet, Pindar rode, And seem'd to labour with th' inspiring God.

1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 33 But then men dreamed the agèd earth Was labouring in that mighty birth.

1921 Vet. Med. 16 56/1 If the fetus is in the vertebro sacral position as the sow labors try to get the index or middle finger in the pig's mouth.

1974 R. Passmore & J. S. Robson Compan. Med. Stud. III. xl. 16/1 In Scandinavia many women labour without any analgesia.

1995 Today's Parent Aug. 55/1 Alysia has been labouring since midnight, Ted riding the waves of contractions with his wife.

10.

†a. transitive. To beat, rub, knead, mix, etc.; esp. to manipulate (a substance) so as to bring to a desired consistency, shape, or condition. Cf. work v. 31a. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > rubbing or friction > rub [verb (transitive)]

gnidec1000

frot?c1225

gnoddec1230

rudc1300

ruba1325

wipe1362

freta1400

labour?a1475

wrive1481

scrud1483

chafe1526

friga1529

fricace1579

perfricate1598

affricate1656

fricate1716

frictionize1853

the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a substance

labour?a1475

verberate1657

?a1475 Noble Bk. Cookry in Middle Eng. Dict. at Labouren Put ther to the flesshe mynced dates, clowes..yolks of eggs, and draw them throughe a strener and labour it to gedure welle.

1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. av^v Take y^e white of an egge, & labur thessame in a sponge.

1544 Bk. Chyldren in T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe (new ed.) sig. d.vi Labour the sope and the rosewater wel together.

1544 Bk. Chyldren in T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe (new ed.) sig. e.ii^v Redde coralle..hanged about the necke, whervppon the chylde shuld oftentymes labour his gummes.

1569 R. Androse tr. ‘Alessio’ 4th Bk. Secretes iii. 25 Boyle them, laboring them with the spatter.

1607 G. Markham Cavelarice ii. 79 As he trotteth, labor his contrarie side with the calfe of your leg.

a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Wales 6 Take to every six Gallons of water one Gallon of the finest Honey, and put into the Boorn, and labour it together half an hour.

1702 R. Neve Apopiroscopy i. 82 Mingle a little Lampblack, with Oil, and do your Work over with it and then to fetch this off, labour and rub it well with a fine Cloth.

1792 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina (new ed.) v. 144 They labour and beat the dense air; they form the line with wide extended wings.

b. transitive. To strike with repeated blows; to beat, thrash. Cf. belabour v. 2. Now Scottish.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > beat heavily or severely

pounda1325

batter1377

pellc1450

hatter1508

whop1575

labour1594

thunder-beat1608

behammer1639

thunderstrike1818

sledgehammer1834

pun1838

to beat to a pulp1840

jackhammer1959

1594 R. Carew tr. J. Huarte Exam. Mens Wits xiii. 211 The Asse..if he be laboured with a cudgell, he setteth not by it.

1645 H. Slingsby Diary (1836) 177 Our horse did so fast labour y^m w^th their longe tucks y^t they could not endure it.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 115 Take..a plant of stubborn Oak; And labour him with many a sturdy stroak.

1824 G. Smith Home's Douglas 112 'Twas but the last week that I labour'd a birkie.

1876 W. Brockie Confessional 185 The turkey's labbert a chicken to dead.

1901 N.E.D. (at cited word) Mod. Sc. He took a stick an' laubor'd or labber'd the beast terrible wi'd.

1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 45/1 His faider laabered da boy for what he was fit.

c. transitive. In the First World War (1914–18): to bombard and devastate (an area of ground) with bombs or shells. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > operate (artillery) [verb (transitive)] > bombard

ding1548

to lay battery to1548

cannon1567

thunder1590

cannonade1637

bombard1686

bomb1694

shell1827

plonk1874

plaster1914

bump1915

labour1915

water1915

barragea1917

paste1942

stonk1944

1915 Times 30 Jan. 9/7 Here and there through the wood a tree has been broken off by a shell, and on the bare side the whole flank is laboured by big projectiles.

1915 G. Adam Behind Scenes at Front 105 The ground is laboured deeply with every form of high explosive, and terrible in its desolation and upheaval.

