day labor
Americannoun
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workers hired on a daily basis only, especially unskilled labor.
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work done by a day laborer.
Etymology
Origin of day labor
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50
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.
Two in three workers in the region were in informal employment in 2023, such as day labor, lacking the kinds of protections that come from formal jobs.
From Seattle Times • May 28, 2024
Men have come to the shelter in the morning offering day labor in the farmlands to the east, and Martínez spent two long days this week picking onions.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2023
He changed jobs again, picking up better-paying day labor shifts, and said he no longer hoped to attend night school.
From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2023
Angel hoped to help Greenwell start a tree-planting business that could free him from the vicissitudes of day labor and help him build a future.
From Washington Post • Feb. 13, 2020
Many Irish immigrants remained mired in poverty, relying on sporadic day labor to keep them afloat.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
