labour1 nounlabour2 verb
labourlabour1 British English, labor American English ●●○ S3 W3 AWL noun 
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Large-scale growth in this type of farming is limited by the climate and the high cost of labour.
- Many women do all the work in the home, and their labour is unpaid.
- Marx defined the working class as people who sell their labour to employers.
- One of the horses had gone into labour while the farmer was away.
- Our produce prices cannot compete with those of Spain, with its cheap labour and sunshine.
- The labour force is growing at a rate of 4% a year.
- Deskilling is symptomatic of the way in which a worker's labour is taken possession of by the capitalist.
- His Milton and Dante fetch pathetically small sums in comparison with the labour and skill they cost.
- In practice, the conditions for perfectly competitive labour and product markets do not apply.
- Overaccumulation meant there was insufficient labour to keep old plants going, so they had to be scrapped.
Longman Language Activatorto have a baby
· Having a baby changes your life completely.· After my wife had the twins, we were struggling financially for a while.· Our dog had six puppies while we were away on vacation.
to have a baby - use this especially to talk about the actual process of doing this: · Zelda was admitted to the hospital at one o'clock, and gave birth two hours later.give birth to a child/daughter etc: · When Pablo was three, his mother gave birth to a daughter.
to have a baby for the first time: · Rachel was looking forward to becoming a mother.become the mother of a son/twins etc: · Nine months later she became the mother of a son, who was named George.
the process of giving birth: · Most women have some kind of pain relief during childbirth.die in childbirth (=die while giving birth): · Samuel's mother died in childbirth, and he was brought up by his aunt.natural childbirth (=without drugs, medical operations etc): · Natural childbirth has become more popular over the last 20 years.
British /labor American the whole process of giving birth, from the time when the baby starts to be pushed out of its mother's body: · When Connie realized that her labor was starting, she quickly phoned both her husband and doctor.in labour: · Sara was in labor for sixteen hours with our first child.go into labour (=begin the process of giving birth): · One of the horses had gone into labour while the farmer was away.
the process of giving birth, especially when the birth is helped by doctors and nurses: · A hospital is usually the best place for a safe delivery.· Meg was recovering from a particularly complicated delivery.
the effort involved in working · David tries to avoid work at all times.· It seems to be an awful lot of work to keep this place looking tidy.hard work · Finally, I would like to thank all the staff for their hard work this year.· My daughter gained her grades through sheer hard work and determination.put work into something · His last few speeches had been awful, and he knew he had to put more work into them.· Phil has had the car for two years and has put hours of work into it.a considerable/huge/immense etc amount of work · A considerable amount of work was necessary to establish even this basic framework.· The students have put a huge amount of work into the scheme.good/sterling work (=used to say that the effort someone has made is good) · Well done Peter -- keep up the good work.· I hope you'll join me in paying tribute to the sterling work done by the committee this year.
the physical or mental energy that is needed to do something: · It seemed like a lot of effort for a very small gain.· His last piece does require some effort from the listener, but it's well worth it.with effort: · He mounted the slope with effort, breathing hard.a waste of effort: · I could have told you it would be a waste of effort.put effort in/into something: · After all the effort I put in, they had better be satisfied!· Vicki has hardly put in any effort, yet she's expecting the same rewards as everyone else.take/require effort: · This exercise isn't difficult - it shouldn't require much effort.· The former method takes a bit more effort, but the results are more reliable.be (well) worth the effort (=use this when the energy you use is worth using, because the result is good): · Children are hard work, of course, but worth the effort.· The climb is arduous, but well worth the effort, as the views from the top are spectacular.time and effort: · I've spent a lot of time and effort getting this far. I'm not giving up now.
