A label is a piece of paper, fabric, or other material attached to something that gives information about it. Labels tell you what's inside a jar, what size a shirt is, how to wash your clothes, or who made a product. The nutrition label on a cereal box tells you how much sugar and vitamins are in each serving. The label inside your winter coat might list the materials it's made from and warn you not to put it in the dryer.

The word also means to describe someone or something using a category or name. When you label a folder “Science Notes” or label jars in the kitchen “Flour” and “Sugar,” you're identifying what things are. Teachers might label boxes of supplies so students know where to find scissors or markers.

But labeling people can be tricky and sometimes unfair. When someone gets labeled as “the troublemaker” or “the shy kid,” that single description can stick even when it doesn't capture who they really are. A student might act out one week because of problems at home, but if everyone labels them a troublemaker, they might start to believe it themselves. People are complex and change over time, so a simple label rarely tells the whole story about a person.