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

These cornerstones of democracy are failures, they tell us, as they toil away to ensure that it is so.

From Slate

In 2022, a Times investigation found that California’s massive illegal marijuana market pushes legal growers toward financial ruin, exacerbates community violence, causes massive amounts of environmental degradation and forces laborers to toil in squalid and often dangerous conditions.

From Los Angeles Times

The psychological toll of Lennon’s addictions is palpable, as is the personal toil that was required for him to will yet another album into being.

From Salon

The scorpion has depths that ensure their insides will also be pried open — whether they like it or not, and no matter how hard they may toil and calculate to keep all their secrets.

From Los Angeles Times

England’s response to Pakistan’s total was a step into the unknown, an exercise in giving context to their bowlers’ toil of the previous four sessions.

From BBC

Related Words

• strive
• sweat