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slave labour

slave labour

20 4.4
Work people are forced to do without pay, often under threat
  • noun
  • /sleɪv ˈleɪbər/
  • NSFW
translation icon : trabajo esclavo
  • You can't call yourself sustainable while using slave labor to produce your goods.
  • use of slave labour
  • built by slave labour
  • African slave labour

You can't call yourself sustainable while using slave labor to produce your goods.

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Examples

  • FLO isn't the only organization that has been working against the crisis of child slave labor.

    Academic text (2008)
  • In China, it seems like all of the businesses are run on slave labor.

  • Up here on the fourth floor, this is where all the slave labor takes place.

  • The army should not be a slave labor force.

    Academic text (1995)
  • After learning about child slave labor, I took some things into account.

    Blog text (4)
  • Together we can try to visit these slave labor camps and you can see it with your own eyes.

  • That money's nothing but a way for these people to keep us alive so they can continue using our slave labor.

  • Slave labor was used throughout the Sultanate to produce cloves and coconuts for export.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Many companies are criticized for exploiting slave labour in their supply chains.

  • The documentary highlighted the harsh conditions faced by workers involved in slave labour.

Synonyms

servitude
vsslave labour
  • NSFW
31 8.9

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

is focused on forced unpaid work rather than general subjection
enslavement
vsslave labour
  • NSFW
17 6.3

Being forced to work for someone as their slave

is about forced unpaid work rather than the broader state or act
slavery
vsslave labour
14 4.6

Very hard work done in bad conditions for little or no pay

is about forced unpaid work done under threat or coercion
bonded labor
vsslave labour
  • NSFW
1 8.9

An employer forces people and their families to work to pay a debt, often for generations

is forced unpaid work without the debt repayment requirement
wage slavery
vsslave labour
  • Slang
1 8.1

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

is about unpaid forced work rather than low paid coercion

Antonyms

180 3.7

Given by choice, not because someone forced you or paid you

1 1.0

Getting money for work you do

How Forced

slave labour
  • NSFW
20 4.4
unpaid
32 1.7
voluntary
180 3.7

Surface Forms

slave labour singular
slave labours plural
slave labors plural
slave labor singular

Morphology

slave + labor

The meaning is directly compositional: 'slave' (a person owned and forced to work) + 'labour' (work) straightforwardly yields 'work carried out by slaves/forced, unpaid work.' This is a common, cross-linguistically paralleled construction and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Slave labour comes from times when a slave was owned by another person and forced to do hard labour without pay. That's why slave labour today means 'work people are forced to do without pay'.