An effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
Used in a Sentence
labours
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for labours.
Editorial note
What matter if none hear of my labours, or if those labours touch only the afflicted and the mediocre?
Examples12
Definitions4
Parts of speech1
Quick take
An effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of labours gathered in one view.
That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort.
The time period during which a mother gives birth.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for labours.
noun
An effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
noun
That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort.
noun
The time period during which a mother gives birth.
noun
(uncountable) Workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.
Example sentences
What matter if none hear of my labours, or if those labours touch only the afflicted and the mediocre?
Those seem like labours of love; whereas this one feels like it was to pay the bills.
To me, the real solution is not go pay more for labours of love, but to institute a shorter workweek so everybody can pursue their own labours of love on the side.
It’s a very interesting project, but don’t expect any fruits from their labours any time soon.
Will be interesting to see the fruits of their labours at smaller (and larger) scales.
Asians were generally viewed as poor uneducated labours, not too different from blacks.
And I think I may say that none of those great men neglected the pecuniary result of their labours.
On the other hand, they need the lower castes as menial labours.
I've also met many poor immigrants who are not as fortunate as I am, working as taxi drivers, manual labours and/or minimum wage jobs.
A Github issue where a user behaves rudely and labours under the misapprehension that he is owed anything by the person who made his work available for free.
Sometimes I yearn for a benevolent AI to rise up and impose a communist state upon the world, employing robots to free humanity from its labours.
My take on it is slightly different: it feels like a necessary condition of economic progress is that you trust that you will get to keep the fruits of your labours.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use labours in a sentence?
What matter if none hear of my labours, or if those labours touch only the afflicted and the mediocre?
What does labours mean?
An effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
What part of speech is labours?
labours is commonly used as noun.