labour

To work very hard or diligently to accomplish something. I've been laboring at my Ph.D. for nearly four years now. Pat's out back laboring at repainting the back wall.

To work very hard or diligently (to accomplish something). I've been laboring away at my Ph.D. for nearly four years now. Pat always spends his Saturdays laboring away in the back garden.

A job, task, or activity that requires a huge amount of effort, energy, or physical strength. Sometimes used ironically or hyperbolically. But getting enough votes to pass the controversial legislation may prove to be a labor of Hercules. Sometimes it feels like finding a good burger that isn't the price of a sirloin steak is a labor of Hercules. It will be a labor of Hercules for them to dethrone the former champions in this year's Super Bowl, but they certainly have a shot.

Work that is done for pleasure rather than money. Katherine spends all of her free time knitting baby clothes for her friends. It must be a labor of love.

To talk about or emphasize something excessively and perhaps repetitively, usually to the extent that the listener becomes bored or annoyed. A: "I don't mean to labor the point, but I'm just worried that there won't be enough food at the party." B: "Yeah, we know, you've said that 10 times now." I'm only laboring the point because we still haven't reached a decision.

To live, operate, or function with the unyielding belief in something, especially that which is fanciful, unrealistic, or untrue. Primarily heard in US. Jeremy's always labored under the delusion of being a great writer, even though he's never written more than a few crummy poems. No one likes paying taxes, but those who would call for them to be done away with altogether are laboring under the delusion that our society can function without them!

To live, operate, or function with the unyielding belief in something, especially that which is fanciful, unrealistic, or untrue. Primarily heard in US. Jeremy's always labored under the illusion of being a great writer, even though he's never written more than a few crummy poems. No one likes paying taxes, but those who would call for them to be done away with altogether are laboring under the illusion that our society can function without them!

Hard, physical labor requiring one to bend over, especially that which would be done on a farm. My grandfather has a permanent hunch in his spine from the stoop labor he had to do throughout his life. Every summer we send the children to my brother's farm. It's good for them to get out of the city for a while and do a little bit of stoop labor.

Fig. a task that is either unpaid or badly paid and that one does simply for one's own satisfaction or pleasure or to please someone whom one likes or loves. Jane made no money out of the biography she wrote. She was writing about the life of a friend and the book was a labor of love. Mary hates knitting, but she made a sweater for her boyfriend. What a labor of love.

Work done for one's satisfaction rather than monetary reward. For example, The research took three years but it was a labor of love. This expression appears twice in the New Testament (Hebrews 6:10, Thessalonians 1:3), referring to those who do God's work as a labor of love. [c. 1600]

Back-bending manual work, especially farm work. For example, They had us picking peas all day, and that's too much stoop labor. [First half of 1900s]

COMMON A labour of love is a task that you do because you enjoy it or feel strongly that it is worth doing. Note: `Labour' is spelled `labor' in American English. There is no doubt that his debut novel is a labour of love, and obviously very close to his heart. They concentrated on restoring buildings such as the Victorian greenhouse, an expensive labour of love. Note: This appears in the Bible in 1 Thessalonians 1:3, `Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ'.

If someone labours the point, they keep explaining something or emphasizing a fact even though people have already understood it. I don't want to labour the point but there it is. The truth, without labouring the point, is that one can lead a good and fulfilling life without children.

A very difficult task. When the Greek hero Hercules was driven mad because of the goddess Hera's jealousy, he murdered his children. As atonement for his crime, he was obliged to perform twelve demanding tasks, such as slaying or capturing dangerous beasts, obtaining various prized and well-guarded possessions, and cleaning a very dirty stable in just one day. Hercules succeeded and was granted immortality and the hand of the now-mollified Hera's daughter. If your boss gives you an impossible assignment, especially that must be completed in a short time, you could show off your classical education by referring to it as a labor of Hercules.