From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhard labourˌhard ˈlabour British English, hard labor American English noun [uncountable] SCpunishment in prison which consists of hard physical work
Examples from the Corpus
hard labour• And hard labour ... the railway navvies remembered by a rock band.• Theo took a shorter journey-to Wormwood Scrubs, where he did four months' hard labour.• The Vote reported one incident of child assault in Surrey, where a man was sentenced to only four months hard labour.• He was given six months' hard labour after he refused on principle to pay the fine.• Charged with obscenity the magistrates gave them six months hard labour each.• However, an extra month's hard labour made good the loss.• But the hard labour for criminals which replaced judicial execution was so appalling that it was in effect a living death.• Workers who lose their jobs are sent to farm camps, along with bureaucrats doing two weeks' hard labour. 