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
Explanation
Belabor means to go at something with everything you've got. When you say, "Don't belabor or agonize over the decision," it means, "Move on." Belabor is made up of the Latin roots be and labor meaning "to exert one's strength upon." You can belabor a point by using excessive detail, or you could belabor the obvious by stating over and over what everyone already knows. Belaboring can be a physical attack as well. A person can belabor or beat the living daylights out of you with a club.
Vocabulary lists containing belabor
myPerspectives 10.3
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The Prince and The Pauper
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Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 2
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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.
I appreciate the performers not wanting to belabor their lines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
The reason to belabor this point is that precision matters.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 12, 2025
I won’t belabor the biographical details except to note that from his debarment in 1989 till his death in 2024, Rose tirelessly lobbied for reinstatement, and each time, the commissioner refused.
From Salon ● May 24, 2025
Reporter: “Not to belabor the point, but from what you have been told or what you have been asked ... ”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
Yea, & the Rest, who will line up Tomorrow & belabor my Quill, tho’ they hear this Missive is already sent.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
