6  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Labor  \La"bor\,  n.  [OE.  labour,  OF  labour,  laber,  labur,  F. 
  labeur,  L.  labor;  cf  Gr  lamba`nein  to  take  Skr.  labh  to 
  get  seize.]  [Written  also  {labour}.] 
  1.  Physical  toil  or  bodily  exertion,  especially  when 
  fatiguing,  irksome,  or  unavoidable,  in  distinction  from 
  sportive  exercise;  hard,  muscular  effort  directed  to  some 
  useful  end  as  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  like 
  servile  toil;  exertion;  work 
 
  God  hath  set  Labor  and  rest,  as  day  and  night,  to 
  men  Successive.  --Milton. 
 
  2.  Intellectual  exertion;  mental  effort;  as  the  labor  of 
  compiling  a  history. 
 
  3.  That  which  requires  hard  work  for  its  accomplishment;  that 
  which  demands  effort. 
 
  Being  a  labor  of  so  great  a  difficulty,  the  exact 
  performance  thereof  we  may  rather  wish  than  look 
  for  --Hooker. 
 
  4.  Travail;  the  pangs  and  efforts  of  childbirth. 
 
  The  queen's  in  labor,  They  say  in  great  extremity; 
  and  feared  She'll  with  the  labor  end  --Shak. 
 
  5.  Any  pang  or  distress.  --Shak. 
 
  6.  (Naut.)  The  pitching  or  tossing  of  a  vessel  which  results 
  in  the  straining  of  timbers  and  rigging. 
 
  7.  [Sp.]  A  measure  of  land  in  Mexico  and  Texas,  equivalent  to 
  an  area  of  1771/7  acres.  --Bartlett. 
 
  Syn:  Work  toil;  drudgery;  task;  exertion;  effort;  industry; 
  painstaking.  See  {Toll}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Labor  \La"bor\,  v.  t.  [F.  labourer,  L.  laborare.] 
  1.  To  work  at  to  work  to  till;  to  cultivate  by  toil. 
 
  The  most  excellent  lands  are  lying  fallow,  or  only 
  labored  by  children.  --W.  Tooke. 
 
  2.  To  form  or  fabricate  with  toil,  exertion,  or  care  ``To 
  labor  arms  for  Troy.''  --Dryden. 
 
  3.  To  prosecute,  or  perfect,  with  effort;  to  urge 
  stre?uously;  as  to  labor  a  point  or  argument. 
 
  4.  To  belabor;  to  beat  [Obs.]  --Dryden. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Labor  \La"bor\,  v.  i.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Labored};  p.  pr  &  vb  n. 
  {Laboring}.]  [OE.  labouren,  F.  labourer,  L.  laborare  See 
  {Labor},  n.]  [Written  also  {labour}.] 
  1.  To  exert  muscular  strength;  to  exert  one's  strength  with 
  painful  effort,  particularly  in  servile  occupations;  to 
  work  to  toil. 
 
  Adam,  well  may  we  labor  still  to  dress  This  garden. 
  --Milton. 
 
  2.  To  exert  one's  powers  of  mind  in  the  prosecution  of  any 
  design;  to  strive;  to  take  pains. 
 
  3.  To  be  oppressed  with  difficulties  or  disease;  to  do  one's 
  work  under  conditions  which  make  it  especially  hard, 
  wearisome;  to  move  slowly,  as  against  opposition,  or  under 
  a  burden;  to  be  burdened;  --  often  with  under  and 
  formerly  with  of 
 
  The  stone  that  labors  up  the  hill.  --Granville. 
 
  The  line  too  labors,and  the  words  move  slow.  --Pope. 
 
  To  cure  the  disorder  under  which  he  labored.  --Sir 
  W.  Scott. 
 
  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  --Matt.  xi  28 
 
  4.  To  be  in  travail;  to  suffer  the  pangs  of  childbirth. 
 
  5.  (Naut.)  To  pitch  or  roll  heavily,  as  a  ship  in  a  turbulent 
  sea.  --  Totten. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Labor  \La"bor\,  n.  (Mining.) 
  A  store  or  set  of  stopes.  [Sp.  Amer.] 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  labor 
  n  1:  a  social  class  comprising  those  who  do  manual  labor  or  work 
  for  wages;  "there  is  a  shortage  of  skilled  labor  in  this 
  field"  [syn:  {labour},  {working  class},  {proletariat}] 
  2:  productive  work  (especially  physical  work  done  for  wages); 
  "his  labor  did  not  require  a  great  deal  of  skill"  [syn:  {labour}, 
  {toil}] 
  3:  concluding  state  of  pregnancy;  from  the  onset  of  labor  to 
  the  birth  of  a  child;  "she  was  in  labor  for  six  hours" 
  [syn:  {parturiency},  {labour},  {confinement},  {lying-in}, 
  {travail},  {childbed}] 
  4:  an  organized  attempt  by  workers  to  improve  their  status  by 
  united  action  especially  via  labor  unions  (especially  the 
  leaders  of  this  movement)  [syn:  {labor  movement},  {trade 
  union  movement}] 
  5:  a  political  party  formed  in  Great  Britain  in  1900; 
  characterized  by  the  promotion  of  labor's  interests  and 
  the  socialization  of  key  industries  [syn:  {Labour  Party}, 
  {Labour},  {Labor  Party},  {Labor}] 
  6:  the  federal  department  responsible  for  promoting  the  working 
  conditions  of  wage  earners;  created  in  1913  [syn:  {Department 
  of  Labor},  {Labor  Department},  {Labor}] 
  7:  any  piece  of  work  [syn:  {undertaking},  {project},  {task}] 
  v  1:  exert  oneself;  "She  tugged  for  years  to  make  a  decent 
  living"  [syn:  {tug},  {labour},  {push},  {drive}] 
  2:  work  hard;  "She  was  digging  away  at  her  math  homework"  [syn: 
  {labour},  {toil},  {fag},  {travail},  {grind},  {drudge},  {dig}, 
  {moil}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  LABOR,  n.  One  of  the  processes  by  which  A  acquires  property  for  B. 
 
 

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