laborer
Americannoun
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a person engaged in work that requires bodily strength rather than skill or training.
a laborer in the field.
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any worker.
Other Word Forms
- underlaborer noun
Etymology
Origin of laborer
Explanation
A laborer is a worker, especially a person who does some kind of physical work. A stone mason is a laborer, but you probably wouldn't call a poet a laborer. In the old days, the word laborer implied an unskilled or menial worker, like a day laborer on a farm who might be hired at an hourly rate to haul rocks out of a field, or a street paver's assistant. Today, a laborer is thought of as someone who works with her hands, often outside. Laborer comes from labor, in Old French "work, exertion, or task," from the Latin laborem, "toil, exertion, or fatigue."
Vocabulary lists containing laborer
The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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The Industrial Revolution - Middle School and High School
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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.
This laborer wants to know what you mean by labor becoming tokenized.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
The noise is in earshot of the IDEPSCA’s day laborer center, one of five operated by the organization that have supported workers for over two decades.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2025
He chatted with a day laborer who stopped by to grab a snack, and explained they were there to film any interactions with federal agents, as part of their national rapid-response effort.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2025
The glamour of Wall Street had replaced the dignity of the skilled laborer.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025
Other years, jobs like Pipeworks laborer, trash sifter, and mold scraper were mixed in.
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
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.
