belabour

== English == === Alternative forms === (US spelling) belabor === Etymology === From be- (“on, upon, about, over”) +‎ labour. Compare bework, betoil, beswink. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /bɪˈleɪ.bə/ Rhymes: -eɪbə(ɹ) === Verb === belabour (third-person singular simple present belabours, present participle belabouring, simple past and past participle belaboured) (British spelling) (transitive, obsolete) To labour about; labour over; to work hard upon; to ply diligently. (transitive) To beat or thump (someone) soundly. Synonyms: buffet, thrash 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. (transitive) To attack (someone) verbally. (transitive) To discuss or explain (something) excessively or repeatedly; to harp on or overelaborate. 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, inaugural speech Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belabouring those problems which divide us. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ====