labour

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)An effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.

   “[…]So I ſet myſelf to enlarge my Cave and Works farther into the Earth; for it was a looſe ſandy Rock, which yielded eaſily to the Labour I beſtowed on it[…]”

2. (countable, uncountable)That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort.

   “Being a labour of so great difficulty, the exact performance thereof we may rather wish than look for.”

3. (uncountable)Workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.

   “In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.”

4. (uncountable)A political party or force aiming or claiming to represent the interests of labour.
5. (countable, uncountable)The act or process of a mother giving birth.

   “Near-synonyms: childbirth, parturition”

   “Paul Doherty came to the rescue when his wife Georgina went into labour early just minutes from their local hospital.”

6. (countable, uncountable)The time period during which a mother gives birth.
7. (countable, uncountable)The pitching or tossing of a vessel which results in the straining of timbers and rigging.
8. (countable, historical, uncountable)A traditional unit of area in Mexico and Texas, equivalent to 177.1 acres or 71.67 ha.

   “the establishment of a new settlement are entitled to five sitios of grazing land, and five labors (equal to 23,025 acres)”

9. (countable, uncommon, uncountable)A group of moles.

verb

1. (intransitive)To toil, to work.

   “Standing on the mountain above Caerphilly, one may reflect upon the gap where once stood Llanbradach Viaduct, and look near at hand upon the restored ruins of Caerphilly Castle; man labours to rebuild the mediaeval whilst he ruthlessly scraps the modern.”

   “"Crab" 2-6-0 No 42802 labours up to Beattock Summit with a northbound freight from Carlisle in August 1960.”

2. (transitive)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.”

   “It is needless to labor a point which is so well known. Everyone understands and appreciates the joy of finding that the long darkness is giving way, that the Sun is growing in strength, and that the days are winning a victory over the nights.”

3. 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.

   “the stone that labours up the hill”

   “The line too labours, and the words move slow.”

   “to cure the disorder under which he laboured”

4. To suffer the pangs of childbirth.
5. To pitch or roll heavily, as a ship in a turbulent sea.

   “the ship laboured so much, and took in so much water in her upper works, that we could neither eat, nor sleep dry”

name

1. (New-Zealand, UK, abbreviation, alt-of)Short for the Labour Party.
2. (Australia, alt-of, misspelling)Misspelling of Labor, an Australian political party.