See Also: labour 1, noun(dictionary)
labour(2)(dictionary)
labour law(encyclopedia)
labour(encyclopedia)
labour(1)(dictionary)
Labour(dictionary)
New Labour(dictionary)
Labour(medicine)
Old Labour(dictionary)
dry labour(medicine)

labour 1, noun (oh)



1 W1S3 n BrE labor AmE
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1 ?work?
2 ?workers?
3 ?baby?
4 a labour of love
5 somebody's labours
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?WORK?
[U] work, especially physical work
::The garage charges ¡ê30 an hour for labour.
::Many women do hard manual labour (=work with their hands) .
::Workers withdrew their labour (=protested by stopping work) for twenty-four hours.
-see also hard labour
?WORKERS?
[U] all the people who work for a company or in a country
::a shortage of skilled labor
:: Wages for unskilled labour are very low.
:: small commercial farmers who depend on a casual labour supply
::These countries are a source of cheap labour .
::the use of child labour
:: produce grown by slave labor
::We need to reduce our labour costs .
:: Labour shortages have forced the Japanese into making heavy use of industrial robots.
:: the changing role of mothers in the labour market
-see also labour force , labour market
?BABY?
[singular, U] the process of giving birth to a baby
in labour
::Meg was in labour for ten hours.
::Diane went into labour at 2 o'clock.
a long/short/difficult labour
::The labour pains were unbearable.
labour ward/room
(=a room in a hospital where women give birth)
a labour of love
something that is hard work but that you do because you want to
sb's labours
formal a period of hard work
::After several hours gardening we sat down to admire the results of our labours.
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COLLOCATES for sense 2
skilled labour (=workers who have special skills)
unskilled labour (=workers who have no special skills)
casual labour (=workers who do jobs that are not permanent)
cheap labour
child labour
slave labour
labour costs
labour shortage
labour market (=all the people available to work)