labour

Universal Words (BrE) (AmE labor) noun, verb noun work 1 [U] work, especially physical work: manual labour (= work using your hands) * The price will include the labour and materials. * The company wants to keep down labour costs. * The workers voted to withdraw their labour (= to stop work as a means of protest). * He was sentenced to two years in a labour camp (= a type of prison where people have to do hard physical work). 2 [C,usually pl.] (formal) a task or period of work: He was so exhausted from the day's labours that he went straight to bed. * People look forward to enjoying the fruits of their labours during retirement. people who work 3 [U] the people who work or are available for work in a country or a company: a shortage of labour * Employers are using immigrants as cheap labour. * Repairs involve skilled labour, which can be expensive. * good labour relations (= the relationship between workers and employers) having baby 4 [U,C,usually sing.] the period of time or the process of giving birth to a baby: Jane was in labour for ten hours. * She went into labour early. * labour pains * Older women tend to have more difficult labours. politics 5 (Labour) [sing.+sing./pl.v.] (abbreviation Lab) the British Labour Party: He always votes Labour. * Labour has / have been in power for five years. IDIOMS a labour of love a hard task that you do because you want to, not because it is necessary: Writing the book was a labour of love. verb struggle 1 ~ (away) to try very hard to do sth difficult: [V] He was in his study labouring away over some old papers. * [Vtoinf] They laboured for years to clear their son's name. work hard 2 [V] to do hard physical work: We laboured all day in the fields. * (old-fashioned) the labouring classes (= the working class) move with difficulty 3 [V] to move with difficulty and effort: The horses laboured up the steep slope. * With engine labouring, the car struggled up the hill. IDIOMS labour the point to continue to repeat or explain sth that has already been said and understood: I understand what you're saying-there's no need to labour the point. PHRASALVERBS labour under sth (formal) to believe sth that is not true: to labour under a misapprehension / delusion * He's still labouring under the impression that he's written a great book.