LABORS Synonyms: 219 Similar and Opposite Words

labors 1 of 2

noun

plural of labor

as in headaches

a dull, unpleasant, or difficult piece of work one of the labors of Hercules in classical mythology was to clean out the stables of King Augeas

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as in efforts

the active use of energy in producing a result a superhuman amount of labor must have gone into designing and building the pyramids of Egypt

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as in toils

very hard or unpleasant work a political dissident forced to do six months of hard labor in the salt mines as punishment

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as in childbirths

the act or process of giving birth to children the mother's labor lasted for six hours

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as in products

something produced by physical or intellectual effort a small, personal film that was clearly a labor of love for the director and actors

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labors

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of labor

as in struggles

to devote serious and sustained effort the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of labors

Noun

There’s a slickness to the carnage that rubs uncomfortably against the film’s humanist ethos, rendering artificial (for all Shen Teng’s trembling and mouth-contorting labors) the horrific tragedies that befall its characters. — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026 In these labors, Carson is akin to two other recent laureates, Jon Fosse and László Krasznahorkai, our foremost writers of holy fools. — Merve Emre, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026 Teaching and coaching are labors of love passed down from Lee’s father, Robert, who spent his career coaching and teaching students in Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools. — Pj Green august 27, Kansas City Star, 27 Aug. 2026 Exclusion generates the prestige toward which unpaid labors strive. — M. C. Mah, Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2026 Do not restrict yourself from enjoying the rewards of your labors. — Lisa Stardust, Vogue, 10 Aug. 2026 As emails and text messages tug at our sleeves, even a short lull in the labors of the day can feel like an indulgence. — Danny Heitman, Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2026 The dog watched over a three-bodied giant's red cattle, and was ultimately killed by Heracles as the demigod hero sought to complete his 12 labors. — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 24 July 2026 The results of those labors, Devil’s Quarry, debuts June 10 as Season Five of Bone Valley. — Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 9 June 2026

Verb

Thoroughly unimpressed by her suburban idyll, and evidently unmoved by her responsibilities as wife and mother, Denise labors in her basement on a novel whose protagonist wishes to forsake her family for a life in New York. — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2026 Every man and woman who labors in the construction industry deserves that. — Tim Dunn, Boston Herald, 5 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for labors

Noun

In Meta’s case, creepy video-recording incidents and privacy-light tampering have caused severe headaches for the company.

— Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026
Neurological symptoms, like persistent headaches, may also warrant seeing a doctor.

— Angelica Stabile , Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of headaches

Noun

The force, which rose to a peak of about 5,000 troops over the summer, has supported arrest operations, patrolled city streets and neighborhoods, and participated in cleanup efforts.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 15 Oct. 2026
The coffee shop is going to be the training ground for the organization’s new Latte Life Academy, which will be part of the nonprofit’s workforce training efforts.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of efforts

Noun

The gods themselves are also an unnerving presence, omnipresent beings of colossal power who see humans as their playthings and view Ulysses' toils as some twisted spectator sport.

— Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 July 2026
There has to be a chance that Jos Buttler’s toils in Sri Lanka and India represent his last ventures on the international stage, and therefore the end of an era.

— Paul Newman, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026

Definition of toils

Noun

The human neurons suffered severe, selective damage, mimicking the cellular breakdown that causes cerebral palsy in human infants during difficult childbirths.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026
Congo's has among the world's highest rates of both childbirths per woman and deaths around childbirth.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of childbirths

Noun

Last year, an investigation by Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union found that shoppers on Instacart were shown different prices for identical products at the same stores.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
The partnership grew from the NFL’s local merchandise collaboration initiative intended to add diversity to team products with highly localized offerings, the Chiefs said in announcing the collection.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of products

Verb

As energy supply struggles to keep pace with demand, those delays have drawn political attention and, finally, action, including significant legislation passed at the state level and a new bipartisan permitting reform bill proposed in the Senate.

— Dr. Sarah Kapnick, semafor.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Toxic haze has covered parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the smoke drifting across the region.

— Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of struggles

Noun

The protection of American jobs justified the chains of bondage, or so the argument went.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
Engagement is often seen as a metric about sentiment that can be measured and tracked, but is treated as something employees bring—or fail to bring—to their jobs.

— Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of jobs

Noun

Under a contributory infringement claim, all authors need to prove is that Meta facilitated transfers of their works.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 20 Oct. 2026
To sign off, Danchig-Waring didn’t just curate a matinee program with needle-moving classics alongside 21st-century works that reflect his love of process.

— Laura Regensdorf, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026