division of labor

American  

[dih-vizh-uhn uhv ley-ber] / dɪˈvɪʒ ən əv ˈleɪ bər /

noun

Economics.

1. a production process in which a worker or group of workers is assigned a specialized task in order to increase efficiency.

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division of labor Cultural  

1. Dividing a job into many specialized parts, with a single worker or a few workers assigned to each part. Division of labor is important to mass production.

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Etymology

Origin of division of labor

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

The division of labor is precise: The U.S. focuses on the ballistic and drone threats to its regional bases and on the Iranian navy, which has mostly been destroyed.

From The Wall Street Journal

If assembly members prefer hands-on education, perhaps they have embraced a division of labor in which some members of the deliberative body became learned in silencing dissent while others were hard at work studying the prevention of dancing.

From The Wall Street Journal

The division of labor in a marriage often results in one person handling the banking, subscriptions, passwords and more.

From The Wall Street Journal

He doesn’t even know how the division of labor started.

From MarketWatch

Ask yourself which countries are likely to prevail: Those that afford their industries relatively free access to a global division of labor?

From The Wall Street Journal