Belabor
to explain, worry about, or work at (something) repeatedly or more than is necessary:
He kept belaboring the point long after we had agreed.
to assail persistently, as with scorn or ridicule:
a book that belabors the provincialism of his contemporaries.
to beat vigorously; ply with heavy blows.
Obsolete. to labor at.
Contemporary Examples
To belabor the comparison a bit, the same could be said for the American Dream.
Scotland’s ‘Yes’ Campaign and the Myth of Scottish Equality Noah Caldwell September 17, 2014
And she chose the dinner party where he was the guest to belabor him with this abuse.
Rediscovering Richard Dawkins: An Interview J.P. O’Malley September 22, 2013
And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination.
Sorry, Dad, I’m Voting for Obama Christopher Buckley October 9, 2008
Historical Examples
And if she limped a little, she no doubt owed that to the poor woman, whom old Macquart used to belabor with blows.
L’Assommoir Emile Zola
And picking up a pillow he started to belabor his chum with it.
The Radio Boys on Secret Service Duty Gerald Breckenridge
An old man stood up and began to belabor the frightened animal.
The Rainy Day Railroad War Holman Day
Roger had already laid aside his gun, and picking up a long stick, he commenced to belabor some of the coiled snakes.
The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia Harrison Adams
Like lubberly monks, we belabor our own shoulders, and take a vast satisfaction in the music of our own groans.
Knickerbocker’s History of New York, Complete Washington Irving
They got mad at my stumbling over them, took away my parcel and began to belabor me.
Ralph on the Engine Allen Chapman
Unable to see the joke, I twisted off one of the legs of the little table and, thus armed, began to belabor the pugnacious brute.
The Satyricon, Volume 5 (Crotona Affairs) Petronius Arbiter
v.
1590s, “to exert one’s strength upon,” from be- + labor (v.). But figurative sense of “assail with words” is attested somewhat earlier (1590s); and belabored is attested from mid-15c. with a sense of “tilled, cultivated.”
Read Also:
- Befuddle
to confuse, as with glib statements or arguments: politicians befuddling the public with campaign promises. to make stupidly drunk. Contemporary Examples I suspect this will buoy liberal spirits, but anger the right and befuddle the independents. Daily Beast Contributors Weigh In on Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address January 24, 2012 Historical Examples It […]
- Belaud
to praise excessively. Historical Examples I cannot understand those folk who sniff at the English music-hall and belaud the Parisian shows. Nights in London Thomas Burke As may be imagined, I defended peace in the one, and did my best to belaud his Excellency in the other. The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the […]
- Belay
Nautical. to fasten (a rope) by winding around a pin or short rod inserted in a holder so that both ends of the rod are clear. Mountain Climbing. to secure (a person) by attaching to one end of a rope. to secure (a rope) by attaching to a person or to an object offering stable […]
- Belaying cleat
cleat (def 8).
- Belaying pin
a short, round bar of metal or wood, inserted in a fife rail or pin rail, to which a rope is belayed. Historical Examples If they had shirked it, the redoubtable “Bully” would have made attendance compulsory with a belaying pin. A Memory Of The Southern Seas Louis Becke I sent a belaying pin after […]