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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of toils
Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 17 Oct. 2025
The film unfolds from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl named Qing (Aline Chen), who lives and works the land with her mother, Hongmei (Li Yanxi), while her father toils in a factory in a faraway city.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Noun
How Tielemans overcame early toils is often used as a source of encouragement by new additions who seem peripheral at first.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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
The film unfolds from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl named Qing (Aline Chen), who lives and works the land with her mother, Hongmei (Li Yanxi), while her father toils in a factory in a faraway city.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toils
Noun
-
Her hair is often a massive tangle of black curls, her nails are expertly polished, her huge brown eyes peer out from spidery lashes, and her skin is cocoa-butter smooth.—
Stephanie Mansfield,
Vogue,
2 Nov. 2025
-
These tangles grow into 30–40 nm particles.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency suggests a wooden, two-door trap to catch armadillos for removal.—
Kirsten Fiscus,
Nashville Tennessean,
29 Oct. 2025
-
The gear, often connected to a trap on the seafloor and a buoy at the surface, can wrap itself around whales’ mouths, tails and bodies, leaving them struggling to feed and even swim.—
Erika I. Ritchie,
Oc Register,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Mason, my character, really struggles with that.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
-
The book, illustrated by Petra Brown and geared toward kids ages 3 to 7, follows a young girl named Kat who struggles to continue horseback riding after falling off a horse.—
Anna Halkidis,
Parents,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Hit by the Wall Street crash in 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression, his spectacular 1932 downfall exposed a web of deception, and he was later found dead in what was ruled a suicide.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Up to 95 percent of a brand’s emissions sit outside its direct control, scattered across a messy web of suppliers, mills, logistics partners, and raw-material sources.—
Gus Bartholomew,
Sourcing Journal,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Every athlete faces the fear of failure and strives to uphold a standard.—
Charles Baggarly,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Unity strives for timely payment processing, typically aiming to complete clean claims within about a month, with accountability built into its agreements.—
Jason Phillips,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
According to the research team, both classical and quantum models of gravity would produce entanglement at different strengths depending on variables such as mass, separation distance, and experiment duration.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Though researchers logged no right whale deaths in the latest report, entanglements and vessel strikes remain a serious threat to the animals.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The Bosu ball squat also works your abdominal muscles as well as your hip and ankle stabilizers, which play a key role in keeping you steady.—
Jakob Roze,
Health,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Her brand, The Loom Art, works with over 500 artisans to make apparel from handwoven or hand-embroidered fabrics found across India's small towns since 2018.—
Priyanka Salve,
CNBC,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In other parts of the state, hoop nets and crab snares may be used.—
Linda Zavoral,
Mercury News,
26 Oct. 2025
-
LaFreniere said the bear had just about worked its way out of the snare, with the cable loop barely holding the bruin by a claw.—
Bob McNally,
Outdoor Life,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Toils.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toils. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share