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
• unmoiled
  adjective
• moilingly
  adverb

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

Said the lean old man: "The Tremolin coal trust, c'est moil" Then Gardon led the reporter to his backyard to see the mine fields.

From Time Magazine Archive

Facing the awesome grandeur and cruel humors of the weather, ancient man was forced to attribute the mysterious cosmic moil to deities.

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

It was a busy place long before London Bridge was built—a place of throng and moil as far back as the centuries before the coming of the Romans.

From Westminster The Fascination of London by Smith, A. Murray, Mrs.