British /labor American hard physical work, such as digging, lifting, or cleaning: · Many women do all the work in the home, and their labour is unpaid.· Marx defined the working class as people who sell their labour to employers.manual/physical labour: · You don't look as if you could do physical labor.farm/agricultural labour: · rising opportunities in agricultural labor in the North
the hard work and loyalty that someone gives to an organization, activity, or piece of work, because they really care about it and believe in it: · Thanks to your energy and commitment, the fundraiser was a great success.commitment to: · Your commitment to the project is very much appreciated by management.total/absolute/full commitment: · He is adamant that he wants total commitment and effort in the build-up to the match.· Lawrence promised full commitment in his drive to make Santa Barbara College the most successful school in the region.
all the people who work in a company, organization, or country all the people who work in a company, organization, school etc: · The staff were clearly worried about rumours of job losses.library/office/hospital/security etc staff: · Our library staff will be happy to help if you are unable to find the book you want.· Ford is looking for part-time sales staff.join the staff: · In 1998, she joined the President's personal staff in the White House.
all the people that work in a country, industry, or large organization: · Women make up 41% of the workforce.· Cook began his cost-cutting campaign by getting rid of a third of his workforce.
British /labor American all the people that work in an industry or country, especially people whose jobs involve working with their hands, in factories etc rather than managing other people: · Large-scale growth in this type of farming is limited by the climate and the high cost of labour.skilled/unskilled labour (=people who have or do not have special skills): · Many industries are reporting a shortage of skilled labor.labour force (=all the people who work or are available to work in a particular country or organization): · The labour force is growing at a rate of 4% a year.cheap labour (=people whose wages are very low): · Our produce prices cannot compete with those of Spain, with its cheap labour and sunshine.
the people employed by a particular company, organization etc - used in official or business contexts: · In the event of a fire, all personnel must report to the reception area.· One of her responsibilities is recruiting highly trained personnel.
all the workers that an employer or a country has available to do work: · The police say they don't have sufficient manpower to patrol the area.· At the time there was a major shortage of trained manpower in computer science in the US.manpower levels/resources/shortages etc: · The Commission was set up to look at the management of the manpower resources of the National Health Service.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meaning 2ADJECTIVES/NOUN + labour
the traditional division of labour (=the way that particular tasks are shared) between husband and wife I’m looking forward to retirement and having time to enjoy the fruits of my labour (=the results of my hard work). The doctor decided to induce labour. low-paid manual jobs People in manual occupations have a lower life expectancy. There is greater mobility of labour (=movement of workers) between jobs and areas. The region has a large and talented labour pool. a high degree of labour turnover among women companies employing unskilled labour (=people who have no special training) Union members will vote on whether to withdraw their labour (=stop working).COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
· Employers want to keep skilled labour because of the cost of training.
(=workers who have low wages)· Women and children were used as cheap labour.
(=workers who do jobs that are not permanent)· The industry makes use of a large supply of casual labour.
· The shoe company was accused of using child labour in its factory.
· Cotton was grown using slave labor.
labour + NOUN (=all the people who work in a country or for a company)· We need an educated labour force.
(=all the people available to work)· What was the effect of the war on the labour supply?
(=the people looking for work and the jobs available)· the percentage of women in the labour market
· Immigrants came into the country to fill the labour shortage.
· There was pressure to keep down labour costs.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES British English, child labor American English (=the use of children as workers)· The garments were made using child labour.
· They had to pay £30,000 in legal costs.
British English, a labor-saving device American English (=that reduces the amount of work you have to do)· Modern houses have so many labour-saving devices.
the traditional division of labour (=the way that particular tasks are shared) between husband and wife I’m looking forward to retirement and having time to enjoy the fruits of my labour (=the results of my hard work). The doctor decided to induce labour. low-paid manual jobs People in manual occupations have a lower life expectancy. British English, migrant labor American English (=work done by migrants)· Many farms rely on migrant labour.
There is greater mobility of labour (=movement of workers) between jobs and areas. (=work without being well-known)· After years of working in obscurity, his paintings are now hanging in museums.
British English, labor pains American English (=felt by a woman at the time she is having a baby)· Becky was at work when labour pains began.
British English, belabor the point American English (=keep saying something)· I don’t wish to labour the point, but why didn’t you just tell me?
