How to Use labor in a Sentence

labor

1 of 3 noun
Definition of labornext
Synonyms for labornext
  • A day's labor should get the job done.
  • The cost of repairing the car includes parts and labor.
  • He rested from his labors.
  • She began to have labor pains this morning.
  • She has been in labor for several hours.
  • Getting the job done will require many hours of difficult labor.
  • The proposed new law is opposed by organized labor.
  • She had a difficult labor.
  • She went into labor this morning.
  • The prestige of the labor movement was much greater then.
    — Louis Uchitelle, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2018
  • There's a lot to be done, and a lot of it is free, unpaid labor.
    — Amanda Mitchell, Marie Claire, 25 Jan. 2019
  • To make matters worse, the virus has shrunk the available labor pool.
    — Fortune, 10 Feb. 2020
  • Their labors are set to Georges Delerue’s stirring score.
    — Hal Boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, 13 July 2018
  • The Pro Act is being called the most sweeping change to labor law in decades.
    — William Thornton | [email protected], al, 15 Apr. 2021
  • Some are ready to retire and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
    — Bill Keen, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022
  • Most area labor lawyers felt there was no basis for the claims.
    — Drew Davison, star-telegram, 27 Oct. 2017
  • This has been the history of the labor movement all along.
    — Rick Pearson, chicagotribune.com, 29 June 2018
  • The Seattle port has been closed in recent days because of the labor strife.
    — Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2023
  • The effects on the labor market will be deep but hard to measure.
    — Lydia Depillis, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2023
  • A year later, the current sellers are ready to show off the fruits of their labor.
    — cleveland, 6 Nov. 2020
  • There have been labor shortages in the past two years and higher turnover in the wake of the pandemic.
    — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 1 Sep. 2023
  • But our skilled labor has been an issue for years and years.
    — Salena Zito, Washington Examiner, 4 Oct. 2020
  • Some 63 million girls worldwide are caught in the trap of child labor.
    — Bernhard Warner, Fortune, 15 June 2021
  • And before the advent of labor laws, children were part of that toil.
    — Maria Teresa Hart, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Nov. 2022
  • Growth is likely to be too strong for the labor market to handle.
    — Joel Naroff, Philly.com, 1 Feb. 2018
  • Goods and labor flow back and forth, helping tourism and the economy on both sides.
    — Mireya Villarreal, ABC News, 6 May 2023
  • Builders say that's because of the rising costs of labor, lumber and lots.
    — Paul Gores, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10 July 2018
  • The shortage of labor has been a big issue for the industry.
    — Eben Shapiro, Time, 22 June 2021
  • The Texan had vowed to abandon the tournament if his wife Meredith went into labor, with the due date expected within the next few weeks.
    — Jack Bantock, CNN, 14 Apr. 2024
  • There, the current Lakewood resident worked 14-hour days for 68 consecutive days, grueling labor that prompted him to search out a path away from the mining industry that many of his family members had already trod.
    — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, 13 Apr. 2024
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labor

2 of 3 verb
  • The truck labored up the hill.
  • We should honor those who labored so long to make the truth known.
  • I have been laboring through this book for months.
  • Workers labored in the vineyard.
  • She has a tendency to labor the obvious.
  • She has labored in vain to convince them to accept her proposal.
  • He labored for several years as a miner.
  • The pitchers labored in the first three months that taxed the bullpen.
    — Mark Gonzales, chicagotribune.com, 11 Sep. 2017
  • For those who labor, for those do the work, the seed is planted.
    — Ellen McGirt, Fortune, 4 Sep. 2020
  • Workers labored around the clock to pump water out of the cave.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Fox News, 10 July 2018
  • Some songs are labored over for days and don’t even make the album.
    — Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2024
  • The curly hair on their chests rose and fell with their labored breathing.
    — Sandra Sidi, The Atlantic, 6 Sep. 2019
  • Back in the car, Bleu curled on his lap in a daze, his breathing labored.
    — Mike Baker, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2020
  • Stout labored over that large-scale choral work for more than 20 years.
    — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 3 Feb. 2018
  • People labor each day to keep the world clean and running.
    — Beth Thames | [email protected], al, 7 Sep. 2022
  • Still, Boyd was forced to labor through 30 pitches to get three outs.
    — Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 9 June 2021
  • He hadn’t won in two years and was laboring in the final round.
    — Steve Dimeglio, USA TODAY, 29 May 2018
  • Workers also labored around the clock to pump water out of the cave.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Fox News, 18 July 2018
  • And on every hill, Chris would just labor up this thing.
    — Paddy O'Connell, Outside Online, 3 Mar. 2023
  • Instead, the Warriors have labored through a 1-3 start.
    — Mark Medina, USA TODAY, 31 Oct. 2019
  • Hackett labored near where the marker is displayed on the square.
    — Stacy Ryburn, Arkansas Online, 17 June 2023
  • Low-wage workers must labor for about 14 hours to fill up their tank.
    — Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 23 June 2022
  • Her breathing was shallow and labored, and her skin was pale, moist and hot.
    — Tonya Alanez, sun-sentinel.com, 18 Sep. 2019
  • Liam recalls laboring around the clock, often jumping from shifts in the middle of the night to the day and back again.
    — Shannon Hall, Scientific American, 4 Dec. 2023
  • But most of the humor felt labored, which left the mystery as the main reason to keep watching.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2023
  • Their greatest friend turned out to be the laboring poor of the countryside.
    — James Robins, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Queen looks out the window — and sees a crew of black convicts laboring under the gun.
    — Darren Franich, EW.com, 25 Nov. 2019
  • His Friday performance got off to a slow start, and the pacing seemed labored in the first act.
    — Dana Oland, idahostatesman, 4 June 2017
  • The Republicans, after all, had performed best in states where the movement was largest, among exactly the kind of young, laboring moderates the Wide Awakes mobilized.
    — Jon Grinspan, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
  • There’s a penchant for natural materials and freeform shapes, bold art set against muted walls, and a relaxed, luxurious feel where nothing is too precious or labored over.
    — Rachel Gallaher, Robb Report, 23 Mar. 2024
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labor

3 of 3 adjective
  • Siding with the bosses to deny workers paid sick leave and prevent a strike is not pro-labor.
    — Toluse Olorunnipa, Washington Post, 29 Nov. 2022
  • Abrams and other pro-labor figures have rallied around the effort.
    — Tribune Media Services, al, 21 Feb. 2021
  • With Emma in the pre-labor room, Edmond decided to take a video of their last moments as a family of two.
    — Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN, 7 Aug. 2020
  • But Jones said the union was willing to give Edwards another shot, seeing her as a strong pro-labor voice in Congress — and a voice for women.
    — Meagan Flynn, Washington Post, 3 July 2022
  • All four Democrats have pitched themselves as pro-labor candidates.
    — Isaac Yu, Journal Sentinel, 13 July 2022
  • As the month waned, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a host of pro-labor bills.
    — Piper French, The New Republic, 2 Nov. 2021
  • Abruzzo is also Biden’s best chance at achieving his goal to be the most pro-labor president in US history.
    — Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post, 15 Oct. 2022
  • Moreover, Weil’s loss was a blow for Biden, who is certainly the most pro-labor president in decades, perhaps ever.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2022
  • In the past year, more young people on TikTok have expressed pro-labor sentiment, speaking out about fair pay and worker’s rights.
    — Caroline O'Donovan, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2022
  • The boycott was a response to low wages for drivers and anti-labor practices at Coors headquarters in Colorado.
    — Fifth & Mission Podcast, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 June 2021
  • The pro-labor Left has struggled under the reality of this system, too; private unionization is down to about 6 percent of the work force.
    — Robert Verbruggen, National Review, 10 Sep. 2020
  • Labor leaders said now is a time to build their ranks due to worker shortages, the pandemic struggles and because a pro-labor president is in the White House.
    — Jesse Newman, WSJ, 18 Oct. 2021
  • But the staffers who work for those lawmakers and help craft those pro-labor bills are barred under California law from forming a union themselves.
    — Sophia Bollag, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 June 2022
  • Biden has appointed leadership to the NLRB widely seen as pro-labor.
    — Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2022
  • The longer labor laws stand still, the better corporations get maneuvering around them.
    — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, 15 Dec. 2017
  • From the Archives Labor unions, which Mr. Biden courted during the campaign and whose pro-labor stance has marked the early days of his administration, also gave.
    — Chad Day, WSJ, 21 Apr. 2021
  • President Biden has embraced a pro-labor stance during his campaign.
    — Robert Peres, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2021
  • It was based on an original idea of Fonda’s and remains a classic for its pro-labor, feminist take on making the workplace a more equitable space for all.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 23 Feb. 2021
  • No mention is made of the Democratic Leadership Council, organized in the 1980s with the aim of moving what had been a pro-labor party to the right and separating it from its unionist base.
    — John R. MacArthur, Harper’s Magazine , 7 Dec. 2021
  • The councilman noted that his heavily union district, which includes San Pedro, would not warm to a candidate who was not pro-labor.
    — Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2022
  • Democrats were split on the proposition, with some old-school, pro-labor liberals simply unwilling to vote against the concept of collective bargaining.
    — Gilbert Garcia, San Antonio Express-News, 5 May 2021
  • That some of the most high-profile targets of anti-labor measures have been swing states with strong union legacies—namely, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan—is no coincidence.
    — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 25 Jan. 2021
  • The lopsided outcome at the 6,000-person warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., came even as the pandemic’s effect on the economy and the election of a pro-labor president had made the country more aware of the plight of essential workers.
    — New York Times, 9 Apr. 2021
  • Though Walter grew up in a pro-labor household — his father was the longtime president of a steelworker’s union — the Wobblies’ experience in Spokane wasn’t part of his young consciousness.
    — Mark Athitakis, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2020
  • The start of President Joe Biden’s second year in office comes with new opportunities to deliver on his commitment to be pro-labor.
    — NBC News, 20 Jan. 2022
  • Those who warned that California’s anti-labor Proposition 22 would hasten the destruction of good jobs and the rise of gig work have a new data point to cite, courtesy of the Albertsons grocery empire.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2021
  • False Facebook is not removing a photo of Tlaib being arrested during a pro-labor rally in Detroit.
    — Mckenzie Sadeghi, USA TODAY, 31 July 2020
  • The older Trumka was a close and powerful ally of Democrats in Washington who sought to advance pro-labor laws and regulations as private-sector union membership declined over the course of the 2000s.
    — Breanne Deppisch, Washington Examiner, 12 Jan. 2023
  • Dennis Williams led a double life as president of the UAW, and the stain the ex-labor leader left on the union as part of the corruption scandal will burden its members for years to come, according to federal prosecutors.
    — Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 4 May 2021
  • Biden favors the broader, pro-labor definition of joint employer.
    — Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, chicagotribune.com, 25 Nov. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'labor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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