belabour

English

Alternative forms

belabor (US)

Etymology

From be- (“about, around”) +‎ labour. Compare bework.

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -eɪbə(r)

Verb

belabour (third-person singular simple present belabours, present participle belabouring, simple past and past participle belaboured)

(transitive) To labour about; labour over; work hard upon; ply diligently.
(UK, transitive) To beat soundly; thump; beat someone.
- 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.
(UK, transitive) To attack someone verbally.
(UK, transitive) To discuss something repeatedly; to harp on.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. - Inaugural speech 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy