slave labor

American  

noun

1. persons, especially a large group, performing labor under duress or threats, as prisoners in a concentration camp; a labor force of slaves or slavelike prisoners.

2. labor done by such a labor force.

3. any coerced or poorly remunerated work.

   Data entry at that salary is slave labor.

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Other Word Forms

• slave-labor adjective

Etymology

Origin of slave labor

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

With the 1793 invention of the cotton gin—which separated cotton fibers from its seeds with a previously undreamed-of efficiency—America’s plantation economy expanded exponentially and so did its use of slave labor.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

Tim Dillon was scheduled to perform, but was later dropped by the Riyadh festival, he said, because of jokes he made about Saudi Arabia’s alleged use of slave labor.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2025

Despite the horrific and complex system of slave labor camps, plantations and rural and urban settings — enslaved Africans musical traditions and instruments were upheld and passed down by generations.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2024

The agency’s online biography of von Braun, which runs for seven paragraphs, includes two sentences about his use of slave labor and his membership in the Nazi Party and the SS.

From Slate • Aug. 1, 2023

And when the White House officially reopened to the public on New Year’s Day 1818, the restored mansion—like the original—had been built with slave labor.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis