hard labor
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of hard labor
First recorded in 1850–55
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.
Plus, there was no getting around the fact that Ernesto was getting older, less desirable for hard labor.
From Slate • Jan. 27, 2026
After the war, Faÿ was sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor, but he escaped from prison in 1951 dressed in ecclesiastical costume, with the help of—here one reaches for the phrase “incredible but true”—Toklas.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
“I wanted to almost proclaim the beauty that is inherent in the really hard labor that mostly migrant workers do,” says Garcia.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 15, 2025
Planting seedlings is hard labor, and recruiting people to do it, especially on remote, rugged mountains, is harder than it was during the Great Depression.
From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2024
In a frenzy of hard labor, thousands have been built.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
