toil
1[ toil ]
/ tɔɪl /
noun
hard and continuous work; exhausting labor or effort.
a laborious task.
Archaic. battle; strife; struggle.
verb (used without object)
to engage in hard and continuous work; labor arduously: to toil in the fields.
to move or travel with difficulty, weariness, or pain.
verb (used with object)
to accomplish or produce by toil.
Words nearby toil
togs, togue, toheroa, tohubohu, tohunga, toil, toile, toile de jouy, toilet, toilet bowl, toilet paper
Origin of toil
11250–1300; Middle English toile (noun), toilen (v.) < Anglo-French toil contention, toiler to contend < Latin tudiculāre to stir up, beat, verbal derivative of tudicula machine for crushing olives, equivalent to tudi- (stem of tundere to beat) + -cula -cule2
SYNONYMS FOR toil
OTHER WORDS FROM toil
toil·er, nounun·toil·ing, adjectiveDefinition for toil (2 of 2)
toil2
[ toil ]
/ tɔɪl /
noun
Usually toils. 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.
Usually toils. trap; snare: to be caught in the toils of a gigantic criminal conspiracy.
Archaic. any snare or trap for wild beasts.
Origin of toil
21520–30; < French toile < Latin tēla web
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Examples from the Web for toil
British Dictionary definitions for toil (1 of 2)
toil1
/ (tɔɪl) /
noun
hard or exhausting work
an obsolete word for strife
verb
(intr) to labour
(intr) to progress with slow painful movementsto toil up a hill
(tr) archaic to achieve by toil
Derived forms of toil
toiler, nounWord Origin for toil
C13: from Anglo-French toiler to struggle, from Old French toeillier to confuse, from Latin tudiculāre to stir, from tudicula machine for bruising olives, from tudes a hammer, from tundere to beat
British Dictionary definitions for toil (2 of 2)
toil2
/ (tɔɪl) /
noun
(often plural) a net or snarethe toils of fortune had ensnared him
archaic a trap for wild beasts
Word Origin for toil
C16: from Old French toile, from Latin tēla loom
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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