slave labor
noun
variants
US slave labor
or chiefly British slave labour
1
: work that is done by enslaved people or by people who are treated as though they are enslaved
prisoners being forced to do slave labor
a slave labor camp
2
: enslaved people doing work
The pyramids were built by slave labor.
slave laborer
noun
(chiefly US) or chiefly British slave labourer
plural slave laborers
… The Statue of Freedom—the figure of a Native American woman warrior that stands on the dome—was cast in bronze by slave laborers in 1863 and hoisted up there.
—
Jack E. White
Jack E. White
Examples of slave labor in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Saw tells his followers he was forced into slave labor at an Imperial work camp on his home planet Onderon.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2025
The country of slave labor and KKK patrols isn’t far removed from the country where Oscar Grant III, the subject of Coogler’s first feature, Fruitvale Station (2013), was shot in the back and murdered by a cop who would only serve an 11-month sentence.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2025
There’s nothing quite like the experience of traveling the country as a Black person, a country built by our ancestors on slave labor, and still feeling unwelcome, still feeling subject to patrols and abuse made legal with badges and laws.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2025
This form of sabotage happened a lot during WWII when the Nazis used slave labor to make weapons.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slave labor
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Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2025
The country of slave labor and KKK patrols isn’t far removed from the country where Oscar Grant III, the subject of Coogler’s first feature, Fruitvale Station (2013), was shot in the back and murdered by a cop who would only serve an 11-month sentence.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2025
There’s nothing quite like the experience of traveling the country as a Black person, a country built by our ancestors on slave labor, and still feeling unwelcome, still feeling subject to patrols and abuse made legal with badges and laws.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2025
This form of sabotage happened a lot during WWII when the Nazis used slave labor to make weapons.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slave labor
Cite this Entry
“Slave labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20labor. Accessed 12 May. 2025.
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