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

See Examples For:

division of labor

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

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026

Reduced armor may go hand in hand with other helpful social traits, including cooperative foraging, shared nest defense, and division of labor, all of which tend to become more pronounced as colonies grow.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 22, 2025

Expect a rebalanced division of labor: The technical layer gets faster and cheaper; the human layer shifts toward supervision, coordination, complex judgment, relationship work and exception handling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 22, 2025

In my research, I’ve studied how couples navigate the transition to parenthood, and found that the division of labor often becomes a major source of stress for moms.

From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2025

Truman’s contingent is not big enough for a division of labor.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove