belabor
Americanverb (used with object)
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to explain, worry about, or work at (something) repeatedly or more than is necessary.
He kept belaboring the point long after we had agreed.
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to assail persistently, as with scorn or ridicule.
a book that belabors the provincialism of his contemporaries.
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to beat vigorously; ply with heavy blows.
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Obsolete. to labor at.
Etymology
Origin of belabor
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.
His restraint suits a story in which machine-kind and humankind begin to feel shrink-wrapped together, the ghosts belabored by increasing social pressure, the humans jolted by high-voltage wires.
From Los Angeles Times
A belabored gait might mean he was carrying a stack of thick envelopes, the sort that indicate acceptance.
Olsen: I don’t want to belabor the point, but I’m so curious about this.
From Los Angeles Times
The reason to belabor this point is that precision matters.
From MarketWatch
That’s a big piece of this Vegas show without me nailing it on the head or belaboring the point.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
