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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Labour Definition, Examples, and Usage Guide (2 meaning)

Meaning 1：hard work (labour)

labour 🔊

/ˈleɪ.bər/

Work, especially hard physical work that makes you tired.

Farmer labouring hard with hoe in sunny field

hard work 🔊

➕

/hɑːd wɜːk/

Physical or mental effort, especially when it is hard and tiring.

📁 Category：Behaviors & Actions 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'labor' meaning work or exertion.

💡 Mnemonic

Think of 'lab' in a laboratory where people labor (work hard) on experiments.

📖 Example

The farmer's daily labour in the field starts at sunrise. 🔊 Every day, the farmer begins his hard work in the field at sunrise.

🔗 Collocations

hard labour – hard physical work, often as a punishment

manual labour – work done by hand, not machines

physical labour – work that uses your body, not your mind

🔄 Synonyms

work (n.) – activity involving effort to achieve a result

toil (n.) – hard and continuous work, especially physical work

effort (n.) – the use of physical or mental energy to do something

🚫 Antonyms

rest (n.) – a period of relaxing or sleeping after doing work

leisure (n.) – time when you are not working and can do things you enjoy

🌱 Derivatives

labourer (n.) – a person who does physical work, especially outside

laboured (adj.) – done with difficulty or effort; not natural

labouring (adj.) – involving hard physical work

📖 Cultural Story

From Latin 'labor', via Old French 'labour', this word refers to hard work. Labour Day celebrates workers.

Meaning 2：workforce (labour)

labour 🔊

/ˈleɪ.bər/

All the workers in a country or company as a group.

workforce 🔊

➕

/ˈwɜːkfɔːs/

All the people who work for a company, industry, or country, considered as a group.

📁 Category：Social Economy 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

The tech company is looking to hire skilled labour to develop its new products. 🔊 The tech company is seeking to hire skilled workers to develop its new products.

🔗 Collocations

skilled labour – workers who have special training or skills

labour market – the supply of people available for work in an economy

labour force – all the people who are able to work in a country or company

🔄 Synonyms

workforce (n.) – all the people who work for a particular company or in a country

employees (n.) – people who are paid to work for a person or company

workers (n.) – people who do a particular job or work in a particular way

🚫 Antonyms

management (n.) – the people who control a company or organization

employers (n.) – people or organizations that employ workers

🌱 Derivatives

labour-intensive (adj.) – needing a lot of workers to produce something

labourer (n.) – a worker who does physical work