The region has a large and talented labour pool. (=a shortage of people to do work)· During the war, there was a severe labour shortage, so women began doing jobs they had never done before.
a high degree of labour turnover among women companies employing unskilled labour (=people who have no special training) Union members will vote on whether to withdraw their labour (=stop working).· He works as a helper on building sites, casual, low-paid labour.· Even in certain labour markets, for example casual day labour, the price of labour can move apparently very freely.· Arrangements were made to obtain contributions from employers of casual labour who might have more than one employer in any week.· Unlike casual labour, skilled workers were heir to a tradition of militancy.· He subsisted on welfare, on charity and on casual labour.· Even now it is the magnet that draws the rural peasants and small businessmen looking for work and casual labour.· It covered predominantly skilled and organized workers while the casual labour problem and that of juvenile labour was untouched.· Moreover they could always use family labour or import casual labour to carry out any essential work.
· An economist would say this is the market working: cheaper labour means more jobs.· One response to this decline in the dynamism of Fordism was the geographical decentralization of production in search of cheaper labour.· It's not another source of free or cheap labour.· It provided employers with a cheap labour force.· The peasant economy provides a reserve of cheap labour for capitalism and so contributes to capital accumulation.· The result was that what had been a small-sized cheap labour force became a large well-paid labour force.· A trend had already been set in textiles, where the comparative advantage of cheap labour was becoming important.· Poorer countries are simply a resource for big business-cheap labour, cheap dumping grounds, cheap plunder.
· Indeed, there is little differentiation by class at all in domestic divisions of labour.· Housing mirrors the isolated and privatised nature of domestic labour and reinforces each self-contained family unit.· The domestic division of labour Despite the rise in female employment, women today perform the majority of tasks within the household.· At present domestic labour is organisationally inefficient because it is not socialised like the industrial sphere, which counterbalances increased productivity through mechanisation.· Second, women and men have different responsibilities accorded to them in the domestic division of labour.· The onus of domestic labour leads to an abbreviated educational career and thereby reduces women's chances of getting proper wage labour.· Furthermore, the balance of the domestic division of labour does not seem to be related to the work done by men.· The present nature of housing can not be fully understood without relating it to the nature of domestic labour.
· There is some evidence of modest influences, among many others, of the female labour market on family building patterns.· The increasing division of labour in potting pioneered by Wedgwood also used female labour for patterning and decorating.· Part-time female labour is particularly important.· The basis of flexibility is disproportionately shouldered by female patterns of labour force participation.· These preliminary results suggest the desirability of looking beyond the female labour market for an adequate characterization of economic influences on fertility.· This analysis shows how sensitive these measures are to varying assumptions about unemployment and female labour for Participation.· The guild also contributed regularly to investigations undertaken by the Labour Department of the Board of Trade into female labour.· Until they are, female labour at half rates will have a dangerous effect on the printing trade in general.
· It can be argued that forced labour has not ceased but merely changed its form.· These were State enterprises, engineered by the military, and using convict and forced labour.· A forced labour camp, they call it.· Consequently, they were to be subjected to forced labour to pay the equivalent.· They were executed or sentenced to long periods of forced labour.· In 1769 1,375 people were at work on it, many of them prisoners at forced labour.
· It's not another source of free or cheap labour.· The other thing to note is the cost of parts in deals which offer free labour.· Steps towards free movement of labour have been taken by use of mutual recognition of many vocational qualifications.· Comparative land values indicated the superiority of free labour.· The abolition of serfdom would therefore be a necessary precondition of free labour mobility.· What landlords needed for the booming export economy was better transport, credit, free labour and even machines.· It was considered self-evident that it was in the general national, indeed imperial, interest to move towards free labour.· They applaud the free movement of capital; they abhor the free movement of labour.
· And hard labour ... the railway navvies remembered by a rock band.· Charged with obscenity the magistrates gave them six months hard labour each.· Workers who lose their jobs are sent to farm camps, along with bureaucrats doing two weeks' hard labour.· The Vote reported one incident of child assault in Surrey, where a man was sentenced to only four months hard labour.· However, an extra month's hard labour made good the loss.· Theo took a shorter journey-to Wormwood Scrubs, where he did four months' hard labour.· This meant having to work in hard labour, alongside her husband and possibly children, in order to support her family.· The man who refused to take part was court martialled, cashiered and sentenced to a year's hard labour.
