day labor
Americannoun
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workers hired on a daily basis only, especially unskilled labor.
-
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
But the lockdown was brutally hard on the poorest Indians and those who rely on day labor to survive.
From New York Times ● May 29, 2020
Angel hoped to help Greenwell start a tree-planting business that could free him from the vicissitudes of day labor and help him build a future.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 13, 2020
I thought of their husbands, desperately seeking day labor in the city, trying to find any work that they could.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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.
