belabor

especially British, be·la·bour

[bih-ley-ber]

verb (used with object)

1. to explain, worry about, or work at (something) repeatedly or more than is necessary.

   He kept belaboring the point long after we had agreed.

2. to assail persistently, as with scorn or ridicule.

   a book that belabors the provincialism of his contemporaries.

3. to beat vigorously; ply with heavy blows.

4. Obsolete.,  to labor at.

Word History and Origins

Origin of belabor¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; be- + labor

Example Sentences

That’s a big piece of this Vegas show without me nailing it on the head or belaboring the point.

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In this case, the vice president’s belabored justification for his lie is that a tiny percentage of the trillion dollars in question — the price tag of GOP health care cuts — is spent on legal immigrants.

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Even at 72 minutes, “Good Boy” is belabored in the middle stretch.

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Daisy began her journey at Downton Abbey as a belabored kitchen maid, but eventually the estate’s revered cook Mrs. Patmore took her under her wing.

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But this exhibitionistic Oedipus is the star of the show’s unnecessary preface, a belabored warmup act that should have been cut in rehearsals.

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Related Words

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