A ship is said to labour when it struggles violently against heavy weather, exhibiting deep, sluggish, or erratic pitching and rolling. This motion stresses the structural timbers, hull plating, and rigging far beyond normal parameters. A labouring vessel often fails to recover smoothly from wave impacts, signaling to the master that speed must be reduced or the heading changed to prevent structural damage or cargo shift.
Heard on the job
She began to labour heavily in the trough of the waves, so the old man ordered us to heave to.
Also heard as
- labor