Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
bonded labor

bonded labor

1 8.9
An employer forces people and their families to work to pay a debt, often for generations
  • noun
  • /ˈbɑndɪd ˈleɪbər/
  • NSFW
translation icon : trabajo forzado
  • Bonded labor is considered the most exploitative situation for children.
  • child bonded labor

Examples

  • Say more about what you mean when you say that it's bonded labour because you are brought to a particular place with some hope.

  • Bonded labor is usually found in small undertakings in the informal or rural sectors.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Say more about what you mean when you say that it's bonded labour because you are brought to a particular place with some hope.

  • Selling our children into bonded labor?

    Blog text (29)

  • Dalits working in bonded labour continue to be a central issue in Pakistan.

    Blog text (26)

  • Dalits working in bonded labor continue to be a central issue in Pakistan.

    Blog text (26)

  • "Millions roam the country in pursuit of work, trading the want of the village for the indignity of bonded labor.

    Blog text (6)

  • In 1976, I began a research project to find out how prevalent this practice of virtual bonded labor or enslavement to moneylenders was.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Media reports on caste discrimination have included issues such as bonded labor, untouchability, kidnapping, and forced conversions of Dalits.

    Blog text (26)

  • Many families fall into bonded labor as they struggle to repay their debts.

Synonyms

slave
vsbonded labor
746 3.4

A person legally owned by someone else who must work without pay or freedom

is someone forced to work due to debt rather than being owned by another
slavery
vsbonded labor
225 4.8

A system where people are owned and forced to work without pay or rights

is a system where work is forced to pay a debt rather than ownership
servitude
vsbonded labor
  • NSFW
31 8.9

To be forced to work for and obey another person like a slave

is a form where work is forced to repay debt sometimes involving family
slave labour
vsbonded labor
  • NSFW
20 4.4

Work people are forced to do without pay, often under threat

is work forced specifically to repay a debt often involving families
bondage
vsbonded labor
16 8.6

A state of being controlled and treated like a slave by another person

is specifically work forced to repay a debt and can include families
wage slavery
vsbonded labor
  • Slang
1 8.1

A situation when people must work for very low pay with no control or choice

is work forced to repay debt rather than low pay or lack of options

Antonyms

freedom
489 1.1

Not having to do something a rule requires

How Coerced

slavery
225 4.8
slave labour
  • NSFW
20 4.4
bonded labor
  • NSFW
1 8.9
indentured
1 8.3

Surface Forms

bonded labor singular
bonded labors plural

Morphology

bonded + labor

The constituent 'labor' clearly means work and 'bonded' evokes being bound or tied, so a learner could infer this refers to work under constraint. However, the specific legal/socioeconomic sense of debt bondage and the full exploitative system is somewhat specialized and not fully predictable from the parts alone, and the adjective 'bonded' may be unfamiliar to B1 learners.

Etymology

Bonded labor comes from bonded, from the word 'bond' meaning a debt that 'ties' someone, and labor, meaning work. So it means being forced to work to 'pay off a debt', often in unfair conditions for many years.