labor

noun

(US English)

(British English labour)

Idioms

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[uncountable] work, especially physical work劳动；（尤指）体力劳动
- manual labor (= work using your hands)身体劳动
- The price will include the labor and materials.价格将包括人工和材料。
- The company wants to keep down labor costs.公司想降低人工成本。
- The workers voted to withdraw their labor (= to stop work as a means of protest).工人投票决定撤回他们的劳动。
- a fair division of labor between men and women男女之间的公平分工
see also day laborTopics Businessb2
[countable, usually plural] (formal) a task or period of work任务；（一段时间的）工作
- He was so exhausted from the day's labors that he went straight to bed.一天的工作让他筋疲力尽，他直接上床睡觉了。
- People look forward to enjoying the fruits of their labors during retirement.人们期待在退休期间享受他们的劳动成果。
[uncountable] the people who work or are available for work in a country or company（统称）劳工，工人；劳动力
- child/forced/slave labor童工/强迫劳动/奴隶劳动
- a shortage of labor劳工短缺
- Companies are making huge profits by exploiting cheap labor in poor countries.公司通过剥削贫穷国家的廉价劳动力获取巨额利润。
- There is a growing demand for skilled labor.对熟练劳动力的需求越来越大。
- New labor laws make it more difficult for employers to sack workers.新劳动法使得雇主更难解雇工人。
- good labor relations (= the relationship between workers and employers)良好的劳资关系
Topics Working lifeb2
[uncountable, countable, usually singular] the period of time or the process of giving birth to a baby分娩期；分娩；生产
- in labor Jane was in labor for ten hours.简分娩了十个小时。
- She went into labor early.她很早就分娩了。
- labor pains产前阵痛
- It was a difficult labor.这是一项艰难的工作。
Topics Life stagesc2

Idioms

a labor of love

a hard task that you do because you want to, not because it is necessary为爱好而做的困难工作
- Writing the book was a labor of love.写这本书是一项热爱的工作。

labor

verb

/ˈleɪbə(r)/

/ˈleɪbər/

(US English)

(British English labour)

Idioms

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struggle搏斗

[intransitive] to try very hard to do something difficult努力做（困难的事）

labor (away) He was in his study laboring away over some old papers.他在书房里埋头苦读一些旧文件。
labor to do something They labored for years to clear their son's name.他们多年来努力为儿子正名。

work hard勤奋

[intransitive] to do hard physical work干苦力活

We labored all day in the fields.我们在田里劳动了一整天。
(old-fashioned) the laboring classes (= the working class)劳动阶级

move with difficulty吃力地行进

[intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to move with difficulty and effort困难吃力地行进 synonym struggle (2)

The horses labored up the steep slope.马匹吃力地爬上陡坡。
With the engine laboring, the car struggled up the hill.随着发动机的运转，汽车艰难地向山上驶去。

Idioms

labor the point

to continue to repeat or explain something that has already been said and understood一再重复，反复解释（已说明的事）
- I understand what you're saying—there's no need to labor the point.我明白你在说什么——没必要强词夺理。