belabor

Imagine trying to build a simple birdhouse, but getting completely lost in the details—arguing over nail sizes, the exact shade of paint, and every tiny step, even though the plan was already clear. That's what this verb does in real life. It means pressing on a point, explaining, repeating, or dwelling on it so much that the message gets buried under extra fuss. You might belabor a point in a debate, trying to make sure someone understands, even after they clearly already do. Or a writer might belabor a scene by adding needless details that slow the story.

To belabor a point means to focus on it with too much force, whether by repeating it, overexplaining it, or adding extra details that were never needed. The result is often the same: the point becomes tedious, heavy-handed, and harder to follow. In most everyday use, the meaning is figurative, and it usually carries a negative edge.

You might belabor a point in a discussion if you're trying to convince someone and keep turning the same argument over and over, even after they agree. "He didn’t need to belabor the issue—we all knew the answer already."

It can also mean to handle something with unnecessary repetition in writing: a writer might belabor a description with too many adjectives and modifiers, making the passage feel cumbersome. A mechanic can belabor a simple repair by trying complicated shortcuts and spending too much time on a task that should have been straightforward.

The verb is also historically linked to a literal sense: to belabor someone can mean to beat or strike repeatedly. That sense is less common in modern speech than the figurative one, but it exists.

So, if you find yourself getting bogged down in details or repeating yourself endlessly, you might be belaboring something – and it's probably time to simplify your approach!