toil1
- hard and continuous work; exhausting labor or effort.
- a laborious task.
- Archaic. battle; strife; struggle.
- to engage in hard and continuous work; labor arduously: to toil in the fields.
- to move or travel with difficulty, weariness, or pain.
- to accomplish or produce by toil.
Origin of toil1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for toil on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Examples from the Web for toiled
Contemporary Examples
He toiled without money to do that, but for him it had been an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding experience.
For six years, Hillary Clinton has toiled in the shadow of Barack Obama.
John le Carré is notorious for taking the establishment for which he once toiled as a spy at its lowest estimation.
“There were certainly lessons learned from the 2012 campaign,” says Tim Miller, who toiled as RNC spokesman during the cycle.
The two met on the Bush campaign, where Ted toiled in the domestic policy shop.
Historical Examples
She and he had toiled side by side like real partners; her efforts had been real and unstinted.
DustMr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
He was a man of iron mind and frame, and toiled unceasingly.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
And still the bull-dog, with grim certitude, toiled after him.
White FangJack London
But at front and rear, unawed and indomitable, toiled the two men who were not yet dead.
White FangJack London
All day she toiled in a garden, and at night she worked with her needle.
toil1
- hard or exhausting work
- an obsolete word for strife
- (intr) to labour
- (intr) to progress with slow painful movementsto toil up a hill
- (tr) archaic to achieve by toil
Word Origin
toil2
- (often plural) a net or snarethe toils of fortune had ensnared him
- archaic a trap for wild beasts
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for toiled
toil
n.1
"hard work," c.1300, "turmoil, contention, dispute," from Anglo-French toil (13c.), from toiler "agitate, stir up, entangle," from Old French toeillier "drag about, make dirty" (12c.), usually said to be from Latin tudiculare "crush with a small hammer," from tudicula "mill for crushing olives, instrument for crushing," from root of tundere "to pound" (see obtuse). Sense of "hard work, labor" (1590s) is from the related verb (see toil (v.)).
toil
n.2
"net, snare," 1520s, from Middle French toile "hunting net, cloth, web" (cf. toile d'araignée "cobweb"), from Old French teile, from Latin tela "web, woven stuff," related to texere "to weave" (see texture). Now used largely in plural (caught in the toils of the law).
toil
v.
c.1300, toilen, "pull at, tug;" late 14c. as "struggle, work, labor," from Anglo-French tuailler, Old French toellier (see toil (n.1)). Related: Toiled; toiling.