belabor
Americanverb (used with object)
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to explain, worry about, or work at (something) repeatedly or more than is necessary.
He kept belaboring the point long after we had agreed.
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to assail persistently, as with scorn or ridicule.
a book that belabors the provincialism of his contemporaries.
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to beat vigorously; ply with heavy blows.
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Obsolete. to labor at.
Etymology
Origin of belabor
Explanation
Belabor means to go at something with everything you've got. When you say, "Don't belabor or agonize over the decision," it means, "Move on." Belabor is made up of the Latin roots be and labor meaning "to exert one's strength upon." You can belabor a point by using excessive detail, or you could belabor the obvious by stating over and over what everyone already knows. Belaboring can be a physical attack as well. A person can belabor or beat the living daylights out of you with a club.
Vocabulary lists containing belabor
myPerspectives 10.3
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The Prince and The Pauper
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Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 2
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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.
Not to belabor the reptile references, but Byrne is something of a creative chameleon, moving easily from drama to comedy to horror, film to television to stage and back again.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026
The reason to belabor this point is that precision matters.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 12, 2025
“I think we came together as a region and realized that the investment wasn’t producing the results that we had hoped collectively, and we didn’t belabor the point.”
From Seattle Times • Feb. 15, 2024
Despite the tense exchange between the judge and Kise, Suarez continued to belabor the process.
From Salon • Oct. 4, 2023
Yea, & the Rest, who will line up Tomorrow & belabor my Quill, tho’ they hear this Missive is already sent.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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.
