toil

¹ American  

[toil] / tɔɪl /

noun

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

   Synonyms:

   pains, travail, exertion

   Antonyms:

   sloth, indolence

2. a laborious task.

3. Archaic. battle; strife; struggle.

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verb (used without object)

toils, present (3rd person singular) toiled, past participle, past toiling present participle

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)

toils, present (3rd person singular) toiled, past participle, past toiling present participle

1. to accomplish or produce by toil.

toil ² American  

[toil] / tɔɪl /

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.

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toil ¹ British  

/ tɔɪl /

noun

1. hard or exhausting work

2. an obsolete word for strife

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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

toil ² British  

/ tɔɪl /

noun

1. (often plural) a net or snare

   the toils of fortune had ensnared him

2. archaic a trap for wild beasts

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Usage

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. 

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• toiler
  noun
• untoiling
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• toiling
  present
• toiled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• toil
  simple
• toils
  simple
• have toiled
  perfect
• has toiled
  perfect
• am toiling
  progressive
• are toiling
  progressive
• is toiling
  progressive
• have been toiling
  perfect progressive
• has been toiling
  perfect progressive

Past

• toiled
  simple
• had toiled
  perfect
• was toiling
  progressive
• were toiling
  progressive
• had been toiling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will toil
  simple
• will have toiled
  perfect
• will be toiling
  progressive
• will have been toiling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

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”

Explanation

Toil is another word for work. You toil as a customer service rep all day, but you'd prefer to work as a rock goddess. Unfortunately, there weren't many ads in the employment section for goddesses — rock or otherwise. Although toil means "work" (in both its noun and verb forms), it usually has the added meaning of hard work, especially physical labor. If you'd lived during the Great Depression, you might have toiled on roadwork and conservation projects. Your toils would have created roads in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, for example. Thanks for all your hard work! Now, relax and enjoy the scenery.

Example Sentences

Against the drumbeat of the climate crisis, the inaugural show titled “Boil, Toil + Trouble,” at a pop-up space in Miami’s Design District, looks at water in all its forms.

From New York Times • Nov. 30, 2022

Double, Double Toil and Trouble Fundraiser features readings from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” a haunted maze and more; with Harry Hamlin.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2017

Back then, of course, if you didn’t get into the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, you could always settle for the North Carolina Crushing Toil Academy, which now, of course, is known as UNC.

From Time • May 18, 2015

Toil as he may, the steelworker’s chances of advancement seemed vanishingly small.

From Slate • Sep. 29, 2014

As the toiled bream makes red its tail, Toil you, Sir, for the Royal House; Amidst its blazing fires, nor quail:— Your parents see you pay your vows.

From The Wisdom of Confucius with Critical and Biographical Sketches by Wilson, Epiphanius

Related Words

• strive
• sweat