Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who labors or works with body or mind, or both; specifically, one who is engaged in some toilsome physical occupation; in a more restricted sense, one who performs work which requires little skill or special training, as distinguished from a skilled workman; in the narrowest sense, such an unskilled workman engaged in labor other than that of a domestic servant, particularly in husbandry.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who labors in a toilsome occupation; a person who does work that requires strength rather than skill, as distinguished from that of an artisan.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who uses body strength instead of intellectual power to earn a wage, usually hourly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone who works with their hands; someone engaged in manual labor

Etymologies

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Examples

  • It may mean -- I hope so -- that they are going to provide a level of the wages between the so-called brain worker and the manual worker, for in Russia today, the laborer is the privileged class-the sort of "nouveau riche" of today, whereas the brain worker does not receive nearly so many privileges.

    Russia 1933

  • The term laborer as used in chapter five hundred and three of the acts of nineteen hundred and twelve, as amended by chapter forty-seven of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and fifteen and by chapter twenty - one of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and nineteen, providing for the pensioning of laborers in the employ of cities and towns and as used in chapter four hundred and thirteen of the acts of nineteen hundred and eleven, as amended by chapter three hundred and sixty-seven of the Pensioning of foremen, in - spectors, me - chanics, draw - tenders, assistant drawtenders and store - keepers in employ of cities and towns.

    Acts and resolves passed by the General Court 1663

  • The term laborer as used in chapter five hundred and three of the acts of nineteen hundred and twelve, as amended by chapter forty-seven of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and fifteen and by chapter twenty - one of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and nineteen, providing for the pensioning of laborers in the employ of cities and towns and as used in chapter four hundred and thirteen of the acts of nineteen hundred and eleven, as amended by chapter three hundred and sixty-seven of the Pensioning of foremen, in - spectors, me - chanics, draw - tenders, assistant drawtenders and store - keepers in employ of cities and towns.

    Acts and resolves passed by the General Court 1663

  • The trouble comes in the need to separate the laborer from the dangerous workplace, which requires a vast number of even common labor to retreat to the computer console. lgl

    Education and Growth, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • It would seem that the unfortunate British laborer is 'twixt the devil and the deep sea.

    THE SCAB 2010

  • It holds that the laborer is worthy of his hire, and that such as may be frugal, diligent and enterprising should reap the profit of their toil, nor be mulcted of the same by legislation in favor of the indigent and shiftless.

    The Principles of the Republican Party: A Rare Unpublished Jack London Essay 2010

  • The English laborer is starving to-day because, among other things, he is not a scab.

    THE SCAB 2010

  • But though the interest of the laborer is strictly connected with that of the society, he is incapable either of comprehending that interest, or of understanding its connection with his own.

    A Bland and Deadly Courtesy skzbrust 2009

  • The English laborer is faithful to the policy of Ca 'Canny.

    THE SCAB 2010

  • Because the British laborer is disinclined to scab, that is, because he restricts his output in order to give less for the wage he receives, it is to a certain extent made possible for the American capitalist, who receives a less restricted output from his laborers, to play the scab on the English capitalist.

    THE SCAB 2010

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