English

Alternative forms

• forced labour

Noun

forced labor ‎(uncountable)

1. Work which one is compelled to perform against one's will, especially in a condition of involuntary servitude as a prisoner or slave.
   • 1839, Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle, ch. 19 "Australia,"

     The power which the government possesses, by means of forced labour, of at once opening good roads throughout the country, has been, I believe, one main cause of the early prosperity of this colony.

   • 2007, David Lague, "China Tries to Contain Scandal Over Slave Labor With Arrests and Apology," New York Times, 23 June,

     The outcry over forced labor is a serious blow to the ruling Communist Party.

Translations

See also

• hard labor
• unfree labor

References

• "forced labor" in Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2007 Microsoft Corporation.
• "forced labor" in Deardorff's Glossary of International Economics © Alan V. Deardorff, 2000, 2001.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989. See "forced."