overlabour

noun, verb — 4 senses

overlabour

noun

/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈleɪbə(ɹ)/

Etymology From over- + labour (noun).

1

Excessive labour.

a disease which he had brought upon himself, by his over-labour at a Siege1684, John Dryden, The History of the League, translation of Histoire de la Ligue by Louis Maimbourg:

overlabour

verb

Etymology From Middle English over-labouren, equivalent to over- + labour (verb).

1

To cause to labour excessively; to overwork.

But over labour'd with ſo long a Courſe, Tis time to ſet at eaſe the ſmoaking Horſe.1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 95:
overlabor the employees

2

To labour upon excessively; to refine unduly.

overlabor ornaments

3

To belabour or emphasise excessively.

overlabor the point
I don't want to overlabour what is obvious here.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.