labour

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Pronunciation 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Translations 1.5 Verb 1.5.1 Translations 1.5.2 Usage notes 1.6 Related terms 2 Breton 2.1 Noun 3 French 3.1 Noun 3.1.1 Related terms

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

• labor (US)

[edit] Etymology

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /leɪbə/
•  Audio (UK)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -eɪbə(r)

[edit] Noun

labour (countable and uncountable; plural labours) (British, Canadian)

1. Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
2. (uncountable) Workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.
3. (uncountable) A political party or force aiming or claiming to represent the interests of labour.
4. The act of a mother giving birth
5. The time period during which a mother gives birth.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to labour (third-person singular simple present labours, present participle labouring, simple past and past participle laboured)

1. (intransitive) To toil, to work.
2. (transitive) To belabour, to emphasize or expand upon (a point in a debate, etc).

[edit] Translations

[edit] Usage notes

Like many other words ending in -our/-or, this word is spelled labour in the UK and labor in the U.S.; in Canada, labour is preferred, but labor is not unknown. In Australia, where labour is the usual spelling, labor is nonetheless enshrined in the name of the Australian Labor Party, reflecting the fact that the -or endings had some currency in Australia in the past.

[edit] Related terms

• laboratory
• laborious
• labourer
• labourite
• labour-saving

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[edit] Breton

[edit] Noun

labour

1. work, job

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[edit] French

[edit] Noun

labour m.

1. cultivation

[edit] Related terms

• labourble
• labourage
• labourer