# labored

Pronunciation: US say "LAY-burd" /ˈleɪ.bɚd/; UK say "LAY-buhd" /ˈleɪ.bəd/

## Verb

1. Simple past tense and past participle of labor. — simple past and past participle of labor
   - Simple: Simple past tense and past participle of labor. Use this form for work that happened in the past.
   - _The committee labored over every detail of the proposal._
   - _They had labored for years before the orchard finally bore fruit._

## Adjective

2. Showing signs of strenuous effort or strain.
   - Simple: Showing that something is being done with a lot of hard effort.
   - _Paramedics noticed his labored breathing and gave him oxygen._
   - _The engine's labored groan grew louder as the truck climbed the grade._
3. Of writing, speech, and the like: stiff and unnatural because too much effort went into producing it.
   - Simple: Of writing or speech, stiff and not natural because someone tried too hard.
   - _The novel's labored prose makes even the action scenes feel slow._
   - _Critics found the film's central metaphor labored and heavy-handed._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/labored (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).