1916 Times 3 July 8/6 Nothing now remains but a heap of upturned earth laboured by shell.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	labour
释义	labourlaborn. Brit. /ˈleɪbə/, U.S. /ˈleɪbər/ Forms: Middle English labowr, Middle English labure, Middle English laubour, Middle English lawbore, Middle English lawbour, Middle English lawboure, Middle English lobour, Middle English–1500s labore, Middle English–1500s labur, Middle English–1500s labyr, Middle English–1600s laboure, Middle English– labor (now chiefly U.S.), Middle English– labour, 1500s labyre, 1600s labovr; Scottish pre-1700 labore, pre-1700 laboure, pre-1700 labure, pre-1700 labyr, pre-1700 laubir, pre-1700 laubor, pre-1700 laubour, pre-1700 lauboure, pre-1700 laubur, pre-1700 laubyr, pre-1700 lavbour, pre-1700 lawbir, pre-1700 lawbore, pre-1700 lawboure, pre-1700 lawbur, pre-1700 1700s– labour, pre-1700 1800s– lawbor, pre-1700 1800s– lawbour, pre-1700 1900s– labor, pre-1700 1900s– lauber, 1800s labber, 1800s– laaber (northern and Shetland), 1800s– laabor, 1900s– laabir (Shetland), 1900s– laabour (Orkney). Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French labour; Latin labor. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman labure, Anglo-Norman and Old French labur, labor, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French labour, Old French, Middle French labeur (French labeur ) trouble, effort, affliction, misfortune (first half of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman), hard work (1155), burden, task (c1170 or earlier in Anglo-Norman), suffering (c1270 or earlier in Anglo-Norman), outcome, product, or result of work (1283), fatigue (c1349), difficulty (c1370), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin labor work, toil, industry, task, result or product of work, struggle, hardship, physical pain, distress, pain of childbirth, eclipse (of the sun or moon), wear and tear, in post-classical Latin also exercise (13th cent. in a British source), of uncertain origin: perhaps related to lābī to fall (see labent adj.). Compare Old Occitan labor, Catalan labor (14th cent.), Spanish labor (1030 as lavor), Portuguese lavor (a1065), Italian labore (a1294; now archaic).With sense 2c compare ancient Greek πόνος work, labour, bodily exertion, exercise (see ponerology n.). With sense 4 compare classical Latin hominumque boumque labores ‘the works of men and oxen’, used by Virgil ( Georgics 1. 118) to describe cultivated land as the product of hard work. With labour of Hercules n. at Phrases 3 compare classical Latin Herculis labor . In sense 11 apparently after American Spanish labor (although this is apparently first attested slightly later: 1825). The form in -our is now usual in British English, while that in -or is usual in the United States: see further -or suffix. In the 15th cent. sometimes found in sense ‘labourer’, usually in texts where labourer occurs as a variant in other manuscripts. It is unclear how far this reflects actual usage and how far it reflects abbreviations in manuscripts. Compare the following:a1425 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1960) A. v. l. 135 Labouros [c1400 Trin. Cambr. laboureris & louȝ folk þat lay be hemselue].c1425 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Soc. of Antiquaries) (1960) A. vii. l. 291 Laboures [c1400 Trin. Cambr. Laboureris þat haue no land but lyue on here handis].?c1425 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Royal 17 D.vi) (1897) l. 1348 A labour [a1450 Harl. Swych laborer þe kythe heere in þys lyf, Þat god þi soule..Reioise may]. 1. An instance of physical or mental exertion; a piece of work that has been or is to be performed; a task. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > instance of labourc1300 labouragea1460 c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 49 (MED) The reve..that hem scholde to here labour lede, Nuste he..what him was to rede. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2229 I rede we bigin a laboure..and make a toure. 1457 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1883) II. 365 For mendyng of a bowt and oder labors. a1475 ( S. Scrope tr. Dicts & Sayings Philosophers (Bodl. 943) (1999) 54 (MED) Be temperat..in lieng with wommen and in alle other labours. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Rev. xiv. 13 Yee the sprete sayeth, that they rest from their laboures. 1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 48 That I might gather up the gleanings of my labours, and sende money to Rome. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. vii. 226 They are two insupportable labours in searching of the mettall; first to digge and breake the rockes, and then to drawe out the water all together. 1657 R. Tomlinson To Rdr. in R. Tomlinson tr. J. de Renou Medicinal Dispensatory sig. d My Imployments..and defatigable diuturnal Labours. 1702 N. Rowe Tamerlane Ded. When they shall reckon up his Labours from the Battle of Seneff. 1729 W. Law Serious Call iii. 32 Whose lives have been a careful labour to exercise these virtues. 1792 T. Jefferson Jrnl. 29 Feb. in Papers (1990) XXIII. 186 My mind was immediately made up to make that the epoch of my own retirement from those labors, of which I was heartily tired. 1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. i. i. 11 My labours, of the body, at least, have been light enough. 1871 C. Davies Metric Syst. ii. 29 The rich treasures of their labors. 1923 T. Fane What's Wrong with Movies vi. 101 Using their noodles has long been classed..as one of life's hard labors. 1961 Science 13 Jan. 80/1 One hundred years ago G. T. Fechner published the fruits and findings of a ten-year labor. 2001 Geogr. Rev. 91 333 Archival research is situated somewhere between the labors of a novelist and those of an atomic physicist. 2. a. Bodily or mental exertion particularly when difficult, painful, or compulsory; (hard) work; toil; esp. physical toil. Also personified.forced, hard, prison labour: see the first element. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > labour or toil workeOE i-swincheOE swenchOE swote971 swingc1000 swinkOE swinkinga1225 travailc1275 cark1330 sweatc1380 the sweat of (one's) brow (brows), facec1380 laboura1382 swengc1400 labouragec1470 toil1495 laborationa1500 tug1504 urea1510 carp1548 turmoil1569 moil1612 praelabour1663 fatigue1669 insudation1669 till?a1800 Kaffir work1848 graft1853 workfulness1854 collar-work1871 yakka1888 swot1899 heavy lifting1934 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Eccles. x. 15 The labour [a1425 L. V. trauel] of foolys shal tormenten hem that kunnen not in to the cite gon. 1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope 2 He that wylle haue..worship and glorye may not haue hit withoute grete laboure. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Eccl. ii. 18 I was weery of all my laboure, Which I had taken vnder the Sonne. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10770 Hit were labur to long hir lotis to tell. a1596 G. Peele Loue King Dauid & Fair Bethsabe (1599) sig. Civ Mine eares shall neuer leane to such delight, When holy labour cals me forth to fight. 1611 Bible (King James) Psalms civ. 23 Man goeth forth vnto his worke: and to his labour, vntill the euening. View more context for this quotation 1650 Andrewes's Pattern Catechistical Doctr. (new ed.) x. 141 The heathen call labour the husband of hope. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 1021 So he with difficulty and labour hard Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour hee. View more context for this quotation 1703 tr. L. de Lahontan New Voy. N.-Amer. II. 50 They never touch Sallade, upon the Plea that all cold Herbs oblige the Stomach to hard labour. 1752 D. Hume Polit. Disc. i. 12 Everything in the world is purchas'd by labour, and our passions are the only causes of labour. 1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 5 Nature..Still grants her bliss at Labour's earnest call. 1827 E. Bulwer-Lytton Falkland 15 Nothing seemed to me worth the labour of success. 1832 Ld. Tennyson Lotos-eaters: Choric Song iv, in Poems (new ed.) 113 Ah! why Should life all labour be? 1836 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion ii. iv. 284 The stomach, having less labour imposed upon it, will require less blood. 1881 Cent. Mag. Nov. 24/1 He worked incessantly, and, after a day of severe labor, commonly spent four hours at an evening life-class. 1927 Amer. Mercury Feb. 201/2 I shall forever eschew the labor of mounting to the iron observation tower on top of Bear Mountain. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iii. 68 A good patchwork quilt has a prestige value in keeping with the labour that goes into the making of it. 2006 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Jan. 148/3 The backbreaking labor of millions of Third World peasants. b. Agricultural work, esp. tillage. Now only as passing into sense 2a. Cf. labour v. 1b. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > [noun] earth-tilthOE earth-tillingOE tilling?c1225 delving1377 laboura1393 land-tillingc1420 culturec1450 tilthing1495 labouring1523 manurea1547 manuring1550 digging1552 cultivation1553 tilth1565 manurance1572 agriculture1583 nithering1599 culturation1606 gainor1607 delvage1610 agricolation1623 gainage1625 cultivage1632 manurementa1639 groundwork1655 fieldwork1656 proscission1656 field labour1661 manuragea1670 subduing1776 management1799 subjugation1800 geopony1808 clodhopping1847 agriculturism1885 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 3252 (MED) The Erthe it is, which everemo With mannes labour is bego..The mannes hond doth what he mai To helpe it forth and make it riche. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. vi. l. 253 (MED) Þe freke þat fedeth hym-self with his feythful laboure, He is blessed by þe boke. ?c1405 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) f. 89^v (margin) Adam..Was dryue o[ut] of his hye prosperitee To labour [and] to helle and to meschance. 1550 in R. Renwick Abstr. Protocols Town Clerks Glasgow (1894) I. 8 The proffet of ilk hors in werk, lawboure, ryding, and hyirgang. 1568 in W. Mackay & H. C. Boyd Rec. Inverness (1911) I. 163 That..he fand him nocht ane wark horse to his laubour fra Candilmes to vpwark. 1669 in Rothesay Town Council Rec. (1935) I. 167 [Animals may be put] befoir the commoune hird or in tyme of labour in the commoune. 1792 J. Belknap Foresters vii. 93 They were not allowed to use black cattle in the labour of the field. 1860 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 21 332 The labour of the field should be so adjusted that the plough may follow the cart closely enough to bury the dung before it has lost its moisture. 1876 W. H. Willshire Descriptive Catal. Playing & Other Cards in Brit. Mus. ii. 143 The eagle symbolizes spring..; the ox, autumn, when there are labour and sowing. 1929 W. Littlejohn Buchan Cottar Stories 7 The farmer drank a glass himself, then filled the glass again, and poured it over the bridle of the plough, at the same time repeating the words, ‘Gweed speed the lawbour’. †c. Physical exercise. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > exercise > [noun] playeOE stirringa1400 laboura1530 exercisea1533 activity1542 motion1568 gymnastic1598 gymnastics1652 capriccio1665 grind1857 physical drill1873 ekker1891 physical jerks1917 daily dozen1918 workout1923 sexercise1942 a1530 T. Lupset Exhort. to Yonge Men (1535) sig. Cii Exercise you continually: for in labor your bodye shall fynde strengthe. 1543 J. Hales tr. Plutarch Preceptes Preseruacion Healthe sig. dvi But it is rather ambityon and ye parte of a young foole, then a thing healthfull to vse cold baines after labour of the body [Gk. λουτρῷ δὲ χρήσθαι γυμνασαμένους ψυχρῷ]. 1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health i. 1 Labour then, or exercise, is a vehement mouing, the end whereof is alteration of the breath or winde of man. 1666 G. Harvey Morbus Anglicus x. 28 Moderate labour of the body is universally experienced to conduce to the preservation of health. 1707 G. Hickes tr. F. de S. de la Mothe-Fénelon Instr. Educ. Daughter xiv. 265 A clean and slender Diet, frequent and moderate Labour, with Ablutions and Bathings in cold Water. †3. Hardship, suffering (esp. physical); pain; distress. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > anguish or torment piningOE anguishc1225 pinsing?c1225 tormentc1290 afflictiona1382 martyrdomc1384 tormentryc1386 labourc1390 martyryc1390 throea1393 martyre?a1400 cruelty14.. rack?a1425 hacheec1430 prong1440 agonya1450 ragea1450 pang1482 sowing1487 cruciation1496 afflict?1529 torture?c1550 pincha1566 anguishment1592 discruciament1593 excruciation1618 fellness1642 afflictedness1646 pungency1649 perialgia1848 perialgy1857 racking1896 c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 142 (MED) Strengþe stont vs in no stide, But longyng and beoing in laboure. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 422 The newe loue, labour or oþer wo, Or ellys selde seynge of a wyght Don olde affeccions al ouer go. c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) i. Prol. l. 33 (MED) When thy fadre is ouercome with dethis laboure, Thow may helpe thysilf. a1500 (?c1425) Speculum Sacerdotale (1936) 80 (MED) The bisshop or his viker..fro the tyme that they haue..seen contricion, pouerte, infirmite, and laboure of a womman, they may myche of here enioyned penaunce relese. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. ix. 131 Feare, sicknesse, age, losse, labour, sorrow, strife, Payne, hunger, cold, that makes the hart to quake. 1677 G. Keith Way cast Up xv. 199 I could willingly by the Grace of God endure much labour, suffering and affliction both inwardly and outwardly. 1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful ii. §24. 71 Of Feeling little more can be said, than that the idea of bodily pain, in all the modes and degrees of labour, pain, anguish, torment, is productive of the sublime. 1844 tr. St. Gregory Morals on Bk. of Job I. vi. 345 While we are afflicted with transitory labour, we are rescued from everlasting pain. 4. An outcome, product, or result of work. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > work > product of work > [noun] > accomplished by toil laboura1400 toil1612 elaboration1765 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1986 Ȝeildes til your creatur þe tend part o your labour. ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 7 (MED) Y..intende to compile a tretys..excerpte of diuerse labores of auctores. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms civ. 44 They toke the labours of the people in possession. 1550 R. Crowley One & Thyrtye Epigrammes sig. Bii^v To worcke what they can, and lyue on theyr laboures. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 116 The waxen labour of the Bees. View more context for this quotation 1709 J. Swift Vindic. I. Bickerstaff 8 I saw my Labours, which had cost me so much Thought and Watching, bawl'd about by common Hawkers. 1736 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1851) IV. 176 The Thing they want is the peaceable Possession of their Labours. 1822 Ann. Reg. 1812 (new ed.) Chron. 55/2 Between four and five o'clock on this morning the Highgate Tunnel fell in. The labour of several months was thus in a few moments converted into a heap of ruins. 1866 H. Ottley Biogr. & Crit. Dict. Painters & Engravers 77/2 His most important labours in this line, however, are the illustrations for a new edition of Shakespeare. 1944 Reader's Digest July 110 A huge alligator gar rips their nets to pieces, destroying the labor of weeks. 1985 G. Naylor Linden Hills 11 The painted walls, additional bedrooms, and raked dirt yards were the labor of people who had hopes of building on, not over, their past. †5. a. Effort made or trouble taken in accomplishing or attempting to accomplish a task; endeavour; an instance of this. Obsolete. †to do one's labour: to do one's utmost (to do something). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > trouble taken to accomplish anything whilec1175 painc1330 pine?c1335 teenc1380 adoc1400 labourc1405 painsc1480 trouble1577 fatigue1669 c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 202 Absolon may blowe the Bukkes horn He ne hadde for his labour but a scorn. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Prioress's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 11 To telle a storie I wol do my labour. c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 4335 (MED) Agamenoun To ȝif hym counforte & consolacioun Dide his labour. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) III. 1213 He wolde have made ony laboure for pease, he sholde have made hit or thys tyme. c1503 Beuys of Southhamptowne (Pynson) sig. Cii^v Haue this he sayde for thy labour. 1520 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 27 The auditors..be diligent and take labors herapon. a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. i. 125 If it please you, take it for your labour; And so good-morrow Seruant. View more context for this quotation a1656 J. Ussher Power of Princes (1683) ii. 141 He caused the Fellow to be soundly whipped for his labour. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Justina in Spanish Libertines 54 They should all allow me a small matter for my Labour, because they were Lame, and lost more time in fetching and carrying than three times my Pay amounted to. 1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. ix. 228 The least ye can do is to gie him that o't that's left behind for his labour. b. spec. Effort made to further a matter, obtain a favour, etc., esp. on behalf of another; intervention; the exertion of influence. Obsolete. to make labour: to exert influence; frequently in to make labour to (a person) (cf. labour v. 5b).In quots. 1423, 1446 (as a count noun) perhaps: a legal intervention. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > intercession or influence on someone's behalf > intercede or use influence on someone's behalf [verb (intransitive)] > ask for exertion of influence to make labour to (a person)1423 society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > action of courts in claims or grievances > [noun] > joining of two parties against another > intervention in a suit labour1423 intervention1860 society > authority > power > influence > have influence [verb (intransitive)] > exert influence labour1442 to make labour1603 influence1670 to make interest1709 to weigh in1909 1423 Petition in Fenland Notes & Queries (1907–9) 7 308 (MED) Thai have sued writtes of errour and oder processe..whiche have cost hem c marc and more with oder labours of the said tenaunts. 1446 in L. Morsbach Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1923) 25 Sir William hath graunted..to ye seid Robert..the manere of Wodosom..Payng yerely..the ferme of viii marces..And also beryng the charge of suytes and othour labures that belongeth in defence of the seid manere. 1448 in L. Morsbach Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1923) 4 (MED) Yf hit fortune ony variaunce to fall be-twix them..theire councell be theire labur..make reformacion be-twix them. 1454 T. Denys in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 86 Aftirward my wif was sumdele easid bi the labour of the Wardeyn of Flete, for the cursid Cardenale had sent hir to Neugate. 1491–2 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1491 §15. m. 7 I pray you make laboure unto my lady Warwyk to write to the king of Fraunce. a1525 (?1472) Coventry Leet Bk. (1908) II. 378 (MED) The Abbot of Kelyngworth, the Abbot of Combe..shuld be desired to be here at Couentre..by the labour of Joh. Smyth. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 42 §2 Without any further sute or labour to be made to kyngs highnes..for the same. 1565 Stow in Three 15th c. Chron. (Camd.) 136 Y^e paryshe of S. Marie Magdalyn in Mylke~stret, makynge labour to y^e byshope, had by hym a mynister apoyntyd to serve them with communion that day. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 434 Laelius, sued to be consull of Rome; him he favoured and set forward his sute in all that hee could: by which occasion hee demanded of one Pompeius, who was thought to make labour for the same dignitie, whether it were true that hee was a competitor or no? c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) I. 112/27 Leving..to sinistruous meanis, labour is, unlauchfull middis to attene to premotioun. †6. A labourer, an unskilled worker. