labour
/ˈleɪ.bɚ/ verb C2- To toil, to work.
- To belabour, to emphasise or expand upon (a point in a debate, etc). · I think we've all got the idea. There's no need to labour the point.
- To be oppressed with difficulties or disease; to do one's work under conditions which make it especially hard or wearisome; to move slowly, as against opposition, or under a burden.
- To suffer the pangs of childbirth.
- To pitch or roll heavily, as a ship in a turbulent sea.
He/she/it labours · Past laboured · Past participle laboured · -ing form labouring
Verb forms
- Base form
- labour
- He/she/it
- labours
- Past
- laboured
- Past participle
- laboured
- -ing form
- labouring
From the library
The dog continued to lie stretched upon the cushion, breathing in a laboured way, but apparently neither the better nor the worse for its draught.
Its laboured breathing and glazing eye showed that it was not far from its end.
“Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.”
“How did you know, for example, that I did manual labour.
Other matches
Learn labour in real texts
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