· This is particularly so for those involved in repetitive, unskilled manual labour.· Action with a scraper and wire brush, using manual labour, would give the desired result.· Women are systematically excluded from top managerial and professional jobs, as well as from skilled manual labour.· He devised a compromise: the most arduous manual labour was eliminated, while safeguarding jobs.· No photographer has better described manual labour in the heavy industries, or the settlements in which these industries are sited.· Workers who once did strenuous manual labour picking wood for the grinders now sit at computer terminals.· The monk's daily routine was to be restored to one of manual labour, study and prayer in equal parts.· At the second stage, consciousness became separated from practical action through the division of mental and manual labour.
· It says it can not get or keep skilled labour.· Bronzes are created by building sand moulds of a plaster original, in itself a skilled and labour intensive job.· In July, 16 % of respondents said lack of skilled labour was likely to limit output.· Chief executive Arno Bohn told me that securing skilled labour for its Stuttgart plant was no problem.· Plants in such areas tend to be less innovative, their technologies are older, and they employ less skilled labour.· Such an economy was highly dependent on a vast mass of skilled labour and a greater horde of the lesser skilled.· Employers also wished to retain skilled labour to recoup their investment in training costs.· Women are systematically excluded from top managerial and professional jobs, as well as from skilled manual labour.
· That is, where unskilled labour prevailed there was chronic want and deprivation.· If they are wanted at all they are probably wanted in large numbers and to be made in a hurry by unskilled labour.· This is particularly so for those involved in repetitive, unskilled manual labour.· Here over half the total workforce was unskilled, and here resided nearly half the borough's pool of unskilled labour.· The shift from the main traditional occupation, agriculture, to unskilled labour, was considerable.· It was an industrial structure weighted heavily toward the use of semiskilled and unskilled labour.
NOUN· The labour camp itself was supplied from the straits.· In the rush not to be left behind, scruples about starvation and labour camps are forgotten.· A forced labour camp, they call it.· Alexander Solzhenitsyn held much of his work in his mind while he was in a labour camp.· The bleak prospect of the labour camps, slavery in Siberia?· Before you know it, you're freezing your boots off in a Siberian labour camp.· It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps.· Thousands of members have since been detained in labour camps.
· Britain's industrial revolution made ample use of child labour.· He said that we have become complacent about child labour, and that the situation is much worse than it appears.· Ever heard of them using child labour, cutting down the rainforest or destroying local hi-fi shops?· They are close to agreement on one to regulate child labour.· This labour legislation included laws governing female and child labour, improvements in working conditions and social security provisions.· This era of child labour in the factories was the most manifestly exploitative.· There was no concept of industrial safety, no minimum wage, no law against child labour.
· The reduction in labour costs has certainly been significant.· Note under this option the labour cost will be nil because labour is currently available but idle.· Throughout the last two decades labour costs have increased, in general, more rapidly than end-product prices.· Those firms within the Community which employ labour illicitly will reduce their labour costs and gain a competitive advantage in production.· Actually, it is rather surprising that the labour cost hasn't gone up more, especially in view of the national rates.· This has gone up in virtually the same proportion as the labour cost.· Low labour costs have resulted in the Far East emerging as a major spectacle-making region of the world.· Commerce will change drastically as materials and labour costs are removed from the equation.
· If the growth of labour costs exceeds that of productivity, the profit share is squeezed.· Throughout the last two decades labour costs have increased, in general, more rapidly than end-product prices.· Those firms within the Community which employ labour illicitly will reduce their labour costs and gain a competitive advantage in production.· The beginnings were slow and limited to a few sectors where differences in labour costs were important.· These expenses would be offset by a reduction in unit labour costs.· It is technical advance also which is increasingly removing the natural advantages of countries with low labour costs.· For many companies this can mean a saving of up to 10% per year on energy, maintenance and labour costs.· Devaluation makes an enterprise more competitive by reducing its labour costs measured in foreign currency.