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [noun] > manual worker > labourer or unskilled labourera1393 laboura1425 pioneer1543 hand1551 heaver1587 yard boy1776 son of toil1779 spalpeen1780 hacker1784 khalasi1785 tiger1865 cafone1872 mucker1899 mazdoor1937 bracero1946 manamba1959 nkuba kyeyo1991 a1425 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1960) A. v. l. 135 Labouros [c1400 Trin. Cambr. laboureris] for loþ folk þat lyuen be hemselue. 1442 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 387 For brede and hale and chese for warkemen and laboras. a1500 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Dublin 213) (1960) A. iii. l. 234 Þat labores [c1400 Trin. Cambr. laboureris]..takys..Is no maner of mede. 7. A collective term for: a group of moles.One of many alleged group names found in late Middle English glossarial sources. Revived in 19th cent. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Talpidae > genus Talpa (mole) > group of labour1471 1471 MS Pepys 1047 in Notes & Queries (1978) Feb. 8/2 A labour of wantys. c1475 in J. Hodgkin Proper Terms (1909) 52 (MED) A Labyr of mollys. 1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. fvi^v A Labor of Mollis. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. vii. 132/1 Moeles, a Labour. 1832 J. Timbs Knowl. People vi. 14 When beasts went together in companies, there was said to be a herd of harts..and a labour of moles. 1864 R. Chambers Bk. Days I. 554/2 There was said to be a pride of lions..and a labour of moles. 1976 Lebende Sprachen 21 102/1 Moles made up labors. 2006 J. Nicholls Molecatcher ii. 22 Although you may never experience it, the collective noun for a group of moles is a labour. 8. a. The process of childbirth from the onset of uterine contractions to delivery of the fetus and placenta; an instance of this. Also: this process in mammals generally. Cf. earlier travail n.¹ 2. in labour: (esp. of a woman) undergoing the process of giving birth; to go into labour: (esp. of a woman) to begin the process of giving birth; to begin uterine contractions. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun] childbeda1200 bend1297 gesinea1400 lying-inc1440 labour1472 down-lying1561 groaning1579 groaning-time1579 partion1656 crying out1692 accouchement1730 inlying1734 confinement1774 accubation1853 the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective] > labour or pains in travailc1300 travailingc1405 labouring1540 child labour1585 laborious1615 in labour1623 1472 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 452 God spede yow, and Owre Ladye hyre to hyre plesure, wyth as easye labore to overkom that she is abowt as euyre had any lady or [gentyll]-woman saff Owre Lady heer-selffe. And soo I hope she shall to hyre greet joye and all owres. ?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman sig. Kiv^v Wherfore she was worthy to beare a chylde with great payne and werynes: and in her labour to be delyuered of her chyde [sic] and her lyfe both. 1580 T. Newton Approoued Med. f. 84 ^v In the tyme of the byrthe & labour bounde to the Leage, it bryngeth forthe the chylde wythout payne. 1595 E. Spenser Epithalamion in Amoretti & Epithalamion xxi. sig. H6 Sith of wemens labours thou hast charge, And generation goodly dost enlarge. 1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xxxv. 16 Rachel traueiled, and she had hard labour [ Coverdale: the byrth came harde vpon hir] . View more context for this quotation 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. i. 18 The Queens in Labor They say in great Extremity, and fear'd Shee'l with the Labour, end. View more context for this quotation 1744 Philos. Trans. 1742–3 (Royal Soc.) 42 614 They hold a Piss-pot over the Womens Heads whilst in Labour, thinking it to promote hasty Delivery. 1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 2 477 [She] had then been in labour about two hours... Interrogating her afterwards respecting her former labours [etc.]. 1819 P. B. Shelley in Dowden Life (1887) II. 308 She has..brought me a fine little boy, after a labour of the very, very mildest character. 1845 W. Youatt Dog xiii. 226 The patience of bitches in labour is extreme. 1911 R. Jardine Delayed & Complicated Labour xiv. 185 If the third stage of labour is properly conducted, post-partum hæmorrhage can be largely prevented. 1984 I. Banks Wasp Factory 106 Agnes duly went into labour about lunch-time one hot still day. 2004 Nat. Health Nov. 43/1 Although water can't take away the pain it can help you to relax, making labour easier. b. figurative and in figurative contexts. ΚΠ a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xvii. 176^v Mine eyes euen great in labour with their teares. 1634 T. Heywood Maidenhead Lost i. B 3 b My brain's in labour, and must be deliuered Of some new mischeife. 1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 121 And now that sentence is brought forth, wherewith..the Warre had now been in labour for the space of nine years. 1754 S. Fielding & J. Collier Cry II. iv. ii. 301 Do we not perceive all the mountains in labour, and find the produce to be—a mouse? 1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It iii. 30 I knew that he was in labor with another of those winks of his. 1887 H. R. Haggard She vii. 92 And so it went for a little space, till Time was in labour with an evil Day. 1955 A. Wilkinson Hangman ties Holly 13 Rivers swell in tumbling towers of praise, Ice in aqua risen hails The bearing down in labour of the sun. 2001 New Statesman (Nexis) 26 Mar. This sense of wonder and achievement when, after a long gestation and difficult labour, you actually produce your very own book. 9. An eclipse of the moon. Usually in plural in labours of the moon. Chiefly poetic. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > light of moon > [noun] > eclipse labour1580 1580 A. Fleming tr. F. Nausea Bright Burning Beacon sig. B1^v The lacke of light which dims the Sunne, The labours of the Moone likewise. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 91 Teach me the various Labours of the Moon, And whence proceed th' Eclipses of the Sun [L. defectus solis varios, lunaeque labores] . View more context for this quotation 1748 H. Layng Several Pieces Prose & Verse 21 I..Describ'd the Ocean, and explain'd the Tide ; the Labours of the Moon ; and where the Sun And Planetary Orbs their courses run. 1838 Mirror Lit., Amusement, & Instr. 32 404/2 His [sc. the sun's] burning rays would dry up and consume the earth, but for the kindly rain and refreshing dews, which they ascribed to the labours of the moon. 1975 Classical Q. New Ser. 25 154 Ovid likens a girl's deep blush to the dark hue of roses amid lilies or the moon in labour, when her horses are bewitched. 10. a. Work (esp. physical work) considered as a resource or commodity, typically when necessary to supply the needs of the community or for the execution of a particular task; the contribution of the worker to production.child, casual, free, slave labour: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > work > [noun] workOE travailc1350 workmanshipa1393 overage1415 tew1644 labour1662 1662 W. Petty Treat. Taxes x. 49 Labour is the Father and active principle of Wealth, as Lands are the Mother. 1685 T. Budd Good Order Established in Pa. & New-Jersey in Amer. 13 Did we make our own Sail-cloth and Cordage, we could make Ships, Sloops and Boats at much easier Rates than they can build for in England, the Timber costing us nothing but Labour. 1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. Introd. 6 The..British product..whether we mean its produce as the growth of the country, or its manufactures, as the labour of her people. 1758 R. Dossie Handmaid to Arts I. p. vi Several circumstances both of our œconomical and political condition..are depriving us of the share we had of the grosser manufactures that depend on labour. 1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. Introd. 1 The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniencies of life which it annually consumes. View more context for this quotation 1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. v. 35 Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities. 1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) iv. iv. 511 If the population of this country were better proportioned to its food, the nominal price of labour might be lower than it is now. 1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. I. i. iii. §1. 55 Labour is indispensable to production, but has not always production for its effect. 1931 A. D. Hall Soil (ed. 4) iv. 116 With the increased cost of labour, tile draining has latterly become too expensive to be generally applicable. 2003 What Home Cinema Jan. (Hispek Electronics Suppl.) 6/3 (advt.) All products we sell come with at least one years manufacturers guarantee, which covers parts and labour on a return to base, basis. b. Workers (esp. manual workers) considered collectively, esp. as a social group or political force. Cf. sense 6. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > in relation to employer or capitalist > collectively employed1600 human capital1799 working force1826 labour1830 labour force1844 workforce1910 1830 Examiner 24 Oct. 675/2 The lower classes having obtained the elective power, it is next apprehended that the representation of labour would follow. 1839 J. F. Bray (title) Labour's wrongs and labour's remedy; or, The age of might and the age of right. 1880 S. Walpole Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 228 Labour..was gradually discovering the truth of the old saying, that God helps those who help themselves. 1885 Act 48 & 49 Victoria c. 56 Preamble Doubts have arisen as to whether or not it be lawful for an employer of labour to permit electors in his regular employ to absent themselves. 1900 Leicester Chron. & Leics. Mercury 6 Oct. (Suppl.) 3/3 The endeavour to secure Parliamentary representation of labour. 1940 W. Temple Hope of New World 61 If there is to be tension at all, let it be between the financial interests of Shareholders and the productive interests of Management and Labour in co-operation. 1970 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 652/2 Until after the turn of the century organized labour seldom gained any measure of public sympathy. 1971 C. J. White Introd. Coal Mining Industry iv. 24 The National Coal Board..became the biggest employer of labour in the Western world. 2005 E. Morrison Last Bk. you Read 139 The need to work cheaper than the old unionised labour. c. With capital initial. Short for ‘the Labour Party’ (see Labour Party n. at Compounds 2). ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > Labourism > Labour Party Lab1892 Labour Party1905 labour1906 1906 Times 19 Jan. 10/1 Just before going to press the news arrived that Lord Stanley..had been defeated..by Mr. W. T. Wilson (Labour). 1949 R. Lewis & A. Maude Eng. Middle Classes i. iv. 81 Both Conservatives and Labour competed for the middle-class vote. 1966 M. Edelman The ‘Mirror’ viii. 151 Its brilliance was that at no time did the Mirror specifically urge its voters to vote Labour. 1971 D. Williamson Don's Party (1973) 24 I take it you'll be barracking for Labor tonight? 2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) xi. 230 To a party like Labour, seeking to make some peace with its collectivist past, communitarianism provided some positive ideas. d. Short for Labour Exchange n. 2a. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employment exchange employment office1801 slave market1835 registry office1839 employment agency1851 Labour Exchange1852 employment bureau1865 employment exchange1867 labour bureau1872 pool office1884 employment service1915 buroo1934 labour1934 job agency1952 job centre1970 1934 H. L. Beales & R. S. Lambert Mem. Unemployed 87 If I can get enough cleaning to do I shall give up the ‘Labour’ altogether and the factory. 1963 T. Parker Unknown Citizen iii. 88 I'll ring you up Monday to tell you how I went on at the Labour. 1971 R. Rendell One Across iv. 37 Work's not easy to come by when you've no qualifications... Can't they find you anything down at the Labour? 1995 J. Murphy Brothers of Brush ii. 69 Lar. You could be seen by someone from the dole out there... Heno. What would someone from the labour be doing walking by this kip, at this hour of the morning, in this poxy weather! 11. U.S. regional (Texas). A measure of land, usually equivalent to around 177 acres (approx. 72 hectares). Now historical. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of area > [noun] nail1442 mat1613 centrobaric1624 labour1825 1825 T. Gray Let. 19 Jan. in E. C. Barker Austin Papers (1924) I. ii. 1022 I have made choice of the seventh Labour, on the west side of the river. 1845 T. J. Green Jrnl. Texian Exped. xiii. 212 The valley—a basin of about thirty by sixty English miles, [is] laid off in labours. 1883 A. E. Sweet & J. A. Knox On Mexican Mustang 213 To the man who brought a colony of a hundred families to Texas was granted five leagues and five labors of land. 1907 San Antonio (Texas) Gaz. 24 Apr. 2/1 The water for irrigating the labors or fields. 1948 True May 123/2 The land was apportioned to the settlers at the rate of..one labor (177 acres) to each family that preferred dirt farming. 2003 A. C. C. Crimm De León, Tejano Family Hist. v. 132 Fernando had claimed his own ranch of five leagues and five labors, also on the La Vaca Bay peninsula. Phrases P1. to lose one's labour: to work on something without benefit or result; to waste one's effort. Now rare. ΚΠ c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. Prol. l. 181 [They] helden hem vnhardy and here conseille feble, And leten here laboure lost & alle here longe studye. a1500 (?a1410) J. Lydgate Churl & Bird (Lansd.) l. 309 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 481 I lost my labour, To teche the sich proverbis of substaunce... Rewde is thi remembraunce. 1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. 1 Cor. iii. f. x^v If eythers worke be with fyre destroyed, the workeman shall lose his labour. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 100 All well affected Christians would be loth to lose their labour and sweat, till they haue enjoyed the promise. 1694 R. Franck Northern Mem. 95 [To bait for trout] I commend the Canker..or, if with a depinged Locust, you will not lose your Labour. 1735 T. Dallowe tr. H. Boerhaave Elements Chem. I. ii. 385 If a person has a mind to distill Honey, for instance, or Wax, for any valuable purpose, he will lose his labour. 1820 T. Mitchell tr. Aristophanes Acharnians in tr. Aristophanes Comedies I. 101 Uncheated he his stalls may spread, nor lose his time and labour. 1866 M. Arnold in Cornhill Mag. May 547 In looking for traces of Normanism in our national genius..we do but lose our labour. 1908 A. H. Harrison In Search of Polar Continent xiii. 203 I had lost my labour and my patience. P2. [Compare classical Latin labor irritus < labor labour n. + irritus irrite adj.] a. labour in vain: work done for no benefit; wasted effort. Formerly also: †an instance of this; a fruitless task (obsolete). Now rare.From the early modern period a popular name for public houses; cf. quot. 1679. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > unprofitable or useless labour unspeeda1400 wastec1400 labour in vaina1470 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 527 Whan he sih..that his labour was in vein.] a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 377 Som..counceyled..for to seke sir Launcelott..other barownes..seyde that hit was laboure in vayne. 1533 T. Paynell tr. U. von Hutten De Morbo Gallico f. 64 And for as moche as I haue shewed before, what euyls come with this syckenes, it were but labour in vayne to repete them. 1578 T. Brasbridge Poore Mans Iewel 14 It is almoste a labour in vaine, to shewe meanes how to purge the wickednes of priuate men, vnlesse Publique offences be first cured. 1616 N. Breton Crossing of Proverbs sig. A5 Labour in vaine is losse of time. a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) ii. 67 That Commission ended at Labour in vain; not, as the old Emblem is, to go about to make a Black-moor white, but to make him that was White to appear like a Black-moor. 1679 J. Dryden Troilus & Cressida ii. ii. 15 The signe-post for the Labour in vain. 1767 D. Garrick Cymon i. 12 The pow'rs of a god Cannot quicken this clod, Alas!—It is labour in vain. 1831 Times 7 Oct. 4/4 The Oaks winner maintained her position till a few lengths beyond the Duke's Stand, where John Day went to work at her. It was labour in vain, Camarine passed her, and without the slightest effort won..by four lengths. 1864 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia IV. xv. iv. 34 Friedrich..has to retire behind the Sazawa, and ultimately behind the Elbe, with much Labour in Vain. 1909 J. C. Van Dyke New N.Y. xvii. 303 One has merely to stand at the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge and look up at it to realize that sculptural ornamentation in connection with it would be only so much labor in vain. 1957 Y. Hsien-yi & G. Yang tr. Sel. Wks. Lu Hsun 264 Before this happened, I doubt if anyone could have foretold such a tragedy; at most, you would expect this to be merely one more case of labour in vain. b. labour lost (also lost labour): wasted effort; an instance of this. Cf. to lose one's labour at Phrases 1. ΚΠ c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) ii. B. l. 2217 (MED) What availleth hooly scripture and doctours techyng..When men in hir hertis haue noo deuocioun? It is but laboure lost and veyn mocioun. a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 258 The labour lost and liell seruice. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. lvii. f. xxxii/2 And whan they had well aduysed euery thyng they thought it was but a lost labour. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxxvii. 2 It is but lost labour that ye ryse vp early. a1626 L. Andrewes 96 Serm. (1629) 307 All that Christ hath done for us is in vaine; whose paines and sufferings we ought specially to tender, knowing that Supra omnem laborem labor irritus, No labour to lost labour; and Christ then hath lost His labour for us. 1653 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian 14 Garden Arrach. Called also Orach, and Orage; It is so commonly known to every Houswife, it were but labor lost to describe it. 1747 J. Wesley Primitive Physick p. xviii Add to the rest (for it is not labour lost) that Old Unfashionable Medicine, Prayer. 1797 in tr. C. C. de Rulhière Hist. or Anecd. Revol. Russia Note p. iii They might send him to the Bastille, nay force his manuscript from him, but..it would prove labour lost, because it was engraven on the table of his memory. 1806 M. Edgeworth Leonora II. lviii. 76 It is lost labour to civilize him, for sooner or later he will hottentot again. 1863 Times 25 Dec. 4/5 The serious criticism of most novels is a lost labour. 1947 French Rev. 21 62 Hall and Denoeu have performed here many a pedagogical labor of love, but much too often it is labor lost. 1991 E. T. H. Brann World of Imagination iii. i. 408 The attempt to verify the representational relation by recovering the projection would be lost labor. P3. labour of Hercules n. (also Hercules' labour) (in classical mythology) each of the twelve tasks which Eurystheus, king of Argos, imposed upon the hero Hercules; (hence) an exceptionally difficult undertaking; a seemingly impossible task. Cf. Herculean adj. 3. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > difficulty > types of difficulty > [noun] > difficulty or laboriousness > a difficult or laborious task travailc1350 labour of Hercules?a1475 task1597 punisher1827 back-breaker1867 bashing1940 ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 11 (MED) What man wolde not laȝhe..if that a pigmei scholde make him redy to conflicte after the labores of Hercules? 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. i. 342 I wil..vndertake one of Hercules labors. View more context for this quotation 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. ii. 88 Rules, so curiously disposed in order, as it is a labour of Hercules to obserue them. 1779 G. Keate Sketches from Nature I. 64 The labours of Hercules were a flea-bite to it. 1865 Dublin Uni. Mag. Nov. 577/1 The organization of the feast itself was a labour of Hercules. 1965 Mod. Lang. Rev. 60 130 Carmine Jannaco has undertaken this veritable labour of Hercules. 2008 Express (Nexis) 16 Apr. 13 It is scarcely a labour of Hercules to walk upstairs and check that all is dark and quiet when it should be. P4. labour of love n. [with allusion to 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (see quot. 1535¹ and compare Hellenistic Greek τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης ) and Hebrews 6:10 (see quot. 1535²)] a task undertaken either for love of the work itself or out of love for a person, cause, etc.; work of this nature. