day labourday laborn.
/ˈdeɪ leɪbə/, U.S. /ˈdeɪ ˌleɪbər/ 1. Labour undertaken as the work of the day. Later: work (esp. physical work) arranged on a daily basis, often considered as a resource or commodity. Also in plural.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > work done by the day or week
day labourc1449
daywork1602
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 383 Whanne money is paied to..a laborer in a vyne gardein for his day labour.
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. D3v For his hyre any handi craft-man,..will ploddingly do his day-labor.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age ii. ii. iii. 239 Such as escaped, fled into Holland, to save their unhappy lives by Day-labour.
1673 J. Milton Sonnets xvi, in Poems (new ed.) 59 Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd, I fondly ask.
1696 Rev. Universal Remedy for Dis. incident to Coin 11 Some little Money indeed is stirring in this City, which supplies the Markets, serves to purchase things absolutely necessary, and pays the Price of Day-Labour, that could not be had without it.
1749 G. Berkeley Word to Wise 26 I have myself known a Man,..by pure dint of Day-labour, Frugality, and Foresight, to have grown wealthy.
1791 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse §85 An expence..as low, in regard to the value of day labour, as could possibly be expected.
1848 J. M. Wilson Rural Cycl. II. 233/1 The same class of men who perform all kinds of drudgery and day-labour in large towns.
a1861 T. Winthrop John Brent (1862) i. 11 In a few months more, I should have spent my last dollar and have gone to day labor, perhaps among the Pikes.
1908 W. St. Clair Baddeley Cotteswold Shrine 76 At the same hour ended his day-labours.
1911 Rep. Labour & Social Conditions in Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. vi– vii. 207 Half the labour is piece and the other half is day labour.
2009 A. Valenzuela in R. A. Gutiérrez & P. Zavella Mexicans in Calif. ii. 36 Other evidence suggests that in recent years, paid temporary day labor has increased.
2. Workers (esp. manual workers) hired by the day, considered collectively.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to conditions > [noun] > hireling > hired by the day > collectively
day labour1839
1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall xv. 569 Though in some mines day-labour is also used under ground.
1907 M. A. Crosby et al. in U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 310. 11 While most of the work was performed by day labor, part was done by farm hands who were getting $10 a month.
1991 N. Rush Mating i. 9 Partygivers could afford to keep their landscapes green by hiring day labor on the cheap to do handwatering so as to get around the ban on watering by hosepipe.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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