toil

¹

[ toil ]

noun

1. hard and continuous work; exhausting labor or effort.

   Synonyms: travail, exertion, pains

   Antonyms: sloth, indolence

2. a laborious task.
3. Archaic. battle; strife; struggle.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in hard and continuous work; labor arduously:

   to toil in the fields.

   Synonyms: moil, strive

2. to move or travel with difficulty, weariness, or pain.

verb (used with object)

1. to accomplish or produce by toil.

toil

²

[ toil ]

noun

1. Usually toils.
   1. a net or series of nets in which game known to be in the area is trapped or into which game outside of the area is driven.
   2. trap; snare:

      to be caught in the toils of a gigantic criminal conspiracy.

2. Archaic. any snare or trap for wild beasts.

toil

¹

/ tɔɪl /

noun

1. often plural a net or snare

   the toils of fortune had ensnared him

2. archaic.
   a trap for wild beasts

toil

²

/ tɔɪl /

noun

1. hard or exhausting work
2. an obsolete word for strife

verb

1. intr to labour
2. intr to progress with slow painful movements

   to toil up a hill

3. archaic.
   tr to achieve by toil

Derived Forms

• ˈtoiler, noun

Other Words From

• toiler noun
• un·toiling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of toil¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun toil(e) “violent conflict, battle,” from Anglo-French toil(e), toyl “contention,” from Old French toeil, tooil “confusion, contention, battle,” ultimately from Latin tudiculāre “to stir up, beat,” verbal derivative of tudicula “machine for crushing olives,” equivalent to tudi- (stem of tundere “to strike, beat”) + -cula -cule ²

Origin of toil²

Fifst recorded in 1520–30; from French toile, from Latin tēla “web”

Word History and Origins

Origin of toil¹

C16: from Old French toile, from Latin tēla loom

Origin of toil²

C13: from Anglo-French toiler to struggle, from Old French toeillier to confuse, from Latin tudiculāre to stir, from tudicula machine for bruising olives, from tudes a hammer, from tundere to beat

Example Sentences

While Atkinson and Carse took a wicket each when the ball was new, their toil was much harder when the ball got soft.

From BBC

Then, as now, many of the people who toiled in agricultural fields were from Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times

They are a collection of excellent individuals who are forever toiling to find the consistency of potential champions.

From BBC

Australia toiled and managed to keep the run-rate down at 3.01, but they could have perhaps been more proactive with the short ball.

From BBC

Born in rural Puebla, they had been laboring since they were 6, tending to goats and cows and then toiling in cornfields.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• strive
• sweat

When To Use

What are other ways to say toil?

The noun toil refers to hard and continuous work. How is toil different from drudgery, labor, and work? Find out on Thesaurus.com.