as in tangle
something that catches and holds
a married woman hopelessly caught in the toils of an extramarital affair
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in labors
to devote serious and sustained effort
toiled for many years on the mammoth outdoor sculpture
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of toils
Paul Newman, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Both were premised on the idea of frictionless ease, liberating their users from outmoded toils.
—Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2026
The conceit of narrating a year in one’s life through the toils and sensations of the kitchen is one that many have taken up before.
—Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Leo Barraclough, Variety, 13 May 2026
Yoriko toils in anonymity in Nagi as a sculptor of human figures hewn from raw blocks of wood.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2026
Union itself released a dramatic trailer set in a surgical amphitheater in which a medical team toils away at the sneaker.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 4 Feb. 2026
Several Democratic incumbents are seeing their young primary opponents boast impressive fundraising numbers as the party toils between placing its faith in its incumbent establishment or in a future featuring younger, more progressive candidates.
—Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 17 Oct. 2025
Noun
There has to be a chance that Jos Buttler’s toils in Sri Lanka and India represent his last ventures on the international stage, and therefore the end of an era.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Both were premised on the idea of frictionless ease, liberating their users from outmoded toils.
—Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2026
The conceit of narrating a year in one’s life through the toils and sensations of the kitchen is one that many have taken up before.
—Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Verb
While Alina toils in the greenhouses, Lucian makes new friends.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 13 May 2026
Yoriko toils in anonymity in Nagi as a sculptor of human figures hewn from raw blocks of wood.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2026
Union itself released a dramatic trailer set in a surgical amphitheater in which a medical team toils away at the sneaker.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 4 Feb. 2026
Several Democratic incumbents are seeing their young primary opponents boast impressive fundraising numbers as the party toils between placing its faith in its incumbent establishment or in a future featuring younger, more progressive candidates.
—Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toils
Noun
-
The design that emerges from this tangle of technological, institutional, urban, and aesthetic forces is a triumph of clarity.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
8 June 2026
-
Before 2014, bull kelp—a whip-like kelp with bulbous air bladders and trailing blades —stretched across Northern California’s coastline in dense tangles.—
Tatjana Baleta,
Time,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
Every man and woman who labors in the construction industry deserves that.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
If that’s true, Rajoub had set a trap.—
Chris Jones,
The Atlantic,
7 June 2026
-
That changed rapidly as Argentina flew out of the traps and picked apart their jaded opponents, going 2-0 up after 36 minutes, with the first goal a Messi penalty.—
Will Jeanes,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Verb
-
Ray struggles to hide his drink, to get a drink, to get away on his own and pursue his Sisyphean labors of hammering a bucket of baseballs off a tee and then wandering through the field to collect them and start again.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
12 June 2026
-
Roki Sasaki struggles in loss Former Dodger Miguel Vargas delivered the go-ahead hit for the White Sox in the fifth inning as part of a game-defining seven-run rally.—
Maddie Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Arte’s Franco-Iranian web series Happiness has won the audience award at Seriencamp, while the Cologne fest has reported record attendance.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
12 June 2026
-
Walken brings his signature idiosyncratic charm to his portrayal of Frank, whose motivations make for a fascinating web of contradictions.—
Eric Farwell,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
Rahma strives for a cinema-verité aesthetic, with footage sometimes shot on vintage digital cameras, but the show’s style can’t overcome the limits of its format.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
10 June 2026
-
That's in stark contrast to the graying parishioners at most Spanish churches at a moment the Catholic Church strives to engage with and remain relevant to youth.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
However, once Venus enters Leo, your intimate affairs and emotional entanglements get hotter, messier and impossible to ignore.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
5 June 2026
-
The gates made the code magical, letting the entanglement for space and the entanglement for matter affect each other.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
Stiller works the camera courtside.—
Chelsea Stahl,
NBC news,
9 June 2026
-
What kind of web survives the transition The technical question of how AI reads the web is also turning into a question about how the web works when AI is one of its main readers.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Toils.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toils. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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