toil
1 Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
-
hard or exhausting work
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an obsolete word for strife
verb
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(intr) to labour
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(intr) to progress with slow painful movements
to toil up a hill
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archaic (tr) to achieve by toil
noun
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(often plural) a net or snare
the toils of fortune had ensnared him
-
archaic a trap for wild beasts
Usage
What are other ways to say toil?
The noun toil refers to hard and continuous work. How is toil different from drudgery, labor, and work? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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toilsimple
-
toilssimple
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have toiledperfect
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has toiledperfect
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am toilingprogressive
-
are toilingprogressive
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is toilingprogressive
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have been toilingperfect progressive
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has been toilingperfect progressive
Past
-
toiledsimple
-
had toiledperfect
-
was toilingprogressive
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were toilingprogressive
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had been toilingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of toil1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun toil(e) “violent conflict, battle,” from Anglo-French toil(e), toyl “contention,” from Old French toeil, tooil “confusion, contention, battle,” ultimately from Latin tudiculāre “to stir up, beat,” verbal derivative of tudicula “machine for crushing olives,” equivalent to tudi- (stem of tundere “to strike, beat”) + -cula -cule 2
Origin of toil2
Fifst recorded in 1520–30; from French toile, from Latin tēla “web”
Explanation
Toil is another word for work. You toil as a customer service rep all day, but you'd prefer to work as a rock goddess. Unfortunately, there weren't many ads in the employment section for goddesses — rock or otherwise. Although toil means "work" (in both its noun and verb forms), it usually has the added meaning of hard work, especially physical labor. If you'd lived during the Great Depression, you might have toiled on roadwork and conservation projects. Your toils would have created roads in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, for example. Thanks for all your hard work! Now, relax and enjoy the scenery.
Vocabulary lists containing toil
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Labor Day Lexicon: Words That Put You To Work
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Animal Farm
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This is an incredible start to their adult life; most working people take years of toil to get to that level.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Putting my first special out has been so liberating because as a comedian, we can toil and toil forever, moving punchlines around, moving premises around, and new current events can influence your content.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Ulster's night went from bad to worse as they began to toil in the heat.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Escaping the dirt and sweaty toil of the farm was her goal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
It seemed a confirmation—we were in the wilderness now—and a gratifying, totally commensurate reward for a day of hard toil.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
CHERAW, S.C.—Inside a Schaeffler SHA0 -3.78%decrease; red down pointing triangle auto-parts factory, a most unusual worker toils away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
As Baraa toils on, he longs for a return to a normal life with prospects of more profitable employment.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
Co-produced with Edgar Barrera and Sky Rompiendo, the song toils with the wistfulness of what never came to be, and the hope of what could become.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024
Even “Minari,” which chronicled the toils of a Korean immigrant family, offered a rare look at Asian American life in rural Arkansas.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2023
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
County team — toiled for days to reach Gil, who worked as a security guard in an underground parking structure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
Veteran Jessica Pegula, 32, the top-ranked American who also toiled away on the sport’s lower tier before becoming a top-10 mainstay, appreciates Liu’s resolve.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Before becoming a delivery driver, he toiled for nearly two years in factories, working 12-hour shifts while making about $170 a month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
The transition might not be working out for Iona Macdonald - but she has no intention of going back to the industry where she toiled for a quarter of a century.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Long before Garfield and his family boarded the train from Mentor to Washington a few days earlier, he had toiled over naming his cabinet members.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
He turned pro in 2012 and spent years toiling away on the PGA Tour of Australasia, and only notched his first European Tour win in 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
With two more days of good weather expected, India have the chance to keep a tired England toiling and bat them out of the game on day three.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Thousands have spent the past three days similarly toiling away, without government support.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
Working, after all, is how a majority of people must spend most of their waking hours, and toiling away in an industry or at a position you find grating will undoubtedly make you miserable.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
Away from the book I imagined myself to be Goriot, toiling away just beyond the edges of a world he could not enter.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
