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.
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
“It’s the first job I’ve had where I didn’t feel like it’s hard, hard labor or pressure,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2025
As a result, the trial judge denied Griner’s request for bail or house arrest, instead sentencing her to nine years of hard labor.
From Slate • May 4, 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
“Thank you,” I say, gloomily, as if I’ve just signed up for hard labor.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
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.
