labour

Word family  noun labour labourer verb labour

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++

Related topics: Labour relations, unions

labour1 British English, labor American English ●●○ S3 W3 AWL noun  1  work 工作 [uncountable]WORK/DO WORK work, especially physical work 劳动；〔尤指〕体力劳动 The garage charges £30 an hour for labour. 汽车修理厂收取每小时30英镑的人工费。 Many women do hard manual labour (=work with their hands). 许多妇女从事繁重的体力劳动。 Workers withdrew their labour (=protested by stopping work) for twenty-four hours. 工人罢工24小时。 → hard labour2  workers 劳动者 [uncountable]WORKER all the people who work for a company or in a country 〔一公司或一国的全体〕劳工，工人；劳动力 a shortage of skilled labor 熟练工人短缺 We need to reduce our labour costs. 我们需要降低劳动力成本。3  baby 婴儿 [singular, uncountable]BABY/HAVE A BABY the process of giving birth to a baby 分娩；产程in labour Meg was in labour for ten hours. 梅格分娩用了十小时。 Diane went into labour at 2 o'clock. 黛安娜两点钟开始分娩。a long/short/difficult labour 产程长/产程短/难产 The labour pains were unbearable. 分娩时的阵痛难以忍受。labour ward/room (=a room in a hospital where women give birth) 产房4. a labour of love LIKE somebody OR somethingsomething that is hard work but that you do because you want to 心甘情愿所做的苦工5  somebody’s labours formalWORK HARD a period of hard work 某人的辛勤劳动 After several hours' gardening, we sat down to admire the results of our labours. 在花园里干了几个小时以后，我们坐下来欣赏自己的劳动成果。 COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: all the people who work for a company or in a country 〔一公司或一国的全体〕劳工，工人；劳动力ADJECTIVES/NOUN + labourskilled/unskilled labour 熟练/非熟练工人Employers want to keep skilled labour because of the cost of training. 考虑到培训成本，雇主希望把熟练工人留下来。cheap labour (=workers who have low wages) 廉价劳动力Women and children were used as cheap labour. 妇女儿童被用作廉价劳动力。casual labour (=workers who do jobs that are not permanent) 临时工The industry makes use of a large supply of casual labour. 该行业雇用大量临时工。child labour 童工nThe shoe company was accused of using child labour in its factory.slave labour 做苦役的奴隶nCotton was grown using slave labor.labour + NOUNthe labour force (=all the people who work in a country or for a company) 劳动力We need an educated labour force. 我们需要受过教育的劳动力。the labour supply (=all the people available to work) 劳动力供应What was the effect of the war on the labour supply? 那场战争对劳动力供应有何影响？the labour market (=the people looking for work and the jobs available) 劳动力市场the percentage of women in the labour market 妇女在劳动力市场中的百分比a labour shortage 劳动力短缺nImmigrants came into the country to fill the labour shortage.labour costs 劳动力成本nThere was pressure to keep down labour costs.

Examples from the Corpus

labour• Our produce prices cannot compete with those of Spain, with its cheap labour and sunshine.• In practice, the conditions for perfectly competitive labour and product markets do not apply.• Overaccumulation meant there was insufficient labour to keep old plants going, so they had to be scrapped.• One of the horses had gone into labour while the farmer was away.• Large-scale growth in this type of farming is limited by the climate and the high cost of labour.• Deskilling is symptomatic of the way in which a worker's labour is taken possession of by the capitalist.• His Milton and Dante fetch pathetically small sums in comparison with the labour and skill they cost.• The labour force is growing at a rate of 4% a year.• Many women do all the work in the home, and their labour is unpaid.• Marx defined the working class as people who sell their labour to employers.withdrew ... labour• The disparity arises because some of those who lost their jobs withdrew from the labour market, perhaps through early retirement.labour ward/room• Who got fathers into the labour wards?• They took me down to the labour room.• I arrived at the hospital and was shown to the labour room.• The labour ward provides user-friendly notes for pregnant women, arising out of discussions with patients.labour2 British English, labor American English ●○○ AWL verb [intransitive]  1  WORK HARDto work hard 辛勤工作，苦干 They laboured all day in the mills. 他们一整天都在磨坊里辛勤工作。labour over I’ve been labouring over this report all morning. 整个上午我都在埋头写这份报告。labour to do something Ray had little talent but labored to acquire the skills of a writer. 雷没有什么天赋，但仍努力想要掌握一名作家应具备的技巧。2  labour under a delusion/misconception/misapprehension etc WRONG/INCORRECTto believe something that is not true 有错觉，误解 She had laboured under the misconception that Bella liked her. 她误以为贝拉喜欢她。3. labour the point EMPHASIZEto describe or explain something in too much detail or when people have already understood it 一再阐述，反复解释〔对方已懂的事〕4  [always + adverb/preposition]TT to move slowly and with difficulty 费力地行进 I could see the bus labouring up the steep, windy road. 我看到公共汽车迎着大风在陡峭的道路上艰难行驶。→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

