moil

American  

[moil] / mɔɪl /

verb (used without object)

1. to work hard; drudge.

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

---

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 )

---

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

Across a bridge and a pond is Erickson's most controversial creation: the courthouse, an airy, elegant edifice that opens the murky moil of the law to the light and the public gaze.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ill-health having retired him from the moil of politics, he has been teaching law at the University of Colorado since 1917.

From Time Magazine Archive

While light and darkness moil and wrangle, the wife makes her inner decision.

From Time Magazine Archive

For nearly two hours did they toil and moil over the narrow limits of that sea-girt rock—yet victory leaned to neither side.

From Erling the Bold by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)