day labor

noun

1. workers hired on a daily basis only, especially unskilled labor.
2. work done by a day laborer.

Word History and Origins

Origin of day labor¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

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

At the front of the room, an easygoing, bearded man named Fred DuBon — who used to show up at Casa Latina for day labor, and now manages its worker center — scans the members’ cards before they go into the big lottery jug: the kind of five-gallon plastic cylinder you’d see on top of a water cooler, except with its top cut off.

From Seattle Times

Children find roofing work through churches, in Facebook groups and at day labor sites, where workers of all ages gather in the mornings in hopes of being chosen for jobs.

From Seattle Times

He wound up at a day labor market in Beijing in September after his family’s restaurant in northeast China went bankrupt.

From Washington Times

He wound up at a day labor market in Beijing in September after his family’s restaurant in northeast China went bankrupt.

From Seattle Times