Main Entry:

²toil

Function:

verb

Etymology:

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

Date:

14th century

intransitive verb1: to work hard and long2: to proceed with laborious effort : plodtransitive verb1archaic : overwork2archaic : to get or accomplish with great effort

— toil·er \ˈtȯi-lər\ noun