labored

1. 1
   worked hardverb

   Simple past tense and past participle of labor. Use this form for work that happened in the past.

   The farmers labored under the hot sun all afternoon.

   He labored for hours to fix the old engine.

   Note
2. 2
   strainedadjective

   Showing that something is being done with a lot of hard effort.

   The old dog's breathing was slow and labored.

   He climbed the last few stairs with labored steps.

   Similarstrained, difficult, heavy

   Oppositeeasy, effortless

   Note
3. 3
   unnaturaladjective

   Of writing or speech, stiff and not natural because someone tried too hard.

   His jokes felt labored, and nobody laughed.

   The speech was so labored that people stopped listening.

   Similarforced, stilted, contrived, strained, stiff

   Oppositenatural, effortless, fluent

   Note

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