moil

1 a state of noisy, confused activity went for a retreat at the monastery for a temporary respite from the moil of the modern world Synonyms ado, alarums and excursions, ballyhoo, blather, bluster, bobbery, bother, bustle, clatter, clutter [chiefly dialect], coil, corroboree [Australian], disturbance, do [chiefly dialect], foofaraw, fun, furor, furore, fuss, helter-skelter, hoo-ha (also hoo-hah), hoopla, hubble-bubble, hubbub, hullabaloo, hurly, hurly-burly, hurricane, hurry, hurry-scurry (or hurry-skurry), kerfuffle [chiefly British], commotion, pandemonium, pother, row, ruckus, ruction, rumpus, shindy, splore [Scottish], squall, stew, stir, storm, to-do, tumult, turmoil, uproar, welter, whirl, williwaw, zooRelated Words cacophony, clamor, din, howl, hue and cry, noise, outcry, racket, roar; disorder, unrest, upheaval; eruption, flare-up, flurry, flutter, outbreak, outburst; brawl, fracas, fray, hassle, melee (also mêlée), scuffle; dither, fever, fret, lather, tizzyNear Antonyms calm, hush, peace, quiet, quietude, rest, stillness, tranquillity (or tranquility); order, orderliness

2 very hard or unpleasant work fed up with the moil and moneygrubbing of Wall Street, he decided to open a bed-and-breakfast in Vermont Synonyms donkeywork, drudge, drudgery, fatigue, grind, labor, toil, slavery, sweat, travailRelated Words spadework; effort, exertion, pains, struggle, trouble; chore, duty, job, obligation, responsibility; routine, tedium, treadmillNear Antonyms decompression, ease, leisure, relaxation, repose, rest; amusement, dalliance, diversion, entertainment, recreation, sport; dormancy, idleness, inactivity, inertia, inertness; dallying, goldbricking, loafing, lolling, loungingAntonyms fun, play

1 to devote serious and sustained effort miners moiling all day in the sunless recesses of the earth Synonyms bang away, beaver (away), dig (away), drudge, endeavor, fag, grub, hump, hustle, labor, peg (away), plod, plow, plug, slave, slog, strain, strive, struggle, sweat, toil, travail, tug, workRelated 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, wadeNear 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

2 to be in a state of violent rolling motion the angry mob moiled around the courthouse Synonyms boil, churn, seethe, roilRelated Words reel, spin, swirl, whirl; agitate, stirNear Antonyms abate, calm, subside