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.
“What would break them would be if the labor market softened significantly,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
Friday’s labor report for March showed a healthy gain of 178,000 net new jobs, a welcome contrast to February’s 133,000 decline.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Unemployment rates have remained relatively steady in the United States -- but the figure has hidden churn under the surface, analysts warn, as weak jobs growth has been matched by a drop in labor supply.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
While healthcare spending has benefited the economy, population trends could also limit the pace of growth in coming years by constraining the labor pool, as Schmid said this past week.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
In 1942, Sophie Scholl finished her compulsory labor service at last, in time to begin summer classes.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
