Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

travail

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of travail

1 a state of great suffering of body or mind

  • no greater travail than that of parents who have suffered the death of a child
Synonyms of travail

affliction, agony, anguish, distress, excruciation, hurt, misery, pain, rack, strait(s), torment, torture, tribulation, woe
Words Related to travail

discomfort

cross, crucible, trial

heartache, heartbreak, joylessness, sadness, sorrow, unhappiness

emergency, pinch

asperity, difficulty, hardship, rigor

ache, pang, smarting, soreness, stitch, throe, twinge

danger, jeopardy, trouble
Near Antonyms of travail

comfort, consolation, solace

alleviation, assuagement, ease, relief

peace, security

well-being

2 very hard or unpleasant work

  • these villagers now have decent housing, so our travail has not been in vain
Synonyms of travail

donkeywork, drudge, drudgery, fatigue, grind, labor, moil, slavery, sweat, toil
Words Related to travail

spadework

effort, exertion, pains, struggle, trouble

chore, duty, job, obligation, responsibility

routine, tedium, treadmill
Near Antonyms of travail

decompression, ease, leisure, relaxation, repose, rest

amusement, dalliance, diversion, entertainment, recreation, sport

dormancy, idleness, inactivity, inertia, inertness

dallying, goldbricking, loafing, lolling, lounging
Antonyms of travail

fun, play

3 the act or process of giving birth to children

  • a midwife assisted her throughout her long travail
Synonyms of travail

accouchement, childbearing, childbirth, delivery, labor, parturition
Words Related to travail

birth pang, contraction, pains

pregnancy

abortion, miscarriage

cesarean section (or caesarean section), natural childbirth

childbed, confinement, lying-in

Synonym Discussion of travail

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

travail

verb

Synonyms and Antonyms of travail

to devote serious and sustained effort

  • Labor Day is the day on which we recognize those men and women who daily travail with little appreciation or compensation
Synonyms of travail

bang away, beaver (away), dig (away), drudge, endeavor, fag, grub, hump, hustle, labor, moil, peg (away), plod, plow, plug, slave, slog, strain, strive, struggle, sweat, toil, tug, work
Words Related to travail

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, wade
Phrases Synonymous with travail

sweat blood
Near Antonyms of travail

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

Learn More about travail

  1. See words that rhyme with travail Dictionary: Definition of travail Medical Dictionary: Definition of travail

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up travail? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show comments hide comments

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games