a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
"there is a shortage of skilled labor in this field"
concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child
"she was in labor for six hours"
a political party formed in Great Britain in 1900; characterized by the promotion of labor's interests and formerly the socialization of key industries
"When he joined the Labour Party in 2015, he hoped to finally implement policies that would nationalize the energy sector."
Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
"After days of exhausting labour clearing the overgrown garden, my arms felt like lead weights."
In plain English: Labour is the physical work or effort people put into doing a job.
"The farm relied heavily on manual labour during the harvest season."
Usage: Use "labour" to describe physical effort or hard work, particularly in British English where it is also spelled "labor." It refers specifically to the toil or exertion required to complete a task rather than general employment.
To toil, to work.
"After weeks of labouring in the sweltering sun, the farmer finally harvested enough crops to feed his family for the winter."
In plain English: To labour means to work very hard for a long time, often with little success.
"The team will labour over the project for weeks before it is finished."
Usage: Use "labour" as a verb to describe working with great physical effort or difficulty, such as when lifting heavy objects or pushing through resistance. This spelling is standard in British and Commonwealth English, whereas American English typically uses "labor."
Short for the Labour Party
"The local candidate was endorsed by a prominent member of labour before the election."
The word labour comes from the Old French term labor, which itself was borrowed from Latin labor. In its original form, it meant work or toil.