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > love > [noun] > work undertaken out of or for love labour of love1592 society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > other types of work church worka1225 kirk work1418 fieldwork1441 labour of love1592 life's work1660 shop work1696 outwork1707 private practice1724 tide-work1739 sales-work1775 marshing1815 work in progress1815 life-work1837 relief work1844 sharp practice1847 near work1850 slop-work1861 repetition work1866 side work1875 rework1878 wage-slavery1886 work in progress1890 war work1891 busywork1893 screen work1912 staff-work1923 gig work1927 knowledge work1959 WIP1966 telework1970 playwork1986 laboratory work2002 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Thess. i. 3 Youre worke in the faith, and youre laboure in loue. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Heb. vi. 10 God is not vnrighteous, that he shulde forget youre worke and laboure of loue, which ye shewed in his name.] 1592 R. Greene Philomela To Rdr. sig. A4 I com contrary to vow and promise once againe to the presse with a labour of loue which I hatched long ago. 1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling ii. iii. §12 Women..founded Hospitals, and yet with a labor of love, as the Apostle styles it, Hebrew vi. 10, disdain'd not somtimes to serve in them. 1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote II. vii. i. 108 You must submit to the lowest offices in this labour of love. 1878 W. Black Goldsmith xiv. 131 During this labour of love [sc. the composition of the Deserted Village]. 1930 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 28 Apr. 15/5 Whatever he had done for the Railway Cricket Club was a labour of love. 2001 Western Daily Press (Nexis) 11 Mar. 14 The lace-like pattern of flowers in urns and Prince Of Wales feathers must have been an extraordinary labour of love. Compounds C1. General attributive. a. labour dispute n. ΚΠ 1853 Manch. Guardian 30 Nov. 4/4 (heading) The labour disputes. 1966 S. Beer Decision & Control x. 210 Perhaps the contestants in most important games nowadays (from labour disputes..to international diplomacy) too readily regard their games as zero-sum. 2003 Globe & Mail (Toronto) May 31 a25/1 A labour dispute between Toronto's Roman Catholic elementary teachers and their board deteriorated further yesterday. labour master n. ΚΠ 1841 Preston Chron. & Lancs. Advertiser 6 Nov. The appointment of a labour master to superintend the out and in-door labour of the poor of the union. 1901 Daily News 10 Jan. 9/3 The labour master..certified him able to do the work. 2001 M. López-Garza & D. R. Diaz Asian & Latino Immigrants in Restructuring Econ. i. 3 Totally cut off from communication with the world outside the compound, forced to buy basic household and food products from their labor masters..these women were trapped in a hopeless situation. labour member n. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > other types of member burgessc1425 private member1606 recruiter1648 university member1774 unofficial member1822 labour member1871 Labour-Liberal1890 service member1890 front-bencher1907 back-bencher1910 shire-member1910 society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > Labourism > Labour Party > member of labour member1871 1871 Pall Mall Gaz. 22 Sept. 2/2 A common ground of interest between the labour-heads and the labour members must be found. 1895 Whitaker's Almanack 134 The House of Commons..Liberals, 267 (including 4 Labour Members). 1932 J. Buchan Gap in Curtain iii. 149 Collinson, a young Labour member from the Midlands, declared that Geraldine was the best Socialist of them all. 2001 Independent 18 May 8/2 A Labour member announced he was quitting the party yesterday. labour migration n. ΚΠ 1871 Times 7 Sept. 8 It [sc. charity]..can bring into discredit the whole subject of labour migrations. 1984 Amer. Hist. Rev. 89 562/2 Labor migration is a fundamental element in contemporary Kittitian and Nevisian life. 2004 Culture, Health & Sexuality 6 276 Graham..confirms the findings of other studies in pointing to far-flung labour migrations as a key contributor to dietary change. labour mobility n. ΚΠ 1910 J. R. Commons & J. B. Andrews Labor Movement Introd. 45 in Documentary Hist. Amer. Industr. Soc. (1958) 9 The control of emigration for the protection of trade unions against the new menace of steam transportation and labor mobility. 2000 Econ. Affairs 20 35/2 Labour mobility in the euro area is likely to play a substantially smaller role..than it does in the United States. labour permit n. ΚΠ 1884 St. Louis Globe-Democrat 4 Apr. 4/3 Under the regulations labor permits are issued in the following form [etc.]. 1927 Melody Maker Aug. 777/1 Al Payne should have been leader, but the necessary labour permits could not be obtained, and the band remains in America. 1994 Pacific Affairs 67 344 All nonlocals who cannot produce the necessary papers—a temporary resident's permit, labour permit, work contract and ID card—are turned back on the spot. labour power n. ΚΠ 1841 Alton (Illinois) Tel. & Democratic Rev. 19 June The labor-power of the country would immediately be employed to the full extent of its capacity. 1959 B. Wootton Social Sci. & Social Pathol. ix. 280 He matters in himself, and not merely as a unit of cannon-fodder, labour-power or population. 1997 G. Hosking Russia (1998) iii. iii. 203 The commonest criterion for allotting land was the amount of labour power at the disposal of each household. labour question n. ΚΠ 1838 Times 18 June 5/4 The results of this inquiry naturally bear upon the labour question at large. 1888 E. Bellamy Looking Backward v. 66 What solution, if any, have you found for the labor question? 1991 Hist. Workshop Spring 109 Abolitionists like Garrison had no interest in labour questions, something central to the immediate concerns of the immigrants. labour shortage n. ΚΠ 1899 Logansport (Indiana) Pharos 9 Aug. 1/3 The labor shortage is greater than ever, and wages average $2 a day. 1948 B. Griffith Amer. Me ii. ii. 122 When the war created a demand for railroad labor..braceros were brought in to augment the serious labor shortage. 2000 R. W. Holder Taunton Cider & Langdons iii. 13 Automation in American farming had been driven by a chronic labour shortage. labour song n. ΚΠ 1784 T. Robertson Inq. Fine Arts vi. 404 The Labour-Songs, for the purpose of which they are said admirably to be constructed..have had in general a less deep and serious subject. 1841 W. Osburn Antiq. of Egypt v. 107 This most ancient labour song is inscribed over a man driving two yoke of oxen, treading out a floor of corn, in a tomb at Elethya. 1974 Times 25 Sept. 14/8 She..sang a labour song about joining the union. 2004 College Eng. 67 178 Huber..cites two labor songs popular among striking coal miners in the 1920s and 1930s. labour sphere n. ΚΠ 1833 J. H. Newman Lyra Apost. iv. iv, in Brit. Mag. 4 266 O Comrade bold of toil and pain! Thy trial how severe, When severed first by prisoner's chain From thy loved labour-sphere. 1903 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 24 Oct. 13/5 A straw vote taken along the water front the other day, gave Schmitz the astounding total of 305 out of 32—this, however, being in almost a strictly labor sphere. 2002 M. Hopkins Labour Market Planning Revisited vii. 187 The poor quality of data and conceptualization in the labour sphere. labour unrest n. ΚΠ 1886 Tyron (Pa.) Herald 20 May 2/3 The most dangerous feature of the labor unrest in the country is the fact that nine-tenths of those engaged in the strikes are foreigners. 1919 Empire Rev. Aug. 255 The loss of wealth, high taxation, the dislocation of trade and industry with their attendant evils, labour unrest and the prolating of unemployment. 2002 Mariner's Mirror 88 309 There was labour unrest in the port with seamen and dockworkers on strike. labour waste n. ΚΠ 1893 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 12 May The financiers of the northeast laugh to scorn the idea that there is not enough money in the country to do business and utilize the labor waste that is going on in other sections. 2005 G. Thomas & M. Thomas Constr. Partnering & Integrated Teamworking xix. 107 Some estimates put the labour waste associated with standing time on site as high as 30%. b. Objective and objective genitive, as labour-easing, labour-employing, labour-loathing, labour-supplying, etc., adjs. ΚΠ a1618 J. Sylvester New-polished Spectacles in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Diuine Weekes & Wks. (1621) 1178 Th' idle Lubber, labour-loathing. 1775 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 9 Dec. (1778) The common saw-horse makes the cutting of it [sc. firewood] a tedious labour-consuming piece of business. 1837 C. A. Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes Comedies I. 196 The fertile vine, whose tendrils bear The labour-easing grape. 1850 Southern Literary Messenger Apr. 199/2 The singularly rapid increase of labour-employing capital at the North. 1925 Morning News Rev. (Florence, S. Carolina) 1 Feb. All continually strive to find labor easing devices. 1981 Guardian (Nexis) 20 Sept. 20 There is a rigid hierarchy dividing the ringers (the labour-dodging crooks)..and the moilers who do the manual work. 1991 Impact of Sci. on Society (UNESCO) No. 162. 184 Employing cheaper crews from one of the labour-supplying countries such as the Philippines, the Indian sub-continent, or mainland China. 2002 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 23 Apr. 19 She sees no conflict in moaning about disloyalty and then selling her memoirs to the Labour-loathing Daily Mail. c. Instrumental, as labour-bent, labour-coarsened, labour-controlled, labour-dimmed, labour-dominated, labour-run, labour-tired, labour-wearied, etc., adjs. ΚΠ 1595 T. Lodge Fig for Momus sig. I2 The refuse race, of labour-tyred men. 1798 R. Anderson Poems on Var. Subj. 16 The cheerful cottager no longer views His lengthen'd shadow talk across the plain; But, labour-wearied, marks his far-off hut. 1864 M. S. Cummins Haunted Hearts xxv. 399 One of these side glances revealed to her the stout, labor-bent form of Van Hausen. 1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life xx. 345 Her labour-coarsened hands. 1867 M. Arnold Heine's Grave 89 The weary Titan! with deaf Ears, and labour-dimm'd eyes. 1934 Chillicothe (Missouri) Constitution-Tribune 22 Mar. (Daily ed.) 2/3 It would give Labor even more power than in the Labor-dominated countries of New Zealand and Australia. 1959 Times 22 Oct. 8/2 An appeal..for an inquiry into the city's Labour-controlled administration has been rejected. 1995 Guardian 5 July i. 11/7 Labour-run Lewisham council, in south London. 2001 Jrnl. Public Health Policy 22 67 The UMWA pioneered the building of ten labor-sponsored hospitals and the establishment of many excellent medical groups in the coal mining areas. C2. labour bank n. (a) a bank or depot in which goods may be deposited or converted into labour notes (labour note n.) for use in a labour exchange (Labour Exchange n. 1b) (now historical); (b) (chiefly U.S.) a bank organized or run by a labour organization or union. ΚΠ 1832 Poor Man's Guardian 7 Jan. 239/1 The best means of establishing a Labour Bank for the exchange of Labour. 1847 Illustr. London News 28 Aug. 135/3 The Chartists are raising subscriptions to establish a bank, to be called the ‘Labour Bank’. 1904 Boston Daily Globe 24 Jan. 8/3 Establish a labor bank; deposit therein the funds from the treasuries of the unions of Chicago... Do not let labor's money any longer draw interest for capitalists. 1958 Oxf. Econ. Papers 10 357 The First Western Co-operative Union in London..added a labour bank to its shop in 1831–2. 2005 Washington Post (Nexis) 15 June a25 Unite-Here cannot risk the withdrawal of massive union deposits from Amalgamated Bank (the nation's one labor bank, which Unite-Here owns). labour bill n. (a) a proposed piece of legislation concerned with labour conditions, the workforce, etc. (see bill n.³ 3); (b) a bill for payment for work done; (c) a piece of legislation proposed by a Labour Party. ΚΠ 1818 Morning Chron. 21 Apr. A Member under the Gallery asked at what time it was intended to bring on the Cotton Factories Labour Bill? 1845 Amer. Agriculturist Jan. 10/2 Under this system, the labor bills would be comparatively small. 1912 T. W. Holderness People & Probl. India vi. 140 The peasant has no labour bill, as he and his family work the holding. 1986 Guardian (Nexis) 24 Feb. Some rights bestowed under Tory legislation would be retained in the Labour bill. 2001 M. V. Murillo Labor Unions, Partisan Coalitions, & Market Reforms in Lat. Amer. iv. 65 In 1990, after the CTV organized a public demonstration to demand the sanction of the labor bill, the Congress passed it. labour book n. now chiefly historical a book used to keep an account of workers employed or labour done. ΚΠ 1790 Gen. Rules & Orders in Gen. Regulations Inspection Prisons xxx. 36 If any prisoner committed to hard labour..shall be inclined to execute more than his or her task..every such prisoner shall be entitled to two thirds of the profits of such extra labour, an account of which shall be kept in a column of the labour book. 1824 Times 15 Dec. 4/1 (advt.) The Labour Book, consisting of forms ruled for keeping an account of workmen's labour and wages for 1824-5. 1936 A. Rand We the Living i. iii. 35 Every citizen over sixteen had to have a labor book and was ordered to carry it at all times. 2004 D. Mitch in D. Mitch et al. Origins Mod. Career xiii. 294 Further indication of the use of transient labour was the extensive listing of women, boys and girls on the labour book for this period. labour brigade n. (a) colloquial (with the) workers, or members of a Labour Party, considered collectively; = sense 10b; (b) a band or unit of workers, esp. one into which individuals are forced or compelled. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > group of workers work team1809 labour brigade1886 lads1888 span1913 work group1928 1886 Christian Union 9 Sept. 5/2 Some of the devices made it plain that the labor brigade has an eye on the main chance in politics. 1922 H. Robinson Devel. Brit. Empire xxv. 451 Outside of the self-governing Dominions many colored troops were obtained, and South Africa furnished large numbers for labor brigades. 1965 M. Michael tr. J. Myrdal Rep. from Chinese Village (1967) i. 44 Every member of the labour brigade is given a private plot. 1988 Herald (Melbourne) (Nexis) 23 Mar. In contrast to the rest of the wheezing Labor brigade, front-bench veterans Barry Jones and Barry Cohen have just been elevated to glory. 2005 Washington Post (Nexis) 21 Apr. (Metro section) b5 During World War II,..[he] worked as an administrator of a labor brigade, which many Jews were forced to join. labour bureau n. (also with capital initials) †(a) = Labour Exchange n. 1b (obsolete); (b) an office or department concerned with labour and employment; esp. a labour exchange (Labour Exchange n. 2a). ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > place for exchange of goods labour bureau1832 Labour Exchange1832 commodity exchange1881 society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employment exchange employment office1801 slave market1835 registry office1839 employment agency1851 Labour Exchange1852 employment bureau1865 employment exchange1867 labour bureau1872 pool office1884 employment service1915 buroo1934 labour1934 job agency1952 job centre1970 1832 Crisis 11 Aug. 90/3 Perhaps the best preliminary mode..will be by the establishment of Equitable Exchange Labour Bureaus. 1872 Leeds Mercury 31 Oct. During the year 1871 the Labour Bureau at Castle Garden procured employment for 31,384 immigrants. 1889 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 52 520 This was followed by a report by Mr. Bateman, on the work of the Labour Bureau of the Board of Trade. 1941 Times 22 July 5/7 The large increase in industrial accidents which according to Labour Bureau statistics, were nearly twice as high in 1940 as in 1936. 2003 N. Nattrass in J. Daniel et al. State of Nation 143 Unemployed men crowded the rural labour bureaux in unprecedented numbers. labour camp n. a camp whose inhabitants are employed in physical labour; esp. a prison camp in which a regime of hard labour is enforced. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > penal settlement > labour camp labour camp1833 labour colony1857 work camp1877 1833 Times 20 May 3/1 Four other camps, to be called Camps de Travaux, or Labour Camps, will be established in La Vendée and the west, destined to form roads and bridges. 1900 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 11 May 510/1 Prisoners..might serve their time in..quarries, which would be turned into labour camps. 1958 Spectator 6 June 723/3 Recsk, one of the most abominable labour camps in the world. 2005 M. Lewycka Short Hist. Tractors in Ukrainian xxvi. 268 The labour camp at Drachensee was a huge, ugly, chaotic and cruel place. labour candidate n. (chiefly with capital initial) (in early use) a political candidate representing the general body of labourers or workers (see sense 10b); (later) a candidate representing an organized political Labour Party (see Labour Party n.). ΚΠ 1870 Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper 13 Feb. 6/4 London Alderman (who is now a candidate for Southwark against the Labour candidate). 1893 H. F. McLelland Jack & Beanstalk 16 You'd make a good Labour Candidate. 1963 J. Blondel Voters, Parties, & Leaders v. 136 Labour candidates are mainly drawn from the middle and lower middle classes. 2004 Sunday Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 4 July 91 She found that the values of Coalition candidates are much closer to the people who vote for them than Labor candidates are to Labor voters. labour class n. = working class n.; cf. labouring class n. at labouring adj. Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > working class working class1757 population1817 proletaire1833 proletariat1847 labour class1848 industrial proletariat1871 1848 Hogg's Weekly Instructor 1 45/2 A very large proportion of the whole population..belongs to the labour class, who are dependent upon wages for their living. 1891 Times 7 Sept. 7/5 He trusted that from the coming Local Government Bill there might spring great advantages to the labour classes of Ireland. 1935 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 180 103/1 Unemployment developed hatred and suspicion among the labor classes against the capitalists. 2007 S. Y. Gottlieb & H. Arendt Refl. Lit. & Culture 132 The dangerous illusion that somehow the despised bourgeoisie and the despising labor class were right and at home in this world. labour coach n. chiefly U.S. a person (often the father of the child or a friend or relative of the mother) who gives emotional support and practical help to a woman during childbirth; cf. doula n. ΚΠ 1964 De Moines (Iowa) Reg. 4 July 6/1 Husbands make fine ‘labor coaches’ when their wives are giving birth to a child. 1983 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 83 68/2 Pregnant teens are encouraged to bring a special friend or relative who will become a labor coach or support person during labor and delivery. 2002 P. Vincent Baby Catcher ii. 55 She attended many births as a labor coach, a person we now call a doula, and soon she was catching babies on her own. labour colony n. = labour camp n. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > penal settlement > labour camp labour camp1833 labour colony1857 work camp1877 1857 Daily News 27 Jan. 4/4 Better a convict labour colony on Dartmoor, than a convict penal settlement in the Falkland Islands. 1888 Charity Organ. Rev. Jan. 43 The Council would gladly see an experiment made in the form of a Labour Colony, to which unemployed townspeople might be sent for a time, and where they would be employed with a view to undertaking labouring work in a colony. 1934 Cape Times 12 Jan. 9/7 The ‘scollie’ boys could be rounded up and sent to labour colonies. 2000 Europe-Asia Stud. 52 1258 The Central Corrective Labour Administration of Compulsory Labour..directed correction and work houses and provincial and district labour colonies in rural areas. labour content n. chiefly Economics the quantity of labour required to manufacture a particular commodity, carry out a particular task, etc. ΚΠ 1948 Spectator 9 Jan. 38/2 Fine worsteds..have a high ‘labour content’, and raw material is a low item in the cost of their production. 