Belabour

/bɪˈleɪ.bə/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive, obsolete) To labour about; labour over; to work hard upon; to ply diligently..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive, obsolete) To labour about; labour over; to work hard upon; to ply diligently.
2. (transitive) To beat or thump (someone) soundly.
3. (transitive) To attack (someone) verbally.
4. (transitive) To discuss or explain (something) excessively or repeatedly; to harp on or overelaborate.

Example Sentences

1856: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling He saw the village; he was seen coming bending forward upon his horse, belabouring it with great blows, the girths dripping with blood.

[F]ew country people there are who do not love to see two sturdy fellows thwack and belabour each other with quarter-staff, single-stick, or fists.

1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, inaugural speech Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belabouring those problems which divide us.

And so, to belabour the school metaphor, diehard fans of both those fallen leaders resent this pair for snitching in class.

Synonyms for belabour

Antonyms for belabour

Related Words

Word Forms

• belabours
• belabouring
• belaboured
• belabor

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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