toil

play

noun \ ˈtȯi(-ə)l \

Definition of toil

1 :long strenuous fatiguing labor

2 archaic

a :struggle, battle

b :laborious effort

—

toilful

play \-fəl\ adjective

—

toilfully

play \-fə-lē\ adverb

Origin and Etymology of toil

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of toil

work, labor, travail, toil, drudgery, grind mean activity involving effort or exertion. work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

- too tired to do any work

labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

- farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

- years of travail were lost when the house burned

toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

- his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

- an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

- the grind of the assembly line

toil

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

—

toiler

play \ˈtȯi-lər\ noun

See toil defined for English-language learners

Examples of toil in a Sentence

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

Origin and Etymology 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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year