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
Someone who appreciates hard labor and thrills to the sight of heavy machinery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2024
At first condemned to hard labor, Wenjie catches the eye of the architects of a nearby scientific project run by the government.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
When Tendai first came to Dead Man’s Vlei, he wouldn’t have had the strength to pull himself up, but hard labor had toughened him.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