· Almost three-quarters of the male labour force were manual workers and most of the non-manual workers were shopkeepers and publicans.· Needs are always related back to capitalism's demand for the social reproduction of its labour force.· It creates a cheap labour force, but it's a top-down approach.· By 1986 two-thirds of the labour force worked outside agriculture.· The revolution of 1905 had made plain the disruptive power of the industrial labour force.· This encourages parents to have more children, increasing population growth, impoverishing families and preventing women from joining the labour force.· Both manual and non-manual occupations make up the labour force in service industries.· Success in operation will depend on the goodwill of the labour force as there is a collective rather than personal incentive.
· Older people who remain active in the formal labour market will be in receipt of earnings from employment.· Central to the research, therefore, is the study of redundancy in the context of how labour markets adjust.· We shall continue to develop our model of the labour market.· It is necessary to abolish this distorting influence on the labour market.· In contrast, discrimination against black students occurs at the initial entry stage into the labour market.· I introduced above the idea of a managerial labour market in the context of the salary package setting procedure.· However, this survey also found that women spent less time out of the labour market rearing children than is often believed.· The Secondary Labour Market An important part of this secondary labour market is composed of what are known as flexible workers.
· The introduction of the Resettlement Transfer Scheme in 1948 was the beginning of post-war labour mobility policies.· Efficiency With labour mobility, inefficiency can arise from fiscal spending in different localities.· Clearly the labour mobility programmes have transferred fewer workers than the number of jobs created by regional policies.· The abolition of serfdom would therefore be a necessary precondition of free labour mobility.· Firstly, harmonisation of national policies, especially in areas where it offers obvious advantages, e.g. labour mobility.· This ties health insurance to employment, which impedes labour mobility and is unfair to the self-employed and unemployed.· This is another indication that regional and labour mobility policies are not always in conflict with each other.· Because labour mobility between industries ensures that wage rates are equated in the two industries.
· The policies and attitudes of the autocracy virtually ruled out the emergence of a moderate, reformist labour movement.· They decided to call upon the support of the rank and file of the labour movement.· To remedy this weakness that is the next task before the labour movement.· But later on she did not seem to have any contact with feminist organisations, which the labour movement dismissed as bourgeois.· In the labour movement, Ruiters' concerns have been given concrete expression.· Unemployment was the most important problem facing the labour movement.· In proposing a ban on strikes, the Soviet leadership therefore wished to nip the incipient labour movement in the bud.· Hence, there was considerable tension within the labour movement as to the desirability of state welfare.
· This is no coincidence: accelerated accumulation, combined with labour shortage, was the basic cause of the profits squeeze.· Real wages had to rise somewhere if less efficient plant was to be scrapped and the labour shortage contained.· Boston employers are facing an acute labour shortage with potentially serious consequences for economic growth.· This divergence would be most easily explained by a rising population and a consequent labour shortage.· The money wage increases which workers won exceeded those required to generate enough scrapping to ease labour shortage.· Major problems facing the diversification plan included a lack of infrastructure and a labour shortage.· However, the co-existence of unemployment and labour shortage in different places is a cost to the whole society.· The labour shortage served to drive wages up by 6.4 percent, against productivity growth of only 3.4 percent.
· It also mentioned the increasingly documented use of slave labour and the routine torture of prisoners and detainees.· The industry is desperate to shake off the allegation that the chocolate sold in the West may be tainted by slave labour.· The canals linking the city to St Petersburg in the south were built by slave labour in Stalin's days.· An end to child abuse and slave labour?· Boat people, refugee camps, people-smugglers, slave labour and much of the world's poverty are the result.· This was only one of the disadvantages of a slave labour force.· With slave labour they were cheaper to build than it was to provide the necessary lead or bronze piping for alternative means.· Without slave labour the plantations of sugar and cotton could not have been as rapidly developed.
