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

See Examples For:

moil

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

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

IX Amid Homeric moil and treachery the city of Shanghai changed hands, last week, falling to China's best detested War Lord, Chang Tsung-chang, called "Chang of Shantung."

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

I moil and toil, inch and pinch, work day and night to mend his clothes and get his food ready, and this is what I get for it.

From Mrs. Bindle Some Incidents from the Domestic Life of the Bindles by Hebert Jenkins