day labor
Americannoun
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workers hired on a daily basis only, especially unskilled labor.
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work done by a day laborer.
Etymology
Origin of day labor
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50
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.
They held signs that read “Protect our workers” and “Defend day labor centers! Boycott Home Depot.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026
He wound up at a day labor market in Beijing in September after his family’s restaurant in northeast China went bankrupt.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 20, 2023
He changed jobs again, picking up better-paying day labor shifts, and said he no longer hoped to attend night school.
From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2023
One of the substantial victories of the 1934 Bay Area strike was the replacement of the shape-up system—the informal hustle for day labor work—with a union-operated hiring hall that worked to racially integrate the workforce.
From Salon • Apr. 11, 2019
She hadn’t known anything, really, of day labor, the life of apprentices.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