labour• Because I feel any attachment to this city or this world where I have laboured?• The goal was just what the team needed, at the end of a game in which they had laboured hard to overcome Chelsea.• She rested now and then under the shade of the cypresses and watched other tourists labouring in the heat.• Sheffield is a city where steel-workers once laboured in their thousands.• At the bottom of the scale, the majority were untouchables, labouring on the land.• Shipman was seated in his office, labouring over his paperwork, when I came in.• You have laboured up an unending hill with heavy feet which are swollen, sore and tired.• From Sunday lunch-time to breakfast today, their mountain of prevaricating committees have laboured without bringing forth even a mouse.labour to do something• They laboured to make the empire internally consistent.• The fitters laboured to modify the jeeps for desert travel and to a completely novel specification.• In one sense it might also be said to have laboured to produce a mouse.• But their performance, as on other occasions this season, was laboured to say the least.• If this was his attempt to give Chloe a radical new dynamism, it was all too laboured to succeed.

Related topics: Groupings

La·bour /ˈleɪbə $ -ər/ noun  PPGthe British Labour Party 〔英国〕工党 → Liberal Democratunder Labour Most people will pay higher taxes under Labour. 工党执政时，大多数人都要缴纳更多的税。5 a Labour government工党政府 They always vote Labour. 他们一直投工党的票。Labour MP/candidate 工党议员/候选人 —Labour adjectiven a Labour policy

Examples from the Corpus

Labour• In 1979 Labour was obviously in a panic - that set the mood.• The case for abolition was made more urgent as a result of the experience of Labour in government after 1974.• The fact is that Labour wants to keep the poll tax so that it can attack us with it.• Weizman, who had by then become a minister, soon joined the Labour party.• They will get it under Labour.Labour MP/candidate• Neither of these seats was to return a Labour candidate even under the exceptionally favourable circumstances of July 1945.• Standing nearby was Darlington Labour candidate Alan Milburn with a group of his supporters.• In 1922 he became the Labour candidate for the University of London constituency, but he died before the election.• Yesterday a campaign aide for Mr Milburn said the Labour candidate arrived as the whole situation was being resolved.From Longman Business Dictionarylabourla‧bour /ˈleɪbə-ər/ British English, labor American English noun [uncountable]1work involving a lot of physical or mental effortThe garage charges £65 an hour for labour.those involved in repetitive, unskilled manual labour (=work that involves using your hands)2HUMAN RESOURCES withdraw your labour British English to stop working at your job for a period of time as a protestUnion members voted to withdraw their labour for 24 hours.3HUMAN RESOURCESall the people who work for a company or in a countrya shortage of skilled laborSome US companies relocate to Mexico in search of cheap labor (=people who are paid very low wages).The airline’s labor costs are amongst the lowest in the industry. → casual labour → child labour → contract labour → direct labour → forced labour → indirect labour → organized labour → sweated labour

labour1 noun →COLLOCATIONS1labour2 verbLa·bour nounLDOCE OnlineChineseSyllable  

work, physical work especially Corpus Business

Labour
La‧bour /ˈleɪbə $ -ər/ noun
the British Labour Party ⇨ Liberal Democrat
    under Labour
    Most people will pay higher taxes under Labour.
    They always vote Labour.
    a Labour government
    Labour MP/candidate

labour

I

labour¹ S2 W1 AC British English, labor American English noun1.  WORK  [uncountable] work, especially physical work:
    The garage charges £30 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. ⇨ hard labour
2.  WORKERS  [uncountable] all the people who work for a company or in a country:
    a shortage of skilled labor
    We need to reduce our labour costs.
3.  BABY  [singular, uncountable] 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)
4. a labour of love something that is hard work but that you do because you want to
5. sb’s labours formal a period of hard work:
    After several hours' gardening, we sat down to admire the results of our labours.
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 2)

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + labour
   ▪ skilled/unskilled labour Employers want to keep skilled labour because of the cost of training.
   ▪ cheap labour (=workers who have low wages) Women and children were used as cheap labour.
   ▪ casual labour (=workers who do jobs that are not permanent) The industry makes use of a large supply of casual labour.
   ▪ child labour The shoe company was accused of using child labour in its factory.
   ▪ slave labour Cotton was grown using slave labor.
■ labour + NOUN
   ▪ the labour force (=all the people who work in a country or for a company) We need an educated labour force.
   ▪ the labour supply (=all the people available to work) What was the effect of the war on the labour supply?
   ▪ the labour market (=the people looking for work and the jobs available) the percentage of women in the labour market
   ▪ a labour shortage Immigrants came into the country to fill the labour shortage.
   ▪ labour costs There was pressure to keep down labour costs.

II

labour² AC British English, labor American English verb [intransitive]1. to work hard:
    They laboured all day in the mills.
    labour over
    I’ve been labouring over this report all morning.
    labour to do something
    Ray had little talent but labored to acquire the skills of a writer.
2. labour under a delusion/misconception/misapprehension etc to believe something that is not true:
    She had laboured under the misconception that Bella liked her.
3. labour the point to describe or explain something in too much detail or when people have already understood it
4. [always + adverb/preposition] to move slowly and with difficulty:
    I could see the bus labouring up the steep, windy road.