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Labor of love   /lˈeɪbər əv ləv/   Listen
noun
Love  n.  
1.
A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; preeminent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness; as, the love of brothers and sisters. "Of all the dearest bonds we prove Thou countest sons' and mothers' love Most sacred, most Thine own."
2.
Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate affection for, one of the opposite sex. "He on his side Leaning half-raised, with looks of cordial love Hung over her enamored."
3.
Courtship; chiefly in the phrase to make love, i. e., to court, to woo, to solicit union in marriage. "Demetrius... Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena, And won her soul."
4.
Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or desire; fondness; good will; opposed to hate; often with of and an object. "Love, and health to all." "Smit with the love of sacred song." "The love of science faintly warmed his breast."
5.
Due gratitude and reverence to God. "Keep yourselves in the love of God."
6.
The object of affection; often employed in endearing address; as, he held his love in his arms; his greatest love was reading. "Trust me, love." "Open the temple gates unto my love."
7.
Cupid, the god of love; sometimes, Venus. "Such was his form as painters, when they show Their utmost art, on naked Lores bestow." "Therefore do nimble-pinioned doves draw Love."
8.
A thin silk stuff. (Obs.)
9.
(Bot.) A climbing species of Clematis (Clematis Vitalba).
10.
Nothing; no points scored on one side; used in counting score at tennis, etc. "He won the match by three sets to love."
11.
Sexual intercourse; a euphemism. Note: Love is often used in the formation of compounds, in most of which the meaning is very obvious; as, love-cracked, love-darting, love-killing, love-linked, love-taught, etc.
A labor of love, a labor undertaken on account of regard for some person, or through pleasure in the work itself, without expectation of reward.
Free love, the doctrine or practice of consorting with one of the opposite sex, at pleasure, without marriage. See Free love.
Free lover, one who avows or practices free love.
In love, in the act of loving; said esp. of the love of the sexes; as, to be in love; to fall in love.
Love apple (Bot.), the tomato.
Love bird (Zool.), any one of several species of small, short-tailed parrots, or parrakeets, of the genus Agapornis, and allied genera. They are mostly from Africa. Some species are often kept as cage birds, and are celebrated for the affection which they show for their mates.
Love broker, a person who for pay acts as agent between lovers, or as a go-between in a sexual intrigue.
Love charm, a charm for exciting love.
Love child. an illegitimate child.
Love day, a day formerly appointed for an amicable adjustment of differences. (Obs.)
Love drink, a love potion; a philter.
Love favor, something given to be worn in token of love.
Love feast, a religious festival, held quarterly by some religious denominations, as the Moravians and Methodists, in imitation of the agapae of the early Christians.
Love feat, the gallant act of a lover.
Love game, a game, as in tennis, in which the vanquished person or party does not score a point.
Love grass. (Bot.) Any grass of the genus Eragrostis.
Love-in-a-mist. (Bot.)
(a)
An herb of the Buttercup family (Nigella Damascena) having the flowers hidden in a maze of finely cut bracts.
(b)
The West Indian Passiflora foetida, which has similar bracts.
Love-in-idleness (Bot.), a kind of violet; the small pansy. "A little western flower, Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound; And maidens call it love-in-idleness."
Love juice, juice of a plant supposed to produce love.
Love knot, a knot or bow, as of ribbon; so called from being used as a token of love, or as a pledge of mutual affection.
Love lass, a sweetheart.
Love letter, a letter of courtship.
Love-lies-bleeding (Bot.), a species of amaranth (Amarantus melancholicus).
Love match, a marriage brought about by love alone.
Love potion, a compounded draught intended to excite love, or venereal desire.
Love rites, sexual intercourse.
Love scene, an exhibition of love, as between lovers on the stage.
Love suit, courtship.
Of all loves, for the sake of all love; by all means. (Obs.) "Mrs. Arden desired him of all loves to come back again."
The god of love, or The Love god, Cupid.
To make love, to engage in sexual intercourse; a euphemism.
To make love to, to express affection for; to woo. "If you will marry, make your loves to me."
To play for love, to play a game, as at cards, without stakes. "A game at piquet for love."
Synonyms: Affection; friendship; kindness; tenderness; fondness; delight.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Labor of love" Quotes from Famous Books



... labor of love for me, in this connection, to pay a tribute of respect, by name, to the many able and most patriotic officers with whom I was so long associated as the commanding generals of military divisions and departments, as well as staff-officers; but I must forego the ...
— The Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman, Complete • William T. Sherman
... for so many years, dating from the foundation of our government, connected with the diplomatic history of the country, as an able, successful and distinguished negotiator. The career of this gentleman has been so marked, and is so instructive, that it becomes not less a labor of love than an act of public duty, with the press, to make it the occasion of comment. At the breaking out of our revolution, the father of the subject of this imperfect sketch was an eminent loyalist of Massachusetts, residing ...
— International Weekly Miscellany, Vol. I, No. 6 - Of Literature, Art, And Science, New York, August 5, 1850 • Various
... could not be content with idleness. She took up the work that she and Natalie had begun, devoting herself unobtrusively yet effectively to making O'Neil comfortable. It was a labor of love, done with no expectation of reward; it thrilled her, filling her with mingled sadness and satisfaction. But if Murray noticed the improvement in his surroundings, which she sometimes doubted, he evidently attributed it to a sudden access ...
— The Iron Trail • Rex Beach
... the book to quite a thick volume. Some copies have been sold in America, but the price which dealers were compelled to charge for it, in its original shape, prevented the wide circulation that it merited, and which its author undoubtedly desired for it, for it seems to have been a labor of love with him, the interest of the race in his wonderful theories evidently being placed above financial returns by Mr. Leland. Believing that the author's ideas and wishes would be well carried out by the publication of an American edition printed in the usual ...
— The Mystic Will • Charles Godfrey Leland
... there is between him who enters on a labor of love and the hireling who works for pay! In this case, then, it may easily be supposed with a mother's ardent affection on the one hand, how different was the cold professional service rendered by the nurse who replaced Mrs. Johnson: ...
— The Mysteries of Montreal - Being Recollections of a Female Physician • Charlotte Fuhrer
... Professor Corson is well informed upon the poetic literature of the age, is an admirably clear writer, and brings to the subject he has in hand ample knowledge and due— we had almost said undue— reverence. It has been a labor of love, and he has performed it well. The book will be a popular one, as readers who are not familiar with or do not understand Browning's poetry either from incompetency, indolence, or lack of time, can here gain a fair idea of Browning's poetical aims, influence, and works without much effort, ...
— A Brief History of the English Language and Literature, Vol. 2 (of 2) • John Miller Dow Meiklejohn
... our journey pursue, Roll round with the year And never stand still till the Master appear. His adorable will let us gladly fulfil And our talents improve By the patience of hope and the labor of love. ...
— The Story of the Hymns and Tunes • Theron Brown and Hezekiah Butterworth
... little boy into their own family, and provided everything necessary for his good; and all this with- out the hope of remuneration. But let them know, they shall be "recompensed at the resurrection of the just." God is not unmindful of this work,—this labor of love. As for the afflicted mother, she too has been remembered. The heart of a stranger was moved with compassion, and bestowed a recipe upon her for restoring gray hair to its former color. She availed herself ...
— Our Nig • Harriet E. Wilson
... was a labor of love to Lady Lanswell. She did not wish to be cruel; on the contrary, now that she had gained her wish, she felt something like pity for the girl she had so entirely crushed. Lord Chandos would have been ...
— A Mad Love • Bertha M. Clay


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