· However, we might pause to speculate how the above formulation of the Keynesian labour supply function came about.· Training and Education Inner-city policy has, on the whole, not related to questions of labour supply.· Concern for the welfare of the workers, or labour supply, changed.· During the war, Phillip worked for the government, helping with labour supply for munitions factories.· Suppose that the labour supply function has the form.· In contrast, this ratio does not seem to have played much of a direct role in explaining rising aggregate labour supply.· It all depends on the elasticity of labour supply.· Capital shortage was a closely inter-related problem with labour supply.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► somebody’s laboursPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► the labour movement
- But for Mavis Hindmarsh and her team of volunteers furniture removal is a labour of love.
- But then it was a labour of love.
- Compiling such a list was a labour of love - too pleasurable an activity to pursue in office hours.
- David Croft and Jimmy Perry's sitcom was a labour of love.
- For Joan it has been a labour of love and provides an amusing and detailed insight into medicine in the town.
- It is a labour of love by Professor A. G. Toth and primarily for specialists.
- Male speaker It's a labour of love looking after Dinmore.
- Mervyn Gowell was a fitter at the plant and says that working on the Meteor was a labour of love.
- A forced labour camp, they call it.
- All the Luftwaffe crews who've ended up in Ireland have been put in prison camps.
- Even so there remain causes for concern in the Labour camp.
- I was in a friendly country and was less effectively guarded than I ever would be in a prison camp.
- More than 13,000 boat people in three Hong Kong detention camps demonstrated against forced repatriation on Nov. 11-12.
- Of these, 55,000 were to be punished either by receiving prison sentences or by being sent to labour camps.
- The men were unloaded in the reception area at Long Kesh Detention Camp and placed in cubicles.
- Then he was chosen, with another senior officer, to run the Athi River Detention Camp.
- And the labour market is the invisible global bazaar where survival-life itself-is traded for work.
- By focusing on wage profiles it is possible to show contrasts between different segments of the labour market.
- For some who can work, corporate downsizing and increased competition in the job market have led to self-employment.
- How do I re-enter the job market after being a full-time mom?
- However as she grows older, and perhaps re-enters the labour market, domestic tasks are shared more equitably.
- I first entered the job market more than 30 years ago.
- In particular, the real wage will adjust spontaneously soas to prevent the emergence of excess supply in the labour market.
- This trend is likely to continue, restructuring the job market into two distinct tiers.
WORD FAMILYnounlabourlabourerverblabour
1work [uncountable] work, especially physical work: The garage charges £30 an hour for labour. Many women do hard manual labour (=work with their hands). Workers withdrew their labour (=protested by stopping work) for twenty-four hours. → hard labour2workers [uncountable] all the people who work for a company or in a country: a shortage of skilled labor We need to reduce our labour costs.3baby [singular, uncountable] the process of giving birth to a babyin labour Meg was in labour for ten hours. Diane went into labour at 2 o'clock.a long/short/difficult labour The labour pains were unbearable.labour ward/room (=a room in a hospital where women give birth)4a labour of love something that is hard work but that you do because you want to5somebody’s labours formal a period of hard work: After several hours' gardening, we sat down to admire the results of our labours.COLLOCATIONS– Meaning 2ADJECTIVES/NOUN + labourskilled/unskilled labour· Employers want to keep skilled labour because of the cost of training.cheap labour (=workers who have low wages)· Women and children were used as cheap labour.casual labour (=workers who do jobs that are not permanent)· The industry makes use of a large supply of casual labour.child labour· The shoe company was accused of using child labour in its factory.slave labour· Cotton was grown using slave labor.labour + NOUNthe labour force (=all the people who work in a country or for a company)· We need an educated labour force.the labour supply (=all the people available to work)· What was the effect of the war on the labour supply?the labour market (=the people looking for work and the jobs available)· the percentage of women in the labour marketa labour shortage· Immigrants came into the country to fill the labour shortage.labour costs· There was pressure to keep down labour costs.labour1 nounlabour2 verb
labourlabour2 British English, labor American English ●○○ AWL verb [intransitive] VERB TABLE
labour (BrE)
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | labour (BrE) |
| he, she, it | labours (BrE) | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | laboured (BrE) |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have laboured (BrE) |
| he, she, it | has laboured (BrE) | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had laboured (BrE) |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will labour |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have laboured (BrE) |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am labouring (BrE) |
| he, she, it | is labouring (BrE) | |
| you, we, they | are labouring (BrE) | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was labouring (BrE) |
| you, we, they | were labouring (BrE) | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been labouring (BrE) |
| he, she, it | has been labouring (BrE) | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been labouring (BrE) |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be labouring (BrE) |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been labouring (BrE) |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Sheffield is a city where steel-workers once laboured in their thousands.
