toil

¹toil

noun \ˈtȯi(-ə)l\

Definition of TOIL

1

archaic

a : struggle, battle

b : laborious effort

2

: long strenuous fatiguing labor

— toil·ful \-fəl\ adjective

— toil·ful·ly \-fə-lē\ adverb

Origin of TOIL

Middle English toile, from Anglo-French toyl, from toiller

First Known Use: 14th century

²toil

verb

Definition of TOIL

intransitive verb

1

: to work hard and long

2

: to proceed with laborious effort : plod

transitive verb

1

archaic : overwork

2

archaic : to get or accomplish with great effort

— toil·er \ˈtȯi-lər\ noun

Examples of TOIL

1. workers toiling in the fields
2. They were toiling up a steep hill.

Origin of TOIL

Middle English, to argue, struggle, from Anglo-French toiller to make dirty, fight, wrangle, from Latin tudiculare to crush, grind, from tudicula machine for crushing olives, diminutive of tudes hammer; akin to Latin tundere to beat — more at contusion

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to TOIL

Synonyms

bang away, beaver (away), dig (away), drudge, endeavor, fag, grub, hump, hustle, moil, peg (away), plod, plow, plug, slave, slog, strain, strive, struggle, sweat, labor, travail, tug, work

Related Words

apply (oneself), buckle (down), dig in, hammer (away), knuckle down, pitch in; attack, drive; essay, try; exercise, exert, overexert, overwork; eke out, grind (out), put out, scrabble, scratch; trudge, wade

Near Antonyms

break, ease (up), let up, slacken; bum, chill, dally, dillydally, footle, goldbrick, goof (off), hack (around), hang (around or out), idle, laze, loaf, lounge, shirk, slack (off), veg out; bask, loll, relax, repose, rest, unwind; dabble, doodle, fool around, fribble, goof (around), hang, hang about [British], mess around, monkey (around), play, potter (around), putter (around), trifle

Rhymes with TOIL

boil, broil, coil, foil, moil, oil, royal, soil, spoil

³toil

noun

Definition of TOIL

1

: a net to trap game

2

: something by which one is held fast or inextricably involved : snare, trap —usually used in plural <caught in the toils of the law>

Origin of TOIL

Middle French toile cloth, net, from Old French teile, Latin tela cloth on a loom — more at subtle

First Known Use: circa 1529