2005 D. Harvey Brief Hist. of Neoliberalism (2007) v. 130 The only sectors where clear initial successes were recorded were in those sectors exporting goods with high labour content. labour cost n. chiefly Economics the cost incurred by employing labour (chiefly in plural). ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > for labour or wages labourage1715 labour cost1821 pay bill1828 wage bill1919 wage-price1946 wage cost1958 1821 T. R. Malthus Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. 104 But when cost is estimated upon the principles of Mr. Ricardo, by the quantity of labour applied, the labour cost and labour value scarcely ever agree. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 9 July 2/1 The imposition of such duties as will equalise our labour-costs with the labour-costs of our foreign competitors. 2003 E. Schlosser Reefer Madness ii. 83 One of the easiest ways to reduce labor costs is to keep workers off the books. † labour-fellow n. [after Hellenistic Greek συνεργός (see synergist n.)] Obsolete a fellow labourer. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > fellow-worker fellowOE labour-fellow1526 work fellow1526 yokefellow1526 fellow worker1534 yokemate1567 co-brother1590 workmate1763 butty1791 side-partner1845 deskmate1850 co-labourer1859 bobber1860 with-worker1884 society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun] > colleague or fellow-worker fellowOE consort1419 confrerec1425 companionc1523 labour-fellow1526 yokefellow1526 colleaguea1533 associate1533 adjunct1554 yokemate1567 colleagen1579 co-agenta1600 co-operatora1600 collateralc1600 co-workman1619 co-workera1643 partner1660 co-operatrix1674 co-agitator1683 co-adjoint1689 adjoint1738 side-partner1845 co-operatress1865 maugh1868 with-worker1884 society > faith > sect > Christianity > person > [noun] > fellow even-ChristianlOE labour-fellow1526 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Philipp. iv. 3 My labour felowes whose names are in the boke off lyfe. 1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Phil. iv. f. ix My labourfelowes [L. participes..laborum] in y^e gospell. 1557 Bible (Whittingham) 1 Thess. iii. 2 Timotheus..our labour felowe in the Gospel of Christe. Labour government n. a government formed by a Labour Party; (also, as a mass noun) government by such a group. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > a or the government > [noun] > other types of government regency1643 myriarchy1650 responsible government1782 charter-government1796 co-government1834 minority government1859 internationalism1879 minority rule1886 Labour government1892 provisional government1916 paepae1937 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Aug. 6/2 It was the fundamental duty of the Labour party to sit it opposition until they crossed the House to form a Labour Government. 1920 Manch. Guardian 5 Jan. 6/2 Could any conceivable Labour Government have made blunders so gross? 1949 Times 1 Dec. 4/3 The general desire of New Zealanders for a change after 14 years of Labour government..contributed largely to the National Party's victory. 2005 D. McWilliams Pope's Children vii. 101 The interface of middle England and under England which the Labour government is intent on privatising. labour hero n. (also with capital initial(s)) (chiefly in the People's Republic of China) a title awarded to a male worker in recognition of an exceptionally high output. [After Chinese láodòng yīngxióng (1938; < láodòng labour (see Labour Day n.) + yīngxióng hero ( < yīng flower, hero + xióng powerful person)), probably ultimately after Russian Geroj Truda, lit. ‘Hero of Labour’ (1927; also more fully Geroj Sočialističeskogo Truda, lit. ‘Hero of Socialist Labour’ (1938); both now historical).] ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > [noun] > maker or manufacturer > who exceeds production quota udarnik1931 labour hero1945 labour heroine1945 1945 G. Stein Challenge of Red China iv. xvi. 159 We wanted to know how Wu Men-yu had become a Labor Hero. 1979 China Now Jan.–Feb. 11/1 Several Chinese have reportedly received awards as labour heroes. 1998 I. Crook & D. Crook First Years Yangyi Commune xiii. 147 Wang Xi-tang like his father was both a farmer and a craftsman. When the Communists came to Ten Mile Inn he set his heart on becoming a Labour Hero. labour heroine n. (also with capital initial(s)) [after Chinese láodòng yīngxióng (see labour hero n.)] (chiefly in the People's Republic of China) a title awarded to a female worker in recognition of an exceptionally high output. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > [noun] > maker or manufacturer > who exceeds production quota udarnik1931 labour hero1945 labour heroine1945 1945 G. Stein Challenge of Red China xxv. 200 A young Labour Heroine whom I had interviewed on factory problems told me her life story. 1973 Times 12 Apr. ii. p. iii./6 She worked 12-18 hours a day from her childhood at a textile mill... After liberation, she..has become Labour Heroine in the benevolent bosom of President Kim II Sung. 2000 Population & Devel. Rev. 28 34 ‘Labor heroines’..were portrayed as role models for all women in China. labour house n. (a) poetic a laboratory; (b) a workhouse (now historical). ΚΠ 1712 R. Blackmore Creation iv. 169 Did Chymic Chance the Furnaces prepare, Raise all the Labour-Houses of the Air, And lay crude Vapours in Digestion there? When Nature is employ'd with wondrous Skill To draw her Spirits, and her Drops distil. 1778 J. Bentham View Hard-labour Bill 1 This Bill has two capital objects: 1st, To provide a new establishment of Labour-houses all over England. 1885 M. Arnold Poems III. 191 Somewhere, surely, afar, In the sounding labour-house vast Of being, is practised that strength. 1887 Times 10 Oct. 3/3 George Green, 20, was charged with stealing two coats and two bugles..from Dr. Barnardo's Youths' Labour House. a1924 M. Ghose Coll. Poems (1974) III. ii. 368 His forge, this labour house of being, His purpose to shape out Through flickering shadows, smoke and gloom. 2002 E. O'Sullivan in P. O'Mahony Criminal Justice in Ireland x. 185 One of the labour houses to be established for vagrants and other persons of bad character. labour-intensive adj. requiring a great deal of labour; characterized by this (see intensive adj. 5b). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [adjective] > laborious or toilsome > accomplished with much labour busy1448 laboured1566 elaborate1592 pumped1731 labour-intensive1928 1928 Jrnl. Farm Econ. 10 108 The Commission unequivocally favors larger farms, more extensive methods on the poorer land, but power and capital goods intensive, not labor intensive. 1976 New Society 10 June 562 The labour intensive character of the Post Office could be reduced with a more zealous drive to mechanize. 2001 R. G. Castro Chicano Folklore 218 Making tamales is very labor-intensive work and is usually performed by women. labour law n. a law relating to the rights and responsibilities of workers; (as a mass noun) the body of such laws. ΘΚΠ society > law > branch of the law > [noun] > other branches or departments of law military law1678 family law1728 administrative law1827 labour law1842 1842 Preston Chron. & Lancs. Advertiser 21 May I fear his advocacy of a labour law and his denouncement of rent laws will not be palatable to his employers. 1902 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 20 241 Labor laws, however good, cannot enforce themselves. 2002 Nation 2 Dec. 7/2 Call them temps, braceros, guest workers or seasonal employees, these workers have few legal protections and no rights under US labor law. labour leader n. (also with capital initial) (a) the leader of a labour group or movement; a representative of workers or employees; (b) the leader of a political Labour Party; a high ranking Labour Party official. ΚΠ 1872 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 64 It cannot be necessary to quote further from the writings of the labor leaders, to show what is the foundation of their hostility to ‘coined gold and silver’! 1924 Manch. Guardian 2 May 9/1 The Labour party and Labour leaders have always been divided upon the subject of P.R. [i.e. Proportional Representation]. 1995 Independent 9 Nov. 3/1 At the time of his election the Labour leader was portrayed as the ultimate Islington man. 2006 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Sept. a24/2 Other labor leaders are pushing an alternative known as ‘card check’, whereby paid union organizers, um, ‘persuade’ employees to sign pro-union cards. Labour-Liberal adj. (and n.) British Politics (in early use) of or relating to members of the labour movement acting in association with the Liberal Party; (later) of or relating to the Labour and Liberal parties, esp. with reference to any of various temporary alliances between these parties; also as n. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > other types of member burgessc1425 private member1606 recruiter1648 university member1774 unofficial member1822 labour member1871 Labour-Liberal1890 service member1890 front-bencher1907 back-bencher1910 shire-member1910 1890 Western Mail 8 Apr. 3/3 Mr. Morgan Weeks proposed..that the motion should be to form a ‘National Labour Liberal Organisation’, but this was opposed by Mr. W. Allen.] 1890 Leeds Mercury 3 Nov. 8/4 The most activity was displayed in the Lindley-cum-Quarmby Ward, where a Labour Liberal candidate was brought out by the Huddersfield Trades Union. 1904 Daily Chron. 7 Jan. 5/4 Two English Liberal Members (one Liberal and one Labour-Liberal). 1957 E. P. Lawrence Henry George in Brit. Isles xiii. 182 In the House, the tiny Labour-Liberal bloc could not hope to save the land taxes, but they were determined to humiliate the Government. 2004 J. H. Morrow Great War vii. 300 The Labour-Liberal victory of December 1923 that propelled Ramsay MacDonald into office. labour market n. the supply of available labour considered with reference to the demand for it; the sphere of action within which workers compete for jobs, and employers compete for workers (cf. job market n. at job n.² Compounds 2c). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] labour market1816 job market1917 1816 Times 13 Aug. 2/3 Thus, under improved management, the colony of New South Wales may afford the most efficient relief to our manufacturing and labouring poor, by drawing off superfluous hands from the labour market. 1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 160 There must be many a man..awaiting his release with some trepidation on account of uncertainty about his future in the labour market. 2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) xi. 233 In a new world of employment where the flexible labour market is god, people will go in and out of work, dependent upon the needs of the employer. labour movement n. (also with capital initial) the effort by organized labour to improve the rights and conditions of workers; the organizations and individuals involved in this. ΚΠ 1844 Northern Star & Leeds Gen. Advertiser 19 Oct. 1/1 Bound up as he is with the Labour Movement. 1922 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 102 78/1 What the American labor movement holds is that..we stand ready to give where we can give as freemen to freemen, with honesty on both sides. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax ix. 88 Her ignorance of Party matters, Labour Movements, working-class life. 2003 S. Roth Building Movement Bridges ii. 25 This working women's movement posed a challenge to the labor movement. labour note n. now historical a note indicating value in terms of work, for use as a medium of exchange in a system of cooperative labour exchanges (see Labour Exchange n. 1b). ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > promissory notes or bills of exchange > [noun] > voucher > specific kind of scrip1818 box top1820 labour note1831 punch-out1899 book token1932 record token1939 slop-chit1946 luncheon voucher1955 dinner card1963 1831 Times 13 Dec. 4/1 To receive provisions, clothing, and other property, to be exchanged on the equitable principle of labour for equal labour, through the medium of labour notes. 1949 A. E. Briggs tr. R. Rocker Pioneers of Amer. Freedom ii. 58 So-called labor notes, whose value was rated in terms of working hours, served as a medium for exchange—four labor hours equalling in exchange one customary dollar. 2007 P. North Money & Liberation iii. 45 Goods could be produced in return for labor notes, but could the income be spent? labour-only adj. designating or relating to a form of contracting in which the contractor supplies only the labour for a particular piece of work; (also) designating or relating to a contractor, company, etc., operating in this way. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > business affairs > [adjective] > of sub-contracting which supplies only labour labour-only1950 society > occupation and work > worker > employer > [adjective] > type of sub-contractor labour-only1950 1950 Times 16 Dec. 3/3 The piecework type of labour-only sub-contracting is liable to abuses. 1969 M. Gagg in R. Fraser Work II. 133 For the past seven years I have been a labour only sub-contractor. 2002 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 18 Mar. 3 He said labour-only carpenters were being paid between $25 and $26 an hour. labour pains n. pains experienced during childbirth. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun] > labour or pains cothec1000 throea1200 pining throesc1225 travailc1300 showera1350 paina1398 travailinga1400 throng1540 labouring1598 travail pang1652 travail pain1662 labour pains1703 mother-pain1709 mother-pang1710 breeding sicknessa1714 bearing pain1787 troublea1825 birth throe1837 1703 W. F. Divine Gram. 226 Putting Plaisters to her Breast tossing in Bed with a Neighbour, shewed A. of Labour Pains on't only that day. 1851 Lancet 2 Aug. 103/2 A full dose of opium given to induce repose will often excite efficient labour pains. 1988 Mother Apr. 21/1 Mums learnt to pant their way through labour pains. Labour Party n. (also with lower-case initial(s)) any of various political parties formed to support the interests of working people, often characterized by left-of-centre policies and strong ties with trade unions.From the mid 19th cent. labour party was used of and by various political groups seeking direct political representation for working people. The U.K. Labour Party was formed in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee, from a combination of trade unions and other left-wing political organizations. It became the Labour Party in 1906. The Australian Labor Party is Australia's oldest political party. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > a party > [noun] > types of party generally (in various countries) country party1648 war-party1798 Conservative Party1830 Progressive Party1830 national party1847 Labour Party1850 Nationalist Party1884 Social Credit1935 Third Force1936 third force1956 demandeur1966 People's Power1974 Green Party1977 society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > Labourism > Labour Party Lab1892 Labour Party1905 labour1906 1850 A. Alison Ess. Polit. Hist. & Misc. I. 473 All other countries which follow in any degree the example of the great parent republic, by the popularising of their institutions, will from the influence of the labour party, do the same. 1871 Manch. Weekly Times 30 Dec. 6/2 It was..resolved that the Spanish members [of the International Working Men's Assocation] should no longer abstain from politics, but that a labour party should be formed distinct from all existing parties. 1892 Roydhouse & Taperell (title) The Labour Party in New South Wales. 1896 Labour Annual 39 This [of 1895] was the first General Election in which an organized Labour party, independent of either Liberal or Tory, and opposing either or both, has taken part in the United Kingdom. 1905 J. R. Macdonald in W. T. Stead Coming Men 222 The Labour Party..will represent trades; it will represent the working class; it will represent a coherent body of fundamental Labour opinion. 1971 Sunday Austral. 8 Aug. 3/4 The Federal President of the Australian Labor Party..yesterday called on his party to dissociate itself from extremist students. 2006 Northern Echo (Nexis) 20 June 4 He joined the Labour Party at the age of 15 and served as..an Easington district councillor before he was selected for the new Euro seat of Durham. labour relations n. the relations between management and the workforce. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [noun] industrial relations1833 labour relations1858 production relations1892 1858 De Bow's Rev. Dec. 633 What races and what labor relations did it contemplate? 1943 J. S. Huxley TVA 116 The TVA's work in making a comparative survey of rates and conditions in all the fertilizer plants of the region, which helped materially in promoting better labour relations. 2000 N.Y. Times 17 Dec. iv. 3/1 The Railway Labor Act, the 74-year-old law that governs labor relations in the airline industry. labour-saver n. a labour-saving device. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > [noun] > for easing or eliminating work labour-saver1842 1842 Daily Whig & Courier (Bangor, Maine) 26 Apr. 2/1 They should roast an ox on the occasion of the introduction of this labor saver. 1929 A. Huxley Do what you Will 86 The machine..is..a labour-saver. 2006 Good Woodworking June 12/4 The worktop jig is something they learn at college, but the lock, hinge and letter plate jigs were the ones they reckon will be the true labour-savers. labour-saving adj. designed to reduce or eliminate the work necessary to achieve a task. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > saving effort labour-saving1791 society > occupation and work > equipment > [adjective] > for easing or eliminating work labour-saving1791 1791 E. Corrie Consideration Corn Laws 37 Manufacturers are increasing more rapidly than the progress of population, aided by labour saving machines, can sufficiently furnish hands to carry on. 1870 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. (1873) 1st Ser. 110 Only too thankful for any labor-saving contrivance whatsoever. 1964 M. McLuhan Understanding Media xvi. 161 The American farmer, confronted with new tasks and opportunities, and at the same time with a great shortage of human assistance, was goaded into a frenzy of creation of labor-saving devices. 2006 Fast Company Jan. 40/1 The 1950s version of the future focused primarily on labor-saving gadgetry with a ‘gee whiz!’ factor. labour secretary n. (frequently with capital initials) an official with responsibility for issues relating to employment, labour relations, etc.; spec. the U.S. cabinet member in charge of the Department of Labor (cf. secretary n.¹ 3a). ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > a or the government > government minister > [noun] > specific U.S. cabinet member labour secretary1892 1892 Econ. Jrnl. 2 749 The Labour Association..has within the last few years been incorporated under the superintendence of a labour secretary. 1913 N.Y. Times 27 Feb. 1/4 E.H. Farr may be Attorney General and Congressman Wilson new Labor Secretary. 1961 Newark Evening News 14 Mar. 24/1 Treasury Secretary Dillon and Labor Secretary Goldberg fell into line. 2005 Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 2 Dec. (Finance section) 17 The union put its request..to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which guarantees company pensions, and to the labor secretary. † labour-show n. Obstetrics Obsolete a discharge of blood-streaked mucus from the vagina (a sign of impending labour); cf. show n.¹ 23. ΚΠ 1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 73 Leucorrhea Nabothi. Labour-show. 1848 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 7) 629/2 One, two, or three days before labour, a mucous discharge, streaked with blood, takes place from the vagina, which is called the Signum,..Labour-show, or Show. labour spy n. U.S. (now historical) a person engaged in covert observation of the activities of fellow workers, esp. those belonging to a union. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > those involved in labour relations > [noun] > one who spies on fellow workers labour spy1903 the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > procedures used in spying > [noun] > private detection > person engaged in > employed by a business, etc. spotter1867 house detective1891 labour spy1903 1903 N.Y. Times 9 Aug. 3/2 Pursued by a crowd of angry strikers, an alleged labor ‘spy’ plunged into the Calumet River..to escape the angry men who were close at his heels. 1959 C. E. Bonnett Labor-Managem. Relations vii. 130 So long as there are strikes, detectives (labor spies and union spies) will continue to operate in some form or manner, legally or illegally. 