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

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

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

It was this period of his life which Robert afterwards described, as combining "the cheerless gloom of a hermit with the unceasing moil of galley-slave."

From Robert Burns by Shairp, John Campbell