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labour

"Labour" is the British English spelling. In American English, it is spelled "labor". When referring to work or childbirth, the word is usually an uncountable noun. However, when referring to a worker as an individual (though rare), it can be countable. In a political context, "Labour" (often capitalized) refers specifically to the Labour Party in the UK and other Commonwealth countries.

💬Casual Conversation

🎬Tuesday afternoon, both are sitting in the same open-plan office but texting to avoid David.
Mark

David's tripping. He wants us to do all this manual labour for the event setup.

Mark
Sarah
Sarah

I'm totally clocked out. Tell him you're bogged down with the slides.

💡
Mark uses 'tripping' (slang for acting crazy/unreasonable) and 'manual labour' to describe the physical work David wants them to do. Sarah responds with 'clocked out' (mentally exhausted/finished) and 'bogged down' (a phrasal verb meaning overwhelmed by a task), suggesting Mark use weaponized incompetence to avoid the work.

Meanings

noun

Work, especially hard physical work.

"The construction of the pyramids required a vast amount of manual labour."

noun

The process of childbirth.

"She was in labour for twelve hours before the baby was born."

noun

Workers considered as a social class or collective group.

"The government is negotiating with organised labour to prevent a strike."

verb (transitive)

To work hard to achieve or produce something; to exert great effort.

"He laboured over the manuscript for three years before publishing it."

verb (intransitive)

To work hard; to move with difficulty or effort.

"The exhausted climber laboured up the steep mountain slope."

Last Updated: May 22, 2026Report an Error