2002 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 89 265/2 The Citizens Alliance..supplied employers with the necessary muscle.., intelligence (labor spies and blacklists), and financial and legal assistance to win almost any strike until the 1930s. labour-starved adj. lacking available workers; suffering as a result of the absence of labour. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > [adjective] > without workers labour-starved1873 workerless1906 1873 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Oct. 4/1 The dried-up, labour-starved owner of hundreds of broad acres seemed as much nonplused as English employers have been by Mr. Arch's strong utterances. 1898 J. Arch Story of Life viii. 183 Hundreds and hundreds of labour-starved acres. 1956 Times 14 Nov. 17/6 To maintain production in this labour-starved region. 1999 T. M. Barrett At Edge of Empire i. 6 The demands of their labor-starved economies forced them to shirk military service to attend to their farms and livestock. labour theory of value n. Political Economy (esp. in Marxist economic thought) the theory that the value of a commodity is influenced or determined by the amount of labour expended in its production (cf. value theory n. (a) at value n. Compounds 2). ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > specific theories or doctrines > value theory value theory1871 labour theory of value1888 imputation1893 1888 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 3 27 The criticisms passed by him..on such views as..the ‘labor theory’ of value, masterly as they often are..might have been used by economists like Wagner or Cohn. 1971 I. Deutscher Marxism in our Time (1972) i. 18 In the classical economy..Marx saw the main elements out of which he developed his own theory, especially the labor theory of value. 2000 Econ. & Philos. 16 39 The theoretical foundations of Genovesi's economics are significantly different from Smith's: Genovesi presents a subjective theory of value, in contrast to the labour theory of value used by Smith. labour time n. time devoted to labour; such time considered as a commodity or as a measure of value, effort, etc. ΚΠ 1832 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 4 Aug. Thinks he that it is of more consequence to cautiously regulate the labour time of English children, than to consult the feelings and interests of the entire Irish nation. 1887 Kirkup in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 212/1 The labour-time which we take as the measure of value is the time required to produce a commodity under the normal social conditions of production with the average degree of skill and intensity of labour. 1953 P. O. Steiner & W. Goldner Productivity ii. 5 Should the unit of input be one worker, or one hour of labor time, or one machine, or a ton of raw materials or a kilowatt hour of electricity? 2002 M. Desai Marx's Revenge v. 56 Capitalism was a new phase of world history, a new mode of production where, for the first time, labour time was ubiquitously bought and sold. labour turnover n. = turn-over n.² 6c. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > lack of work > [noun] > action or fact of vacating office > resigning or laying down office > proportion who leave work labour turnover1915 quit rate1926 turn-over1955 churn1977 1915 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 61 128 By labor turn-over is meant the number of hirings and firings in a plant and the relation which that bears in a year to the total number employed. 1989 Appl. Econ. 21 1465 This paper examines the determinants of labour turnover within an industry. 2006 Slavic Rev. 65 385 Due to the high rates of labor turnover and the general shortage of workers, factory administrators were reluctant to fire or otherwise punish their workers. labour union n. = trade union n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > working > association of employers or employees > [noun] > trade union covin1764 union1818 trade union1825 trades combination1831 combination1833 labour union1849 syndical chamber (occasionally union)1864 sindicato1936 1849 Northern Star & Nat. Trades' Jrnl. 27 Jan. 4/3 The Colliers' Union, which while in its strength was the most powerful Labour Union ever known in this country. 1944 H. A. Wallace Cent. Common Man 25 July 84 The people of America know that the second step towards Nazism is the destruction of labour unions. 2000 B. F. Reskin in M. S. Kimmel & A. Aronson Gendered Society Reader 258 When other groups, such as labor unions, amassed enough power, they modified the ‘market’ principle. labour ward n. a hospital ward set aside for childbirth. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > rooms for childbirth delivery room1793 labour ward1827 birthing room1925 1827 Lancet 29 Sept. 813/1 He may, if he be very diligent, and live, as it were, in the labour-ward, see a few of these complicated cases. 1933 A. W. Bourne et al. Queen Charlotte's Text-bk. Obstetr. (ed. 3) xiv. 266 No person is allowed in the hospital labour ward without a mask. 1991 D. Bolger Woman's Daughter (1992) 180 The mother died after two days in a coma. Her grandmother blamed it on her father for being in the labour ward where a man had no business. Labour Weekend n. (also with lower-case initial in the second element) New Zealand the long weekend at the end of October preceding and including Labour Day; cf. Labour Day Weekend n. at Labour Day n. Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > weekend > specific Labour Weekend1948 May two-four1991 May long1999 1948 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 22 Oct. 6 The tradition of wet Labour weekends. 1976 Sea Spray (N.Z.) Dec. 98/1 Opening of the season at Labour Weekend featured a mystery cruise in the Marlborough Sounds. 2004 Evening Standard (Palmerston North, N.Z.) (Nexis) 30 Jan. (Sport section) 36 Taupo also hosts a big event each year at Labour Weekend. labour yard n. now historical (a) a yard in a prison or workhouse in which the inmates carry out enforced labour; (b) a yard established as an alternative to the workhouse, in which the unemployed carry out manual labour in return for basic relief from poverty. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > yard > place of enforced labour labour yard1835 1835 Hagerstown (Maryland) Mail 4 Dec. 3/2 He was honored with a block chained to his leg, while he is in the labor yard. 1904 Times 23 Nov. 10/1 The Poor Law had no longer at its disposal the same means for dealing with the unemployed as formerly in connexion with either the workhouse or with the labour yard. 2000 G. Miller On Fairness & Efficiency xi. 308 In three months alone in 1843, about 40,000 healthy but unemployed men were put through the labour yards. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). labourlaborv. Brit. /ˈleɪbə/, U.S. /ˈleɪbər/ Forms: Middle English labir, Middle English labore, Middle English laborie, Middle English labory, Middle English labourne, Middle English labowre, Middle English labre, Middle English lobore, Middle English lobur, Middle English–1500s laber, Middle English–1500s laboure, Middle English–1500s labur, Middle English– labor, Middle English– labour, late Middle English babourde (past tense, transmission error), 1500s labyr; Scottish pre-1700 laboure, pre-1700 labowr, pre-1700 laubeir, pre-1700 laubir, pre-1700 laubour, pre-1700 lauboure, pre-1700 laubowr, pre-1700 laubur, pre-1700 laubyr, pre-1700 lawber, pre-1700 lawbore, pre-1700 lawboure, pre-1700 lawbre, pre-1700 lawbur, pre-1700 leber, pre-1700 lebre, pre-1700 1700s– labour, pre-1700 1800s lawbour, pre-1700 1900s– labor, pre-1700 (1900s– Shetland) lauber, pre-1700 1900s– laubor, pre-1700 1900s– lawbor, 1800s– laaber (Shetland), 1800s– labber, 1900s– laabour (Orkney). Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French labourer. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman laburer, Anglo-Norman and Middle French laborer, labourer, Middle French labeurer (French labourer ) to work, to exert oneself (a950 in Old French), to plough, to work the land (1119 or earlier in Anglo-Norman), to suffer (c1240 or earlier in Anglo-Norman), to be busy (with) (mid 13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman), to strive (towards) (mid 13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman), to produce (14th cent.), to suffer in childbirth (c1374), to work on (someone), to persuade (1436 or earlier in legal use) < classical Latin labōrāre to perform physical work, toil, to exert oneself, take pains, to be distressed physically, to suffer from strain, (of ships) to be in difficulties at sea, to be in trouble or difficulties, to be adversely affected (by), to suffer (from), to suffer from pain or disease, to be ill, to suffer the pains of childbirth, to be anxious or worried, to work or toil at, to till, to cultivate, in post-classical Latin also to travel (from 13th cent. in British sources), to harass (c1350 in a British source), to work on (someone), to persuade (1443 or earlier in legal use) < labor labour n. Compare Old Occitan laborar to work, to exert oneself (also laorar to plough), and also Catalan laborar (also labrar (16th cent.), llavorar (1378)), Spanish labrar (1207; also laborar (first half of the 15th cent. or earlier)), Portuguese lavrar (13th cent.; also laborar (a1583)), Italian lavorare (13th cent.), all earliest in sense ‘to work, to perform physical or mental labour’.In many of the Romance languages (e.g. French, Spanish, and Portuguese) the dominant sense of the word is now ‘to plough, to work the land’ (compare sense 1b), the wider sense of ‘to work, to perform physical or mental labour’ in those languages now being more usually expressed by the verbs cited at travail v. On the variation between -our and -or forms see discussion at labour n. 1. a. intransitive. To perform physical or mental labour; to exert oneself physically or mentally; to work, esp. hard or against difficulties (frequently at or on some task); esp. to do (usually manual) work, particularly in order to earn a living. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work hard or toil workeOE swingc1000 to the boneOE labourc1390 toilc1400 drevyll?1518 drudge1548 droy1576 droil1591 to tug at the (an) oar1612 to stand to it1632 rudge1676 slave1707 to work like a beaver1741 to hold (also keep, bring, put) one's nose to the grindstone1828 to feague it away1829 to work like a nigger1836 delve1838 slave1852 leather1863 to sweat one's guts out1890 hunker1903 to sweat (also work) one's guts out1932 to eat (also work) like a horse1937 beaver1946 to work like a drover's dog1952 to get one's nose down (to)1962 the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > toil sweatc897 swingc1000 swinkOE travailc1275 carka1350 tavec1350 to-swinkc1386 labourc1390 byswenke?a1400 tevelc1400 toilc1400 pingle1511 carp1522 moilc1529 turmoil1548 mucker1566 tug1619 tuggle1650 fatigue1695 hammer1755 fag1772 bullock1888 slog1888 to sweat one's guts out1890 schlep1937 slug1943 c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 117 (MED) We haue no lymes to labore [C text c1400 Huntington HM 137 ix. l. 135 laborie] with. c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 259 Þat Fisyk schal..beo Fayn..his Fisyk to lete, And leorne to labre wiþ lond leste lyflode Faile. c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 387 He..preyde hem to labouren in this nede And shapen þ^t he faille nat to spede. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 42 (MED) Theise folk..tylen not the lond ne þei laboure nought, for þei eten no bred. a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 142 (MED) This serche..hath be a digression ffrom the mater in wich we labour. a1475 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Harl. 875) (1867) A. vii. l. 26 I wol helpe þee to labore whil my lyf lastiþ. c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. l. 267 (MED) Rewlers of rewmes..Were..yffoundid..to laboure on þe lawe as lewde men on plowes. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 5862 He..Hade laburt so longe, hym list for to rest. ?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors xvi. sig. E2 He that laboryth not, let him not eate. 1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xlix. 4 I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought. View more context for this quotation 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 181 It is not enough, for a man to labour for the maintenance of his life. 1659 J. Fergusson Brief Expos. Paul to Galatians i. vii. 5 People, who are in hazard of seduction, or already seduced unto Error, are to be tendered, and by all means fervently to be laboured with, in order to their confirmation or recovery. 1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus 535 The Student has..laboured hard at the little Books together with the Register, which I take to be the best pointer out of original Lawes. 1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 111 Who Run..or else Dance so many hours to a Tune..when they labour as much as a Lancashire man does at Roger of Coverly. 1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. i. 23 You must be instructed and labour'd with to be a good Child. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. v. 336 We laboured indefatigably at getting in our water. 1763 J. Brown Diss. Poetry & Music v. 63 An Italian Castrato (who hath laboured at this Refinement through his whole Life). 1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives (1879) I. 239 Those who laboured at the oars. 1836 H. Rogers Life J. Howe (1863) iii. 67 The letters..serve to show, with what single-minded purpose, these great men laboured. 1867 All Year Round 6 July 33/2 The wretched man was to be taken at once to a stone-quarry..where he was to labour all day and be bound all night. 1895 Bookman Oct. 16/2 [He] labours hard over his proofs of the book. 1938 Life 6 June 19/1 He..spent a little on a girl who ‘two-timed’ him while he labored on the night shift. 1977 J. Knappert tr. Bantu Myths & other Tales vii. 175 He reached the hills and there he saw a strange sight: a silent army of workers labouring in the fields, hoeing all night, planting maize, clearing fields. 2007 P. Parsons City Sharp-nosed Fish iii. 39 At the quarries..the workforce (free, slave and convict) laboured under military guard. b. transitive. To work (land); to farm, cultivate, till, plough. Formerly also: †to work (a mine) (obsolete). Now archaic and poetic. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivate or till [verb (transitive)] begoc890 workOE tillc1200 exercise1382 dightc1400 labourc1400 manure1416 cultive?1483 tilth1496 culture1510 trim1517 dress1526 subdue1535 toil1552 use1558 farm1570 cultivate1588 tame1601 husbandize1625 culturate1631 to take in1845 society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)] minea1398 win1447 to work out1545 broach1582 labour1897 c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 503 (MED) To labor vyne watz dere þe date. 1481 W. Caxton tr. Siege & Conqueste Jerusalem (1893) viii. 29 They laboured no londe by eryng. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) viii. l. 1607 The abill ground gert laubour thryftely. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. clxxxviii. 223 The landes were voyde and nat laboured. c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xv. 97 The grond that i laubyr. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 197 He gaue her landes and steddings with seruandes to labour thame. 1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 82 To labor the Lords vineyard. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 18 Labouring the soile, and reaping plenteous crop. View more context for this quotation 1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) To Labour the Ground, is to manure the Ground by removing the Earth. 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 115. ¶5 The Earth must be laboured before it gives its Encrease. 1792 A. Young Trav. France 411 The English labourer..hazards much when he labours land for himself. 1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well III. ii. 19 The garden was weeded, and the glebe was regularly laboured. 1843 Knickerbocker June 513 They expended their strength in laboring the mine of vain philosophy, and wrought out many a shaft. 1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd ii. 140 Fair then was the son of Sigmund as he toiled and laboured the ground. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 3 Sept. 2/1 A claim must be properly laboured [for mining] by the owner or by someone paid by him. 1969 D. Du Maurier House on Strand i. 12 Throwing open the carriage window in the morning to see foreign fields fly by, villages, towns, figures labouring the land. 1999 N. Wood Vectors of Mem. vi. 158 The urban tradesmen amongst them were equally ill-suited to the physical demands of labouring the land. †c. transitive (reflexive). To occupy oneself in physical or mental labour. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself [verb (reflexive)] > with toil swinkOE travaila1393 laboura1413 toil1560 a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 1009 I mene as þough I laboured me in þis To enqueren which þyng cause of which þyng be. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. 108^v/1 Grete in contemplacion of heuenly thynges, and a tylyar in labouryng hym self. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. MMMii^v The more thou enforcest & labourest thyselfe in the begynnyng. a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) i. xix. sig. E.i Me thinke I doe you very much wrong to geue you occasion to labor your selfe so muche in matter of some study, with long talkyng at once. 1596 A. Munday tr. 1st Pt. Palmerin of Eng. xxiv. sig. H Syr (quoth the greene Knight) for what cause doo you labour your selfe in his search? 1652 C. Cotterell tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Cassandra iv. v. 31 Ah! Sir, (sayd I) is it possible that you should labour your self for the ruine of Arsaces who has so much honour'd you? 1746 Fool (1748) I. 356 Who have laboured themselves into a Knowledge of the dead Languages. 1811 Communications to Board Agric. VII. i. iii. 54 Giving them plenty of sweet (green saved) hay, they will (no doubt) do much better than ranging abroad in the cold, hungry fields, labouring and fatiguing themselves for food. 2. a. transitive. To work on (something); to produce, obtain, or construct by labour. Also occasionally with cognate object. Now archaic and rare. †to labour one's needs: to work for one's living (obsolete). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work for one's living to labour one's needsa1393 the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > produce with effort or difficulty laboura1393 force1551 constrain1607 screw1630 toil1671 to work up1675 scratch1922 the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [verb (transitive)] > perform with labour, toil at swinkc1175 travailc1384 laboura1393 ply1548 toil1552 sweat1589 belabour1604 drive1814 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 970 (MED) In an houre He lest al that he mai laboure The longe yer. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 6688 A man..That..wole but oonly bidde his bedis And never with hondes labour his nedes. c1450 tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Lyfe Manhode (Cambr.) (1869) 99 Litel rouht hire of spinnynge or to laboure oother labour. c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 4 Now haue I ymagyd and cast all myn hool werk of þis welle; which I schal laboure to ȝou lxxxix. dayes and v., ere it be performyd. ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 67 In eny other welle whiche hathe be laborede [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. trauailled wel ofte and souȝte þereafter, L. elaboratum] by diuerse kynges of Egipte. 1523 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 328 All manere goods and marchandis as shalbe labored, tracted, and adventured by ony of the inhabitants of this citie. 1553 J. Withals Shorte Dict. f. 11^v/2 Claye labored to make pottes. 1599 Master Broughtons Lett. Answered vii. 24 With this Rabbinicall rubbish..haue you laboured a lomie and sandie building. 1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 1 Whether it be by deuising any thing our selues, or reuising that which hath bene laboured by others. 1623 R. Whitbourne Disc. New-found-land 82 The other are to labour the fish at land, (of which sixteene) seuen are to be skilfull headders, and splitters of fish. