- [uncountable]
work, especially physical work 劳动；（尤指）体力劳动 manual labour (= work using your hands) 体力劳动 The price will include the labour and materials. 此价格中包含人工费和材料费。 The company wants to keep down labour costs. 公司想保持低劳动成本。 The workers voted to withdraw their labour (= to stop work as a means of protest). 工人投票决定罢工以示抗议。 a fair division of labour between men and women 男女之间的公平分工
Extra ExamplesTopics Businessb2The miners are threatening to withdraw their labour. 矿工们威胁要罢工。 These women were generally accustomed to hard manual labour. 这些妇女对繁重的体力劳动一般都习以为常了。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- manual
- physical
- back-breaking
- …
- withdraw
- productivity
- camp
- [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 labours that he went straight to bed. 他工作了一天疲惫不堪，便直接上床休息了。 People look forward to enjoying the fruits of their labours during retirement. 人们盼望退休后能享受劳动成果。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- manual
- physical
- back-breaking
- …
- withdraw
- productivity
- camp
- [uncountable]
the people who work or are available for work in a country or company （统称）劳工，工人；劳动力 forced/slave labour 强迫/奴隶劳动 a shortage of labour 劳动力的短缺 Companies are making huge profits by exploiting cheap labour 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 labour. 对熟练劳动力的需求越来越大。 New labour 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 labour relations (= the relationship between workers and employers) 良好的劳资关系
WordfinderWordfinderExtra ExamplesTopics Working lifeb2Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- free
- organized
- wage
- …
- force
- market
- pool
- …
- [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 labour
Jane was in labour for ten hours. 简分娩花了十个小时。 She went into labour early. 她早产了。 labour pains 分娩时的阵痛 It was a difficult labour. 那次是难产。
WordfinderExtra ExamplesTopics Life stagesc2Older women tend to have more difficult labours. 老年妇女往往有更困难的劳动。 She went into labour two weeks early. 她提前两周分娩。 The baby was born after a long labour. 这个婴儿经过很长时间的分娩才出生。 women at risk of preterm labour 有早产危险的妇女 Labour was induced when the baby was ten days overdue. 在婴儿超过预产期 10 天以后进行了引产。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- difficult
- easy
- long
- …
- go into
- induce
- room
- ward
- pains
- …
- in labour
- in labour
- Labour[singular + singular or plural verb](abbreviation Lab.)
the British Labour Party 英国工党
work劳动
people who work劳动者
having baby分娩
politics政治
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French labour (noun), labourer (verb), both from Latin labor ‘toil, trouble’.
Idioms
a labour 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 labour of love. 写这本书是一项热爱的工作。