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laborer Definition

la·borer (lā′bər ər)

noun

  1. a person who labors; esp., a wage-earning worker whose work is largely hard physical labor
  2. an unskilled or semiskilled worker who brings materials to, and does preparatory work for, skilled workers in a trade mason's laborer

Etymology: ME < OFr laboreor < laborer: see labor

laborer Synonyms

laborer

n.

worker, day laborer, unskilled worker, toiler, blue-collar worker, manual laborer; carpenter's helper, bricklayer's helper, etc.; ranch hand, farm hand, construction hand, etc.; apprentice, learner, hired man, hand, transient worker, seasonal laborer, ditch-digger, pick-and-shovel man, roust-about, stevedore, miner, street cleaner, thrall, helot, serf, villein, galley slave, wage slave, chattel, instrument, stooge*, robot*, automaton*, peon*, mercenary*, flunky*, lackey*, hireling*, hack*, beast of burden*; see also worker.

laborer Usage Examples

Possessives

wage: A talent, by the way, was a unit of money worth about fifteen years of a laborer's wage.

Converse of object

  • hire: Matthew 20 records a parable Jesus told about a householder who hired laborers for his vineyard.
  • force: By contrast, private firms remained adamant in their dismissal of claims by former forced laborers.
  • include: This is especially true with respect to the struggling members of society, including laborers, farmers, fishermen, and the unemployed.
  • employ: There were nine farmers employing 85 laborers and thirty eight small holders, employing no laborers.
  • pay: He agreed to pay the laborers a penny for the day, which were evidently the regular wages for the ordinary laborer.
  • have: What, therefore, has the laborer to complain of in America?

Adjective modifier

  • landless: Also present are between 50 and 100 Batwa families who live as landless laborers following their eviction from the forest in 1964.
  • forced: With respect to forced laborers, we have a much larger number.
  • unskilled: Others are farmers, fishermen, and unskilled laborers.
  • agricultural: Wages were no better than those offered to agricultural laborers.
  • foreign: How many foreign laborers are working in Taiwan, and what rights and protection do they have?
  • skilled: The successful farmer must be a skilled laborer, no matter the amount of his manual work.

Noun used with modifier

  • slave: Siemens was charged with extensive use of slave laborers.
  • farm: The word may mean farm laborer, tenant farmer, or farm owner.
  • wage: The capitalist, the wage laborer, as well as the landowner, are commodity owners who are formally independent from each other.
  • child: Most child laborers can be considered to be wage slaves.