labors

1. 1
   effortsnoun

   Plural of labor.

   The committee finally recognized the volunteers' tireless labors.

   Years of patient labors went into restoring the old cathedral.

   Note

   The plural appears when labor is counted as separate tasks or long stretches of effort, such as a scholar's labors or the labors of a campaign. As an uncountable noun, labor names work in general and takes no plural. Labors is the US spelling, and labours is the same word spelled the other way. Do not confuse it with the singular party names: Labor in Australia and Labour in the UK.

2. 2
   works hardverb

   Third-person singular simple present of labor.

   The engine labors whenever the truck climbs a steep grade.

   She labors quietly behind the scenes to keep the charity running.

   Note

   Here the subject is a single he, she or it, as in the engine labors or she labors. With I, you, we or they, the bare form labor returns. The verb covers both people toiling at a task and machines straining under load. Its spelling follows the plural noun: labors is the US standard, and labours is the matching spelling of labour.

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