toil

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

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Rhymes with TOIL

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