day laborer

noun

: one who works for daily wages especially as an unskilled laborer

Examples of day laborer in a Sentence

They hire day laborers to pick the apples.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Few sites, however, became such frequent battlegrounds as the parking lots of Home Depots, where day laborers congregate, or were hit as persistently and severely as the open air car washes that dot sunny Southern California. Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2026 The Los Angeles region was rocked last year by sprawling immigration raids targeting day laborers and factory workers. Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 20 May 2026 The productions employed over 425,000 people, hundreds of thousands of extras and day laborers, as well as hundreds of vendors, everything from caterers to historical advisers. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 12 May 2026 Natalie’s husband, Caleb, is the youngest son of a senator and a terrible farmer whose failures on their Idaho land have to be propped up by day laborers, secret barrels of pesticides, and Natalie’s social-media income. Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for day laborer

Word History

First Known Use

1528, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of day laborer was in 1528

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Cite this Entry

“Day laborer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/day%20laborer. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.

Kids Definition

day laborer

noun
: one who works by the day or for daily wages especially as an unskilled laborer
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