- Shipman was seated in his office, labouring over his paperwork, when I came in.
- The goal was just what the team needed, at the end of a game in which they had laboured hard to overcome Chelsea.
- At the bottom of the scale, the majority were untouchables, labouring on the land.
- Because I feel any attachment to this city or this world where I have laboured?
- From Sunday lunch-time to breakfast today, their mountain of prevaricating committees have laboured without bringing forth even a mouse.
- She rested now and then under the shade of the cypresses and watched other tourists labouring in the heat.
- You have laboured up an unending hill with heavy feet which are swollen, sore and tired.
Longman Language Activatorto emphasize something too strongly
to emphasize something too much: · I think the book overemphasizes the importance of religion in the history of the US.
British /belabor the point American to emphasize an idea or a fact too strongly, especially by repeating it often so that people get bored: · I understand what you're saying -- there's no need to labour the point.· I don't want to keep belaboring the point, but the Barnes Foundation is an educational institution, not a museum.
to talk too much about a particular thing also keep on British especially spoken to keep talking or complaining about something, in a way that is annoying or boring: go on about: · I wish you'd stop going on about how expensive everything is.· Lucy keeps on about little things that happened in the past until I want to scream.go on and on (=keep talking for a long time): · He went on and on until we were all practically asleep.
to keep mentioning something in a way that other people find annoying: · Stop harping on the weather - we can't change it.harp on about: · If you harp on about their bad habits too long, the kids will just stop listening.
British /belabor the point American to express the same idea again and again with the intention of making it clear, but with the result that people get bored: · Everyone agrees with what you said - there's no need to belabor the point.· If the students aren't listening it may be because the teacher is labouring the point too much.
to talk to a group of people you are with, giving your opinions or telling a story in a way that does not let other people have a chance to talk - use this when you think the situation is slightly humorous: · Grandma was holding forth as usual, retelling all the old family stories.hold forth about/on: · Tom was in the corner, holding forth about the economic situation.· After a few drinks, he would hold forth for hours on government conspiracy theories.
to work hard to work hard when you are doing your job, your schoolwork, or anything that takes time and effort: · Bruno had been working hard in the kitchen all morning.· I wouldn't mind working so hard if they paid us more.
to work hard because you think something is important and you want to do it well: · Stella had obviously put a lot of effort into her assignment, and got a good grade.· The company puts a great deal of effort into training its staff.
to try hard to improve something or to improve the way you do something: · The only way to be successful in athletics is to really work at it.· You should be able to take your music exam in the summer, if you work at it between now and then.
/be hard at it British informal to be working very hard and continuously: · Mike's been hard at it all afternoon and he still hasn't finished mending the car.be hard at work on something: · Since January, Leane's been hard at work on a self-help book on how to launch a business.be hard at work doing something: · They've been hard at work getting the house decorated.
to force yourself to work or train very hard at something: · If you really push yourself, you should get all the work done on time.push yourself hard: · Warm up your body before you start exercising, and avoid pushing yourself too hard or too fast.
British /plug away American informal to work very hard for a long time in a determined way: · American investment bankers are still plugging away, looking for business in developing countries like Thailand, Indonesia, or Malaysia.beaver away on/at: · Haven't you finished? You've been beavering away on that report all morning.
