slave labor
Americannoun
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persons, especially a large group, performing labor under duress or threats, as prisoners in a concentration camp; a labor force of slaves or slavelike prisoners.
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labor done by such a labor force.
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any coerced or poorly remunerated work.
Data entry at that salary is slave labor.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of slave labor
First recorded in 1810–20
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Today he works as an ambassador against slave labor for the International Labor Organization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
With the 1793 invention of the cotton gin—which separated cotton fibers from its seeds with a previously undreamed-of efficiency—America’s plantation economy expanded exponentially and so did its use of slave labor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Despite the horrific and complex system of slave labor camps, plantations and rural and urban settings — enslaved Africans musical traditions and instruments were upheld and passed down by generations.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2024
The agency’s online biography of von Braun, which runs for seven paragraphs, includes two sentences about his use of slave labor and his membership in the Nazi Party and the SS.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2023
More and more Europeans saw growing sugar in the New World with slave labor as the road to vast wealth.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