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 124 They..labour Honey to sustain their Lives. View more context for this quotation 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 388 Anvils labour'd by the Cyclops Hands. 1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. viii. 317 A wond'rous Net he labours. 1775 T. Sheridan Lect. Art of Reading II. ii. 111 In vain to such readers has Milton laboured the best proportioned numbers in blank verse. 1830 Ld. Tennyson Poems 111 Love laboured honey busily. I was the hive and Love the bee. 1832 F. H. Standish Maid of Jaen 8 The diamond labour'd from the mine. 1925 Times 24 June 11/3 The relation of one thing to another is better preserved than if they [sc. a series of drawings and paintings] had been laboured separately. †b. transitive. With complement. To bring into a specified condition or position by labour or exertion. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [verb (transitive)] > bring into specific condition by doc1175 labour?c1500 force1551 work1599 mistake1667 worry1727 ?c1500 Mary Magdalene (Digby) l. 1823 Þer is a woman..þat hether hath laberyd me owt of mercyll. 1550 R. Crowley Way to Wealth sig. Av^v Loke if thou haue not laboured him oute of his house or ground. 1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge v. iii. sig. I3^v I haue beene labouring generall fauour firme. 1611 Second Maiden's Trag. (1909) v. ii. 74 Our armes and lipps Shall labour life into her, wake sweet mistres. 1615 T. Adams Spirituall Nauigator 34 in Blacke Devill Whiles he labours them to hell, winde and tide are on his side. a1617 P. Baynes Comm. Epist. First Chapter Paul to Ephesians (1618) iii. 43 Men must labour their hearts to a sense and feeling of the worth of the benefits. 1631 Earl of Manchester Contemplatio Mortis 12 To labour the eye to see darknesse. 1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. viii. 70 Drink..a good draught of your strongest beer..and then labour it out (as Ploughmen do). 1719 J. Breval Mac-Dermot iv. 33 What fruitful Fields my hapless Fathers lost, And Castles labour'd up with Princely Cost. 3. a. transitive. To employ or use in labour; to set or compel (a person or animal) to work; to use (the body or mind) in some work or activity. Now poetic. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > [verb (transitive)] > work animals labourc1405 pinea1425 jade1615 slave1699 drive1889 the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [verb (transitive)] > perform with labour, toil at > cause to toil labourc1405 the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > use or make use of [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person or animal > specifically the body, body parts, or the mind labourc1405 c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Shipman's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 108 I trowe..that oure goode man Hath yow laboured sith the nyght bigan. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 1085 The hors was passyng lusty and frycke because he was nat laboured a moneth before. c1500 Young Children's Bk. (Ashm. 61) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 19 A byrde hath wenges forto fle, So man hath Armes laboryd to be. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Deut. xxi. 3 A yonge cowe which hath not bene laboured, ner hath drawen in the yocke. 1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus i. f. 13^v A pastyme..where euery parte of the bodye must be laboured. 1611 Tarlton's Jests (1866) 215 My fore horse..being let bloud and drencht yesterday, I durst not labour him. 1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1298 This Idols day..Labouring thy mind More then the working day thy hands. View more context for this quotation 1726 N. B. Farrier's & Horseman's Dict. at Cholick The Antients used to give the Horse a Glyster..and to labour him after the Glyster. 1735 Sportsman's Dict. I. at Lesson Labour him in some gravelly and sandy place, where his footsteps are discernible. 1862 T. J. Graham tr. D. Barnstorff Key Shakespeare's Sonnets 95 What self-delusion on his part to labour his brains for invention to show his ego in all its beauty, when after all, it had been in the world before. 1872 Ld. Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 31 But Kay the seneschal who loved him not Would hustle and harry him, and labour him Beyond his comrade of the hearth. 1963 W. A. C. H. Dobson tr. Mencius in Mencius vi. 151 They passed on to us the principles of government based on fellow-feeling, having laboured their minds to the point of exhaustion in contriving them. 1994 J. D. Schmidt tr. Huang Zunxian Poetry xv. 223 Many renowned scholars of Tang and Song times Wrote stacks of commentaries on these classical books. They labored their minds for us lucky latecomers. †b. transitive. To wear down by exertion; to cause to become fatigued; to tire. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > weariness or exhaustion > weary or exhaust [verb (transitive)] wearyc897 tirea1000 travailc1300 forwearya1325 taryc1375 tarc1440 matec1450 break1483 labour1496 overwearya1500 wear?1507 to wear out, forth1525 fatigate1535 stress1540 overtire1558 forwaste1563 to tire out1563 overwear1578 spend1582 out-tire1596 outwear1596 outweary1596 overspend1596 to toil out1596 attediate1603 bejade1620 lassate1623 harassa1626 overtask1628 tax1672 hag1674 trash1685 hatter1687 overtax1692 fatigue1693 to knock up1740 tire to death1740 overfatigue1741 fag1774 outdo1776 to do over1789 to use up1790 jade1798 overdo1817 frazzlea1825 worry1828 to sew up1837 to wear to death1840 to take it (also a lot, too much, etc.) out of (a person)1847 gruel1850 to stump up1853 exhaust1860 finish1864 peter1869 knacker1886 grind1887 tew1893 crease1925 poop1931 raddle1951 1496 Treat. Fysshynge wyth Angle in Bk. St. Albans (rev. ed.) sig. hv Yf it fortune you to smyte a grete fysshe wyth a smalle harnays: thenne ye must lede hym in the water and labour him there tyll he be drownyd and ouercome. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 13490 A tempest hym toke..Þat myche laburt the lede er he lond caght. 1632 J. Featley Honor of Chastity 25 I will not labour your eares with the many and vulgar arguments to prove a God. 1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xviii. 331 So may his Rage be tir'd, and labour'd down; And Dogs shall tear him, e'er he sack the Town. 4. a. intransitive. To strive or endeavour strenuously to accomplish, bring about, or do something; to exert oneself for an end. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > to bring about or gain laboura1425 pumpa1639 a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 7620 This man to serue you laboureth And clepith you his freend so deere. c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Add. MS.) xxviii. 196 Where that was cissime and debate amonge any, he labored for to make accorde, that good accorde shold be had. 1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xviii. lxxxvii. sig. ffiij^v/1 They..labouren to helpe eche other wyth all theyr myghte. c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) l. 847 Laboryng the Seruyce of God to Multyply. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Aiiii^v They laboured..to knowe the natures of thynges in this worlde. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxx. 7 I laboured for peace. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Macc. iv. 7 Iason the brother of Onias laboured to be hye prest. 1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 198 Is nane of ws..bot laubo^ris ay for vþeris distructioun. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. iv. 131 They which saile from West to East, labour alwaies to be out of the burning Zone. 1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxii. 4 I will weepe bitterly, labour not to comfort me. View more context for this quotation 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. ii. 192 For your Highnesse good, I euer labour'd More then mine own. View more context for this quotation 1682 J. Dryden Mac Flecknoe 11 When false Flowers of Rhet'rick thou wouldst cull, Trust Nature, do not labour to be dull. 1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 95. ⁋4 True Affliction labours to be invisible. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. vi. 93 I laboured to become chearful. 1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice II. xvii. 201 Most earnestly did she labour to prove the probability of error. View more context for this quotation a1862 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) III. v. 387 Water is constantly labouring to reduce all the inequalities of the earth to a single level. 1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §3. 371 Parker was labouring for a uniformity of faith and worship amongst the clergy. 1914 W. S. Churchill Let. 23 Apr. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) iv. 84 I have systematically laboured to reduce them to good order & discipline. 1957 E. Dahlberg Sorrows of Priapus i. 12 Few labor for anything else but to exchange their sexual properties with blowsy dowds. 1999 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Aug. 191/1 Patricia labored to become a political power in her own right, co-founding..Show Coalition, a sort of political-education-forum for the film community. b. transitive. In early use: †to press or prosecute (a writ or legal case) (obsolete). Later: to strive, endeavour, or exert oneself to bring about or accomplish (an end or outcome); esp. to work hard for (a cause). Now archaic and rare.In early legal use often associated with sue (see sue v. 10). ΘΚΠ society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > accusation, allegation, or indictment > charge, accuse, or indict [verb (transitive)] > bring (a charge or accusation) bringc1000 presenta1325 pretend1398 labour1439 pursue1530–1 subsume1601 1439 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 118 (MED) I woll Elysabeth Keston haue iiijxx marke paid to Norman Waschebourne for her mariage; And yef he gruche therwith, the mater so to be laboryd and sewyd that he be constrayned ther to do hit. 1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 40 If ony wil laboure the contrarye. 1484 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 42 Ye forsaid forged and untrue testimonyall, shewed [perh. read sewed] & labord by ye said Richard Davis. 1523 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 328 If ony such parson..shall sue or laboure ony such writte. 1597 F. Bacon Ess. Ep. Ded. sig. A3 These fragments of my conceites were going to print. To labour the staie of them had bin troublesome. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. sig. E4 Two things I must labour, That neither they vpbraid, nor you repent you. View more context for this quotation 1617 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 3) v. vii. 589 The Mother of Echebar..laboured a peace, but not preuailing, fell sicke. 1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. xviii. 199 [She] laboured his cause day and night. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Oxf. 325 When Shot-over Woods..were likely to be cut down, the University by Letters laboured their preservation. 1680 J. Dryden Kind Keeper ii. i. 16 Is this a Song to be sung at such a time, when I am labouring your reconcilement? 1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Third 20 And labour that First Palm of noble Minds, A manly Scorn of Terror from the Tomb. 1793 E. Burke Observ. Conduct Minority in Two Lett. Conduct Domestick Parties (1797) 11 How much I wished for, and how earnestly I laboured that re-union. 1826 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India (ed. 3) II. iii. iv. 417 In labouring the ruin of Nujeeb ad Dowlah. 1926 R. H. Tawney Relig. & Rise Capitalism iv. 219 Expelled from the world of fact, where it had always been a stranger and a sojourner, it survived in the world of ideas, and its champions in the last half of the century laboured it still the more. †5. a. transitive. To advocate (a matter) strenuously. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 88 (MED) Bifore al þingz be it laboured [L. laboret] þat þe akyng be cessed. 1477 T. Kela in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 436 Þat ȝe schuld labur þe mater to my maistur. 1536 R. Taverner tr. P. Melanchthon Confessyon Fayth Germaynes Pref. f. 4 ^v Accordyng to thoffyce of your maiestie ye wolde diligently laboure the matter with the byshope of Rome. 1543 T. Becon Invect. against Swearing f. xix^v Howe depely do menne of lawe sweare vnto theyr Clientes, yat they haue laboured theyr matters earnestly to the Iudges, whan many tymes they haue not spoken one worde. 1616 F. Cottington in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 183 Much it is laboured there that he should come as ordinary, and not for a small time. 1691 W. King State Protestants of Ireland ii. 143 When King James came to the Crown, they reckoned they had gained their Point, and did not fail to labour it with all possible Industry. b. intransitive. To use one's influence in putting forward a request, obtaining something desired, etc.; to make an entreaty or solicitation to a person. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > request > make a request [verb (intransitive)] > to, of, or upon someone clepec825 cryc1290 to pray (one) of a boon1393 to call on ——a1400 to seek on (also upon)a1400 to call upon ——c1405 sue1405 supplicate1417 peala1425 labour1442 to make suit1447–8 supply1489 suit1526 appeal1540 apply1554 incalla1572 invocate1582 beg1600 palaver1859 society > authority > power > influence > have influence [verb (intransitive)] > exert influence labour1442 to make labour1603 influence1670 to make interest1709 to weigh in1909 1442 in J. Raine Corr., Inventories, Acct. Rolls, & Law Proc. Priory of Coldingham (1841) 137 (MED) Sir Alexandre..com to me in his propre person and labourd to haffe had graunt to him of the said bailyery. 1472 in J. B. Sheppard Let. Bks. Monastery Christ Church Canterbury (1889) 257 (MED) Speke unto our Soverayn Lord the Kyng..he wull graunte that we may labur to the Court of Rome to be dischargid of the said chantry. 1533 T. More Apol. viii, in Wks. 860/2 If I desired a manne to geue me a thynge, and laboured muche to hym therefore. a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 236 He laboured to the Pope to have a dispensation. 1577 R. Holinshed Hist. Eng. 270/1 in Chron. I His coosen..which was about to labour to the king for his pardone. c1613 ( in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 31 I have receaved from you diverse letters..that I shold labour to Sir John Pilkinton, to labor to my lord of Glocester or to the king. c1613 ( in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 51 This day com Wylliam Plompton to labor for Haveray Parke. 1641 T. Heywood Life of Merlin x. 81 She was ready to undergoe any triall whatsoever, to give the World satisfaction of her innocence, who laboured to the King that their cause might have a just and legall hearing. c. transitive. To endeavour to influence or persuade (a person); to urge, entreat, petition. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > request > request or ask for [verb (transitive)] > urge or importune depressc1400 nurnc1400 pressc1440 labourc1450 instancea1513 instanta1513 importune1530 to lie at, upon1535 apply1559 urge1568 importunate1574 ply1581 to put on ——?a1600 flagitate1623 besiege1712 earwig1804 bone1856 tout1920 S.O.S.a1936 opportune1941 c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 143 (MED) Þis clerk laburd hur so att sho promysid hym att he suld lyg by hyr. 1461 J. Berney in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 242 Tudynham, Stapylton, and Heydon, with theyr affenyte, labur the Kyng and lordes vnto myn hurt. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lv. title The butterflie..fleeth into the tree: laboring the flies to haue the ant heerd speake ere he die. c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) ii. iii. 83 [He] labored the kinge..ernestly for theire pardons, and obteyned. 1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1225/2 He was laboured and solicited dailie by wise and learned fathers, to recant his diuelish & erronious opinions. 1598 E. Spenser in Wks. (1882) I. 539 The landlords..began..to labour the Erle of Tireone vnto theire parte. 1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 604 He began cunningly to labour diuers of the noble men one by one. 1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 119 Yet would not the French King deliver him up to King Henry (as hee was laboured to doe). 1625 Let. in G. W. Johnson Fairfax Corr. (1848) I. i. 8 Sir Francis Cooke and Sir Edward Letch are labouring my Lord of Arundel. 6. †a. transitive. To burden, overwhelm, oppress, distress. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict overharryeOE aileOE swencheOE besetOE traya1000 teenOE to work (also do) (a person) woeOE derve?c1225 grieve1297 harrya1300 noyc1300 travailc1300 to work (also do) annoyc1300 wrath14.. aggrievea1325 annoya1325 tribula1325 to hold wakenc1330 anguish1340 distrainc1374 wrap1380 strain1382 ermec1386 afflicta1393 cumbera1400 assayc1400 distressc1400 temptc1400 encumber1413 labour1437 infortune?a1439 stressa1450 trouble1489 arraya1500 constraina1500 attempt1525 misease1530 exercise1531 to hold or keep waking1533 try1539 to wring to the worse1542 pinch1548 affligec1550 trounce1551 oppress1555 inflict1566 overharl1570 strait1579 to make a martyr of1599 straiten1611 tribulatea1637 to put through the hoop(s)1919 snooter1923 the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)] heavyc897 pineeOE aileOE sorryeOE traya1000 sorrowOE to work (also do) (a person) woeOE angerc1175 smarta1200 to work, bake, brew balec1200 derve?c1225 grieve?c1225 sitc1225 sweam?c1225 gnawc1230 sughc1230 troublec1230 aggrievea1325 to think sweama1325 unframea1325 anguish1340 teen1340 sowa1352 distrainc1374 to-troublea1382 strain1382 unglad1390 afflicta1393 paina1393 distressa1400 hita1400 sorea1400 assayc1400 remordc1400 temptc1400 to sit (or set) one sorec1420 overthrow?a1425 visit1424 labour1437 passionc1470 arraya1500 constraina1500 misgrievea1500 attempt1525 exagitate1532 to wring to the worse1542 toil1549 lament1580 adolorate1598 rankle1659 try1702 to pass over ——1790 upset1805 to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823 to put (a person) through it1855 bludgeon1888 to get to ——1904 to put through the hoop(s)1919 the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > types or manners of hindrance > hinder in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > encumber > burden charka1300 chargec1308 cark1330 liea1400 labour1437 onerate1453 endossa1500 onera1500 laden1514 load1526 aggravate1530 lay1530 honorate1533 ladea1538 burden1541 ballast1566 loaden1568 degravate1574 aburden1620 pregravate1654 comble1672 1437 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Jan. 1437 §38. m. 1 He wolle begynne a newe feyned suite ayen, so supposyng to laboure the seid suppliants insenytly [read infenytly] by untrue suites. 1482 Monk of Evesham 19 Sore labouryd with gret febulnes and wekenes. 1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 240 The drede of god, by whiche she was ful sore laboured, & troubeled. 1596 Z. Jones tr. M. Barleti Hist. G. Castriot vii. 287 The daunger would be much greater and more to be feared, if hee should come and finde them wearied and sore laboured. 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xviii. 700/1 Nature being sore laboured, sore-wearied and weakned. b. intransitive. To be burdened, distressed, or overwhelmed, as by disease, pain, etc.; to struggle under some disadvantage or defect. Frequently with under. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] tholec897 pinea1225 steada1300 endure1340 to well in woea1350 labourc1450 concernc1592 to have a good (bad, etc.) time (of it, formerly on it)1647 to have the wind in one's face1649 to be on (also at) the receiving end1909 to feel the draught1925 to have (one's) ass in a sling1960 to be in lumber1965 the mind > emotion > suffering > suffer mental pain [verb (intransitive)] tholec897 throwOE smarta1200 pinea1225 to well in woea1350 painc1350 labourc1450 to fight sore at heart1490 tear1666 the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] > fall ill > be brought near to death starvec1330 labourc1450 c1450 Speculum Christiani (Harl. 6580) (1933) 48 (MED) When a ryghtful man laborez in the laste seknes to dye [L. in extremis agit]. