moil

American  

[moil] / mɔɪl /

verb (used without object)

1. to work hard; drudge.

2. to whirl or churn ceaselessly; twist; eddy.

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verb (used with object)

1. Archaic. to wet or smear.

noun

1. hard work or drudgery.

2. confusion, turmoil, or trouble.

3. Glassmaking. a superfluous piece of glass formed during blowing and removed in the finishing operation.

4. Mining. a short hand tool with a polygonal point, used for breaking or prying out rock.

moil British  

/ mɔɪl /

verb

1. to moisten or soil or become moist, soiled, etc

2. (intr) to toil or drudge (esp in the phrase toil and moil )

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noun

1. toil; drudgery

2. confusion; turmoil

Other Word Forms

• moiler noun
• moilingly adverb
• unmoiled adjective

Etymology

Origin of moil

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English mollen, mulllen, “to make or get wet and muddy,” from Middle French moillier, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin molliāre, derivative of Latin mollis “soft”

Example Sentences

Last week, he dashed into a moil of rioting Juliette Barnes fans to save Maddie when a shelf fell on her head.

From Slate • Apr. 2, 2013

The New York Herald Tribune hissed: "L'Universite, c'est moil" On the bulletin board of Columbia's Law School appeared a scrawl: "Heil Butler!"

From Time Magazine Archive

The scene becomes a moil of solo showing off, a gleeful choreographic cadenza that no choreographer could plot.

From Time Magazine Archive

But finally, fearing lest the moil and ferment at international headquarters should come in some more violent manner to his ears, his wife and his daughter, Commissioner Catherine Booth, gently informed him.

From Time Magazine Archive

I say it's a great comfort and uplift to Malc and me when we toil and moil and perspire up here, to remember there's one lady in the family anyhow.

From 'Lizbeth of the Dale by MacGregor, Mary Esther Miller