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Belabour

//bɪˈleɪ.bə// verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To labour about; labour over; to work hard upon; to ply diligently. UK, obsolete, transitive
  2. 2
    attack verbally with harsh criticism wordnet
  3. 3
    To beat or thump (someone) soundly. UK, transitive

    "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."

  4. 4
    beat soundly wordnet
  5. 5
    To attack (someone) verbally. UK, transitive
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    to work at or to absurd length wordnet
  2. 7
    To discuss or explain (something) excessively or repeatedly; to harp on or overelaborate. UK, transitive

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

Etymology

From be- (“on, upon, about, over”) + labour. Compare bework, betoil, beswink.

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