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
“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
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS— After a few years of hard labor on Mars, you could excuse the Perseverance rover for taking a trip to the beach.
From Science Magazine • Mar. 13, 2024
On June 21, 1926, Burkhart was sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labor.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