British /labor American formal to work hard, especially doing hard physical work, or doing something difficult or boring: · Sheffield is a city where steel-workers once laboured in their thousands.labour over: · Shipman was seated in his office, labouring over his paperwork, when I came in.labour to do something: · The goal was just what the team needed, at the end of a game in which they had laboured hard to overcome Chelsea.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES the traditional division of labour (=the way that particular tasks are shared) between husband and wife I’m looking forward to retirement and having time to enjoy the fruits of my labour (=the results of my hard work). The doctor decided to induce labour. low-paid manual jobs People in manual occupations have a lower life expectancy. There is greater mobility of labour (=movement of workers) between jobs and areas. The region has a large and talented labour pool. a high degree of labour turnover among women companies employing unskilled labour (=people who have no special training) Union members will vote on whether to withdraw their labour (=stop working).COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
British English, child labor American English (=the use of children as workers)· The garments were made using child labour.
· They had to pay £30,000 in legal costs.
British English, a labor-saving device American English (=that reduces the amount of work you have to do)· Modern houses have so many labour-saving devices.
the traditional division of labour (=the way that particular tasks are shared) between husband and wife I’m looking forward to retirement and having time to enjoy the fruits of my labour (=the results of my hard work). The doctor decided to induce labour. low-paid manual jobs People in manual occupations have a lower life expectancy. British English, migrant labor American English (=work done by migrants)· Many farms rely on migrant labour.
There is greater mobility of labour (=movement of workers) between jobs and areas. (=work without being well-known)· After years of working in obscurity, his paintings are now hanging in museums.
British English, labor pains American English (=felt by a woman at the time she is having a baby)· Becky was at work when labour pains began.
British English, belabor the point American English (=keep saying something)· I don’t wish to labour the point, but why didn’t you just tell me?
The region has a large and talented labour pool. (=a shortage of people to do work)· During the war, there was a severe labour shortage, so women began doing jobs they had never done before.
a high degree of labour turnover among women companies employing unskilled labour (=people who have no special training) Union members will vote on whether to withdraw their labour (=stop working).· Every Noisegate hallucination has clearly been meticulously laboured over.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► the labour movement
- Well, dear Rex was either lying or labouring under a misapprehension.
- I understand what you're saying -- there's no need to labour the point.
- Enough has been said, and there is no need to labour the point.
- United were too liberal with their marking and Lee Clark laboured the point. 7 minutes later, they took overall control.
- A forced labour camp, they call it.
- All the Luftwaffe crews who've ended up in Ireland have been put in prison camps.
- Even so there remain causes for concern in the Labour camp.
- I was in a friendly country and was less effectively guarded than I ever would be in a prison camp.
- More than 13,000 boat people in three Hong Kong detention camps demonstrated against forced repatriation on Nov. 11-12.
- Of these, 55,000 were to be punished either by receiving prison sentences or by being sent to labour camps.
- The men were unloaded in the reception area at Long Kesh Detention Camp and placed in cubicles.
- Then he was chosen, with another senior officer, to run the Athi River Detention Camp.
- And the labour market is the invisible global bazaar where survival-life itself-is traded for work.
- By focusing on wage profiles it is possible to show contrasts between different segments of the labour market.
- For some who can work, corporate downsizing and increased competition in the job market have led to self-employment.
- How do I re-enter the job market after being a full-time mom?
- However as she grows older, and perhaps re-enters the labour market, domestic tasks are shared more equitably.
- I first entered the job market more than 30 years ago.
- In particular, the real wage will adjust spontaneously soas to prevent the emergence of excess supply in the labour market.
- This trend is likely to continue, restructuring the job market into two distinct tiers.
WORD FAMILYnounlabourlabourerverblabour
1to work hard: They laboured all day in the mills.labour over I’ve been labouring over this report all morning.labour to do something Ray had little talent but labored to acquire the skills of a writer.2labour under a delusion/misconception/misapprehension etc to believe something that is not true: She had laboured under the misconception that Bella liked her.3labour the point to describe or explain something in too much detail or when people have already understood it4[always + adverb/preposition] to move slowly and with difficulty: I could see the bus labouring up the steep, windy road.