labour

Meanings

Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort.
Workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.
A political party or force aiming or claiming to represent the interests of labour.
The act of a mother giving birth.
The time period during which a mother gives birth.
The pitching or tossing of a vessel which results in the straining of timbers and rigging.
An old measure of land area in Mexico and Texas, approximately 177 acres. See also sitio
A group of moles.

To toil, to work.
To belabour, to emphasise or expand upon (a point in a debate, etc).
To be oppressed with difficulties or disease; to do one's work under conditions which make it especially hard or wearisome; to move slowly, as against opposition, or under a burden.
To suffer the pangs of childbirth.
To pitch or roll heavily, as a ship in a turbulent sea.

From Middle English labouren, from Old French laborer, from Latin laborare ("(intransitive) to labor, strive, exert oneself, suffer, be in distress, (transitive) to work out, elaborate"), from labor; perhaps remotely akin to robur. Displaced native English swink ("toil, labor").

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