labor 1 of 2

noun

ˈlā-bər How to pronounce labor (audio)
Definition of labornext
1
as in job
a dull, unpleasant, or difficult piece of work one of the labors of Hercules in classical mythology was to clean out the stables of King Augeas

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in effort
the active use of energy in producing a result a superhuman amount of labor must have gone into designing and building the pyramids of Egypt

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in toil
very hard or unpleasant work a political dissident forced to do six months of hard labor in the salt mines as punishment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in childbirth
the act or process of giving birth to children the mother's labor lasted for six hours

Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in production
something produced by physical or intellectual effort a small, personal film that was clearly a labor of love for the director and actors

Synonyms & Similar Words

labor

2 of 2

verb

as in to struggle
to devote serious and sustained effort the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun labor contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of labor are drudgery, grind, toil, travail, and work. While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

Where would drudgery be a reasonable alternative to labor?

The words drudgery and labor can be used in similar contexts, but drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When is it sensible to use grind instead of labor?

The words grind and labor are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

When might toil be a better fit than labor?

The synonyms toil and labor are sometimes interchangeable, but toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When could travail be used to replace labor?

While in some cases nearly identical to labor, travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

When would work be a good substitute for labor?

Although the words work and labor have much in common, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of labor
Noun
Formally tracking the amount of care work that is done in the workplace and who is doing it exactly can make the invisible labor more visible, and help to redistribute the work across gender. — Holly Corbett, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 Revisiting it today opens up deeper conversations about labor, social conciousness and power. — Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Verb
In the days since posting the news, Mitchell has continued to update her followers about the aftermath and the start of the healing process, including videos of herself laboring. — Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 23 June 2026 The British Parliament had built restrictions into the freedom edict to guarantee the enslaved and newly free would continue laboring, either for poverty wages or to repay bottomless debt. — Literary Hub, 16 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for labor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for labor
  1. job
  2. effort
  3. toil
  4. childbirth
  5. production
  6. struggle
  7. headache
  8. work
Noun
  • Lee Feldman held the job for seven years until he was fired in 2018 by the commission.
    — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026
  • Proponents of the authorization note that the $155 million investment arrives four years after a severe drought in the Sacramento Valley in 2022 had cost local communities hundreds of millions of dollars and roughly 1,500 jobs.
    — Lyanne Wang, CBS News, 2 July 2026
Definition of job
Noun
  • But the effort was set aside after the onset of COVID-19, which caused massive disruptions across the Los Angeles Unified School District, said Michael Trujillo, a political strategist for Gonez.
    — Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
  • Both countries have stepped up efforts to safeguard freedom of navigation and uphold international law in the strait, including hosting a summit with 51 other nations in April.
    — Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 4 July 2026
Definition of effort
Noun
  • Audit which MLOps automations cut toil versus which just shifted work to data scientists.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • Pure white cloth, born in the murderous toil of slavery, formed in debilitating factory conditions, and finished through the agony of Sicilian children, was bleached in more ways than one.
    — Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 15 June 2026
Definition of toil
Noun
  • This led to vast transformations in surgery, childbirth, handwashing, sterilization and infection control, per NIH and the Science History Institute.
    — Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026
  • The jet-setting pair have two biological daughters, 4-year-old Bella (whose twin brother died at childbirth) and 8-year-old Alana.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 29 June 2026
Definition of childbirth
Noun
  • The production made use of Malaysia’s post-production infrastructure and incorporated creative voices from across South and Southeast Asia.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 3 July 2026
  • Luma has been making inroads into Hollywood selling its software but has separately funded a production service company to teach filmmakers to make hybrid AI films using its tools.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
Definition of production
Verb
  • Acuff got off to a much better start after struggling to make shots in his summer league debut on Saturday.
    — Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 7 July 2026
  • While San Francisco’s bullpen is struggling, Rogers is in the midst of another excellent season after signing a three-year, $37 million deal to join the defending American League champions.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 7 July 2026
Definition of struggle
Noun
  • Intense exercise on a sizzling day can lead to extreme fatigue, impaired performance, headache, irritability, nausea, dizziness, cramping and dehydration, all symptoms of exertional heat illness.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026
  • Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome causes fatigue, fever, muscle aches, abdominal problems, headaches, chills and dizziness in the early stages, and late symptoms include chest tightness, coughing, shortness of breath and lungs filling with fluid.
    — Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of headache
Noun
  • But when menstrual symptoms become severe enough to interfere with work, school, relationships or daily activities, something more serious may be going on.
    — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 7 July 2026
  • Oh, and hundreds of her works fill the screen, a magnificent and vibrant tour through her glorious career.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
Definition of work

Phrases Containing labor

Browse Nearby Words

labile
labor
labor camp
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Cite this Entry

“Labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labor. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on labor

Nglish: Translation of labor for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about labor

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