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 345 Lawberand [v.r. laubourit] in mynd thai had beyne all that day. 1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 15^v No maruaile..if the eye in dolour labouryng, this Muscle sometyme be affected also. 1586 Indictment in Scott's Minstr. Scot. Bord. (1869) 457 That the bishop of St. Andrews laboured under sindrie diseases, sic as the ripples. 1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 106 Whereby vnprofitable marishes were drained..and such places relieued as laboured with the penury of waters. 1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 87 This our shaken Monarchy, that now lies labouring under her throwes. 1644 J. Bulwer Chirologia 15 Speech labours of a blinde crampe, when it is too concise, confused or obscure. 1662 H. More Coll. Several Philos. Writings (ed. 2) Pref. general xi Men of very excellent spirits may labour with prejudice against so worthy an Authour. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 118 The wheasing Swine With Coughs is choak'd; and labours from the Chine. View more context for this quotation 1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §83. 95 The Visive Faculty..may be found to Labour of two Defects. 1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 267. ¶3 Aristotle himself allows, that Homer has nothing to boast of as to the Unity of his Fable... Some have been of Opinion, that the Æneid also labours in this particular. 1714 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements (rev. ed.) Pref. P. Herigonius; whose Method..seems in my Opinion to labour under a double Defect. 1769 Bp. W. Warburton Lett. (1809) 434 I was then labouring on my old rheumatic disorder. I have not yet got rid of it. 1786 S. Henley tr. W. Beckford Arabian Tale 197 From time to time, he laboured with profound sighs. 1862 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. II. iv. 110 If he laboured under a perpetual toothache. 1863 Dublin Rev. Oct. 531 He works himself up to them with a solemnity under which his usually pleasant and graphic style labours into pomposity. 1890 Glasgow Herald 28 Aug. 4/6 The prose portion labours under the same monitorial disease though to a less degree. 1918 R. V. Dolbey Sketches East Afr. Campaign 68 But they made light of their troubles, as they learnt the difficulties we laboured with. 1958 New Statesman 11 Jan. 29/1 Whatever handicaps Mr. Macmillan labours under as Prime Minister, they do not include the death-wish; he is still jauntily determined to win the next election. 2005 D. Simonis et al. Spain (Lonely Planet) (ed. 5) 34 Castile and Aragón laboured under ineffectual monarchs from the late 14th century until the time of Isabel and Fernando. c. intransitive. With under. To act upon, or be misled by, a mistaken belief or assumption. ΚΠ 1663 R. L'Estrange Toleration Discuss'd ii. 8 I do not take every Error of Conscience to be a sin (understand me, of Consciences labouring under an Invincible Ignorance.) 1671 E. Fowler Design Christianity iii. xxi. 236 Whatsoever mistakes we may labour under, they can be none of them such as will undo our souls. 1714 R. Steele Let. to Member of Parl. 28 May 15 The Question is not whether he is mistaken; he labours under that Mistake. a1742 A. Snape Forty Five Serm. (1745) vii. 218 Those gross Mistakes and Misapprehensions, under which we laboured, are now entirely rectified. 1809 M. A. Shee Elements Art i. 41 When we..elevate the barren stores of inert erudition above the fruitful acquirements of active science and philosophy; we..labour under the influence of literary superstition. 1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago III. vi. 171 You are labouring under an entire misapprehension. 1874 J. C. Geikie Life in Woods (ed. 2) xvi. 275 The poor fellow was only labouring under a delusion. 1920 Huon Times (Franklin, Tasmania) 19 Mar. 3/4 I have known dinkum diggers to labor under the impression that they were poets when they were merely sundowners. 1957 A. E. Stevenson New Amer. II. i. 33 I do not want to assume..power under any false pretenses nor do I want you to labor under any misapprehensions. 1998 R. Curtis et al. Blackadder: Whole Damn Dynasty p. xi He saw little future in the Ancient Britons, a race who laboured under the fatal misconception that painting themselves blue would in itself be enough to defeat organized troops. 7. a. intransitive. To move or travel, esp. laboriously, with great exertion or difficulty. Also transitive: to move or carry with great difficulty. Usually with adverb or preposition of direction. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ society > travel > [verb (intransitive)] > toilsomely swinkc1175 labourc1438 toil1563 jaunt1575 strivea1586 tug1619 swog1637 hag1728 flog1925 to lame-duck it1943 trog1984 the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > move or go slowly [verb (intransitive)] > slowly or with difficulty labourc1438 work1474 c1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) ii. 234 (MED) Owr Lord sent leeuyn, thundyr, & reyne ny al þe tyme þat þei durst not labowryn owtward. a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlii. l. 82 Nasciens that In the se was Abrod, Vpp and down labowred. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 4814 Þai babourde [read labourde] vp a-gayn þe lift an elleuen dais. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xxiv. 34 The kynge..retourned agayne into Englande, and laboured so longe that he came to Wyndesor. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 600/2 This horse is nat very fayre, but he laboureth well on the waye,..il chemine bien. 1611 Bible (King James) Josh. vii. 3 Let about two or three thousand men goe vp,..and make not all the people to labour thither. View more context for this quotation 1697 R. Blackmore King Arthur i. 157 The strongest Winds their Breath and Vigor prove. And thro' the Heav'ns th'unweildy Tempest shove. O'ercharg'd with Stores and Heav'ns Artillery They groan and pant and labour up the Sky. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 98 Sisyphus that labours up the Hill The rowling Rock in vain. View more context for this quotation 1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. xii. 458 He poiz'd, and swung it round; then toss'd on high, It flew with Force, and labour'd up the Sky. 1780 J. Thistlethwaite Corruption ii. 20 Still labouring onward with unblushing face, Cover'd with Infamy and black disgrace. 1836 Fraser's Mag. Apr. 437/1 My horse grew sensibly tired with his difficult and irregular progress; but generously laboured on. 1866 C. T. Brooks Our Land & Its Memories 86 Fades each fair vision with a puff of steam, As onward still we labor up the stream. 1877 L. Morris Epic of Hades i. 3 The stream Which laboured in the distance to the sea. 1934 H. Roth Call it Sleep iii. v. 319 She shuffled toward a nearby house and labored slowly up the stoop. 1970 J. Dickey Deliverance 124 We hauled and laboured away from the creek between the big water oak trunks. 1993 Event Summer 73 The square of rock that I carried was abysmally heavy. I laboured it up the winding path, stopping to catch my breath and my free-falling fears. 2004 C. J. Box Winterkill xxii. 189 The truck labored up the hill as well, sliding a little in loose shale and kicking out puffs of dislodged rock. b. intransitive. Of a ship: To pitch or roll heavily at sea. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > pitch and roll travaila1393 totterc1400 walterc1400 labour1587 senda1625 to bruise the water1836 stagger1840 pant1869 to walk turkey1888 pound1903 slam1958 1587 W. Bourne Arte of Shooting in Great Ordnaunce 53 in Mariner's Mirror (1987) 73 202 Any Shippe that doth heave, and set never so sore, doth hang as though she were uppon an Axiltree, there labouring least, except she doth seel or roule. 1615 W. Keeling Jrnl. (1971) 63 Our too much kintledge goods makes us labour. 1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ix. 40 We say a ship doth Labour much when she doth rowle much any way. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. x. 104 The ship laboured very much in a hollow sea. 1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto II xli. 139 The ship labour'd so, they scarce could hope To weather out much longer. 1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxv. 82 The ship was labouring hard under her top-gallant sails. 1922 A. Cherry-Garrard Worst Journey in World II. ii. 29 When the ship was labouring the task of those on the pump was not an enviable one. 1990 E. H. Daniels Eagle Seamanship (ed. 3) vii. 149 Sail should be reduced if the ship is laboring. †c. intransitive. To make little progress in a matter; to encounter obstacles or hindrances. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > progress or advance in an action [verb (intransitive)] > make only slight progress labour1736 to scratch the surface (of)1915 1736 S. Chandler Hist. Persecution iv. v. 360 This Job was labouring for three Years space, and at last obtain'd by Laud's Influence on the King. 1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (ed. 2) iii. 360 A petition of Capt. Hutchinson and others labored, although their title was originally derived from the Indian sachems and proprietors, and the lands had been long possessed. d. transitive. to labour one's way: to make one's way laboriously or with difficulty. ΚΠ 1754 E. Lewis Ital. Husband iii. iii. 27 We perceived an Hern, With long expanded wings, labouring her Way Across the liquid Air. 1812 Ipswich Jrnl. 17 Oct. 4/3 When at length the crowd had slowly laboured their way into the hull, they found other difficulties. 1832 New-Eng. Mag. Dec. 459 Suppose this calamity befalls a man who has labored his way near to the summit of improvement. 1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xxiii. 231 Laboring our way with great difficulty upon the ice-belt. 1957 J. G. Randall Mr. Lincoln (new ed.) xiii. 302 A Tribune correspondent, Henry E. Wing, with great difficulty labored his way through to Grant. 2005 Wales on Sunday (Nexis) 17 Apr. 18 Sure, we had Ian Woosnam carrying the flag, but what a sad figure he struck as his bad back forced him to labour his way to a back-marker finish. e. intransitive. Of an engine: to work noisily and with difficulty, esp. to power a vehicle up a steep gradient. ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [verb (intransitive)] > of an engine: work noisily and with difficulty labour1827 society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > fly [verb (intransitive)] > (of engine) work noisily up steep gradient labour1985 1827 London Jrnl. Arts & Sci. 13 95 There are many instances where immediately before one of these terrific explosions had taken place, the engine laboured. 1853 N.-Y. Daily Times 26 Jan. 4/4 A magnificent steamer set down in a shallow creek, where the paddles only stir up the mud and the engine labors away in vain. 1923 Times 2 Jan. 6/5 I turned the corner..on to Amersham Hill..and without a change defeated half the hill without the engine labouring. 1960 W. Percy Moviegoer i. vi. 50 Overhead a motor labors. 1985 R. L. Harrison Aviation Lore in Faulkner 114 At the onset of the stall, the controls go slack and the engine labors vainly to keep the machine climbing. 2002 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 11 Feb. (Home Forum section) 22 In the lowest gear, engine laboring, climbing very slowly, we hauled the trailer up and up and up the steep highway out of Death Valley. 8. a. transitive. To work at or consider laboriously or painstakingly; to give careful thought to; (in later use esp.) to work out in excessive detail; to over-elaborate. Now chiefly: to explain or discuss (a point, issue, question, etc.) at excessive length. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > take care about [verb (transitive)] > take pains with paina1400 labourc1449 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > be copious [verb (intransitive)] > dwell on a point stick1533 labour1797 c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 91 So preciose and vnlackeable occupacioun to be had and laborid among hem. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Pref. 13 b Verai fewe studentes dooe vse to reade and laboure any one autour in any one particuler facultee or disciplyne. 1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. E2 ^v It is no vpright conclusion to say whatsoeuer is long laboured, is lowsie and not worth a straw. 1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Zz3^v Science of Gouernmente, which wee see is laboured and in some parte reduced. View more context for this quotation a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. xi. §4. 317 Which point, hee..hath laboured exactly, with much finenesse and subtility. 1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. lii The Invention of the New-River-Water was much labour'd. 1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 92. ⁋12 These lines, laboured with great attention. c1750 W. Shenstone Solicitude 29 How the nightingales labour the strain. 1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 787 Th' accomplished plan That he has touch'd, retouch'd, many a long day Labor'd, and many a night pursued in dreams. 1797 E. Burke Lett. Peace Regic. France iv, in Wks. (1842) II. 357 Though he labours this point, yet he confesses a fact..which renders all his labours utterly fruitless. 1833 H. Ellis Elgin Marbles II. xii. 225 In a single figure parts are often highly laboured. 1863 C. C. Clarke Shakespeare-characters x. 254 The reason why the poet has so laboured the character of his hero. 1892 A. J. Balfour Speech in Standard 11 Apr. 3/5 I do not desire on the present occasion to labour this proposition. 1942 Times 22 May 5/7 It is not necessary to labour the point of which everyone is aware. 1972 J. B. Keane Lett. Irish Parish Priest 12 What's the point in labouring the issue. 2003 J. Caplan Coaching for Future ii. 26 You laboured the point a bit too much, I feel, by getting them to keep repeating their agreement. †b. transitive. Of an organ of the body: to produce or form from other substances. Cf. elaborate v. 2. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > fashion, shape, or form i-schapeOE shapeOE markc1330 forge1382 kneadc1400 frame?1518 fashion?1553 labour1578 appropriate1594 to shape out1600 elaborate1611 produce1611 moulda1616 fabric1623 coin1627 timber1646 laborate1662 condition1853 1578 J. Banister Hist. Man vii. f. 92 The hart, within this inuolucre closed, beyng the fountaine of vitall heate, and perfector of vitall spirites, after they are laboured in the lunges..is also the originall roote of all Arteries. 1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 373 In the cauity of this ventricle the vitall spirits are laboured. 1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) ii. vi. 96 The Heart..is the fountain of Life and labors the vital Spirits. 9. intransitive. Of a woman: to undergo childbirth; to be in labour; = travail v. 3. Also figurative and in figurative contexts.Also occasionally of other mammals. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (intransitive)] > suffer the pains necessary to create labour1454 the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > be confined [verb (intransitive)] > be in labour travailc1330 labour1454 the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > be confined [verb (intransitive)] > give birth kenc1000 childc1175 beara1382 labour1454 to cry out1623 parturiate1649 pup1708 to fall in two1788 accouche1819 to have one's bed1848 pip1973 to put to bed1973 1454 T. Denys in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 86 Aftir she was arestid she laboured of hir child that she is with-all. 1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. K iv Yf a woman dronke it, the chylde sholde dye, and she sholde laboure before her ryght tyme. 1544 Letanie in Exhort. vnto Prayer sig. Bviii All women labouryng of chyld. a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. i. 130 But my Muse labors, And thus she is deliuer'd. View more context for this quotation 1653 Parish Reg. Finghall, Yks. (MS.) Baptised Elizabeth the daughter of John Parke of Wensley, whose wife laboured at Burton in her journey homeward. 1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 22 Here, like some furious Prophet, Pindar rode, And seem'd to labour with th' inspiring God. 1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 33 But then men dreamed the agèd earth Was labouring in that mighty birth. 1921 Vet. Med. 16 56/1 If the fetus is in the vertebro sacral position as the sow labors try to get the index or middle finger in the pig's mouth. 1974 R. Passmore & J. S. Robson Compan. Med. Stud. III. xl. 16/1 In Scandinavia many women labour without any analgesia. 1995 Today's Parent Aug. 55/1 Alysia has been labouring since midnight, Ted riding the waves of contractions with his wife. 10. †a. transitive. To beat, rub, knead, mix, etc.; esp. to manipulate (a substance) so as to bring to a desired consistency, shape, or condition. Cf. work v. 31a. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > rubbing or friction > rub [verb (transitive)] gnidec1000 frot?c1225 gnoddec1230 rudc1300 ruba1325 wipe1362 freta1400 labour?a1475 wrive1481 scrud1483 chafe1526 friga1529 fricace1579 perfricate1598 affricate1656 fricate1716 frictionize1853 the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a substance labour?a1475 verberate1657 ?a1475 Noble Bk. Cookry in Middle Eng. Dict. at Labouren Put ther to the flesshe mynced dates, clowes..yolks of eggs, and draw them throughe a strener and labour it to gedure welle. 1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. av^v Take y^e white of an egge, & labur thessame in a sponge. 1544 Bk. Chyldren in T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe (new ed.) sig. d.vi Labour the sope and the rosewater wel together. 1544 Bk. Chyldren in T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe (new ed.) sig. e.ii^v Redde coralle..hanged about the necke, whervppon the chylde shuld oftentymes labour his gummes. 1569 R. Androse tr. ‘Alessio’ 4th Bk. Secretes iii. 25 Boyle them, laboring them with the spatter. 1607 G. Markham Cavelarice ii. 79 As he trotteth, labor his contrarie side with the calfe of your leg. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Wales 6 Take to every six Gallons of water one Gallon of the finest Honey, and put into the Boorn, and labour it together half an hour. 1702 R. Neve Apopiroscopy i. 82 Mingle a little Lampblack, with Oil, and do your Work over with it and then to fetch this off, labour and rub it well with a fine Cloth. 1792 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina (new ed.) v. 144 They labour and beat the dense air; they form the line with wide extended wings. b. transitive. To strike with repeated blows; to beat, thrash. Cf. belabour v. 2. Now Scottish. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > beat heavily or severely pounda1325 batter1377 pellc1450 hatter1508 whop1575 labour1594 thunder-beat1608 behammer1639 thunderstrike1818 sledgehammer1834 pun1838 to beat to a pulp1840 jackhammer1959 1594 R. Carew tr. J. Huarte Exam. Mens Wits xiii. 211 The Asse..if he be laboured with a cudgell, he setteth not by it. 1645 H. Slingsby Diary (1836) 177 Our horse did so fast labour y^m w^th their longe tucks y^t they could not endure it. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 115 Take..a plant of stubborn Oak; And labour him with many a sturdy stroak. View more context for this quotation 1824 G. Smith Home's Douglas 112 'Twas but the last week that I labour'd a birkie. 1876 W. Brockie Confessional 185 The turkey's labbert a chicken to dead. 1901 N.E.D. (at cited word) Mod. Sc. He took a stick an' laubor'd or labber'd the beast terrible wi'd. 1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 45/1 His faider laabered da boy for what he was fit. c. transitive. In the First World War (1914–18): to bombard and devastate (an area of ground) with bombs or shells. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > operate (artillery) [verb (transitive)] > bombard ding1548 to lay battery to1548 cannon1567 thunder1590 cannonade1637 bombard1686 bomb1694 shell1827 plonk1874 plaster1914 bump1915 labour1915 water1915 barragea1917 paste1942 stonk1944 1915 Times 30 Jan. 9/7 Here and there through the wood a tree has been broken off by a shell, and on the bare side the whole flank is laboured by big projectiles. 1915 G. Adam Behind Scenes at Front 105 The ground is laboured deeply with every form of high explosive, and terrible in its desolation and upheaval. 1916 Times 3 July 8/6 Nothing now remains but a heap of upturned earth laboured by shell. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.c1300v.c1390
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