as in laboring
to devote serious and sustained effort
toiled for many years on the mammoth outdoor sculpture
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Recent Examples of toiling
This is, of course, nothing new to the series, and the players that don’t want to spend ages toiling away for a single car, let alone a single part, looking to simply hop on their couch and straight into a GR GT will appreciate this.
—
Adam Ismail, The Drive, 14 May 2026
Salieri, despite Bettany’s compelling performance, is a wearisome figure consumed by jealousy while clearly toiling under a storm of religious psychosis.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 May 2026
During the weekends, my partner and I will be out in the yard, toiling away at various landscaping and home improvement projects, and sometimes our neighbors are out doing the same.
—Judith Martin, Mercury News, 7 May 2026
Others — the dreamers and grinders, as Spencer Nusbaum described yesterday — have to take second jobs to make ends meet while toiling away in minor-league baseball.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2026
The Hippocratic doctors vigorously denounced the religious healers of the day, such as the priests toiling in the temple of Asclepius.
—Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
After months of toiling over the build, the supplier facility produced a version of the product, but on the back of the display, 35 grooves were installed instead of 25.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2026
Medieval monks toiling away at poetic meditations on the divine have their place, the authors allow, but their own arguments are meant to surpass mere abstract justifications for belief.
—Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
The craft, once passed down through generations, is now facing the reality that fewer young people—seduced by high-flying, big-city office jobs—are interested in toiling in its timeworn factories.
—Jessica Binns, Sourcing Journal, 18 Mar. 2026
Adam Ismail, The Drive, 14 May 2026
Salieri, despite Bettany’s compelling performance, is a wearisome figure consumed by jealousy while clearly toiling under a storm of religious psychosis.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 May 2026
During the weekends, my partner and I will be out in the yard, toiling away at various landscaping and home improvement projects, and sometimes our neighbors are out doing the same.
—Judith Martin, Mercury News, 7 May 2026
Others — the dreamers and grinders, as Spencer Nusbaum described yesterday — have to take second jobs to make ends meet while toiling away in minor-league baseball.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2026
The Hippocratic doctors vigorously denounced the religious healers of the day, such as the priests toiling in the temple of Asclepius.
—Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
After months of toiling over the build, the supplier facility produced a version of the product, but on the back of the display, 35 grooves were installed instead of 25.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2026
Medieval monks toiling away at poetic meditations on the divine have their place, the authors allow, but their own arguments are meant to surpass mere abstract justifications for belief.
—Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
The craft, once passed down through generations, is now facing the reality that fewer young people—seduced by high-flying, big-city office jobs—are interested in toiling in its timeworn factories.
—Jessica Binns, Sourcing Journal, 18 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toiling
Verb
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Makar has played in every game this postseason, but was clearly laboring in Game 5 against the Minnesota Wild.—
Corey Masisak,
Denver Post,
20 May 2026
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Imagine a place of employment where everyone in the building is laboring to live out their childhood dream.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
10 May 2026
Verb
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Many libraries’ orders went unfulfilled, and all but the largest ones were left struggling to get popular titles to their patrons.—
Adeel Hassan,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
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Across Oahu’s North Shore, an area famed for its big-wave surfing, the small farms that help supply the island’s food are struggling after back-to-back storms in March brought the state’s worst flooding in two decades.—
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
Verb
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Veering between striving and settling, a person caught in the greatness trap struggles to admire the best without making everything else seem worse.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
22 May 2026
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The other is striving to create the framework that may be vital for the future.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
Verb
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By late summer, as the government’s funding was set to run out again, Jeffries was working closely with Schumer to make sure that Democrats in the House and the Senate were in alignment.—
Jason Zengerle,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
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Across all of them, AI is working where the operating model was ready for it.—
Dennis Woodside,
Fortune,
17 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Toiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toiling. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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