labour

[ley-ber] /ˈleɪ bər/
noun, verb (used without object), verb (used with object), adjective, Chiefly British
1.
labor.
Related forms
antilabour, adjective
Usage note
See -or1.
Examples from the web for labour
  • Tax wedges measure the share of labour costs attributable to income taxes and social-security contributions less cash benefits.
  • Perhaps your advisor wants to use you for free labour.
  • Netting is labour intensive and still harsh on the bats body.
  • The labour law is now open and has been for a number of years.
  • There was no money or labour expended in producing it.
  • Granted, that leads to a system that recruits graduate students for cheap research labour, instead of cheap teaching labour.
  • Money is also a store of potential energy that can be released when needed, with the purchase of goods, energy and labour.
  • labour unions who dominate the utilities and all the tax money they can levy from it.
  • The changes that occur may be only incremental or major with a large impact on employment, wages and skills of labour.
  • To this must be ascribed their disposition to sleep when abstracted from their diversions, and unemployed in labour.
British Dictionary definitions for labour

labour

/ˈleɪbə/
noun
1.
productive work, esp physical toil done for wages
2.
  1. the people, class, or workers involved in this, esp in contrast to management, capital, etc
  2. (as modifier): a labour dispute, labour relations
3.
  1. difficult or arduous work or effort
  2. (in combination): labour-saving
4.
a particular job or task, esp of a difficult nature
5.
  1. the process or effort of childbirth or the time during which this takes place
  2. (as modifier): labour pains
6.
labour of love, something done for pleasure rather than gain
verb
7.
(intransitive) to perform labour; work
8.
(intransitive; foll by for, etc) to strive or work hard (for something)
9.
(intransitive) usually foll by under. to be burdened (by) or be at a disadvantage (because of): to labour under a misapprehension
10.
(intransitive) to make one's way with difficulty
11.
(transitive) to deal with or treat too persistently: to labour a point
12.
(intransitive) (of a woman) to be in labour
13.
(intransitive) (of a ship) to pitch and toss
Derived Forms
labouringly, (US) laboringly, adverb
Word Origin
C13: via Old French from Latin labor; perhaps related to lābī to fall
Word Origin and History for labour

chiefly British English spelling of labor (q.v.); for spelling, see -or. As short for "the British Labour Party" it is from 1906.