labor
Usage
What are other ways to say labor?
Labor particularly denotes hard manual work: backbreaking labor; arduous labor. Drudgery suggests continuous, dreary, and dispiriting work, especially of a menial or servile kind: the drudgery of household tasks. Toil suggests wearying or exhausting labor: toil that breaks down the worker's health. Work is the general word and may apply to exertion that is either easy or hard: fun work; heavy work.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Commercial rents in smaller cities are lower than in Shanghai or Beijing, but labor costs have continued rising across much of the country.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
The franchisee said labor had become particularly difficult to manage.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
A world where companies can use AI to reduce labor costs and dramatically widen their profit margins is good for stocks.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
Some of the candidates’ fantasy characters were literal — City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, a labor organizer running for reelection, was a barbarian named “Hugo the Organizer” using his “righteous indignation” to organize workers.
From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2026
The girls also worked as substitute labor so that female factory workers could take a four-week vacation.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Vocabulary lists containing labor
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Labor Day Lexicon: Words That Put You To Work
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Working Together: The Language of Unions
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