travail

[truh-veyl, trav-eyl]

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noun

painfully difficult or burdensome work; toil.

pain, anguish or suffering resulting from mental or physical hardship.

the pain of childbirth.

verb (used without object)

to suffer the pangs of childbirth; be in labor.

to toil or exert oneself.

Origin of travail

1200–50; (v.) Middle English travaillen < Old French travaillier to torment < Vulgar Latin *trepaliāre to torture, derivative of Late Latin trepālium torture chamber, literally, instrument of torture made with three stakes (see tri-, pale²); (noun) Middle English < Old French: suffering, derivative of travailler

Synonyms for travail

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR travail ON THESAURUS.COM

1. labor, moil. 2. torment, agony.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for travail

woe, agony, anguish, tribulation, exertion, stress, distress, work, suffering, labor, drudgery, toil, childbirth, effort, parturition, pains

Examples from the Web for travail

Historical Examples of travail

As he drove he mused over what Travail would say when he saw these shells.
Made in Tanganyika
Carl Richard Jacobi
But it could be that Travail knew of the value of Sutter's shell collection.
Made in Tanganyika
Carl Richard Jacobi
"I was looking for my tobacco pouch," Travail replied easily.
Made in Tanganyika
Carl Richard Jacobi
"I'll do nothing of the sort," said Travail, starting to back away.
Made in Tanganyika
Carl Richard Jacobi
His hands shook, his stalwart frame trembled as with the agony of travail.
His Masterpiece
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for travail

travail

noun

painful or excessive labour or exertion

the pangs of childbirth; labour

verb

(intr) to suffer or labour painfully, esp in childbirth

Word Origin for travail

C13: from Old French travaillier, from Vulgar Latin tripaliāre (unattested) to torture, from Late Latin trepālium instrument of torture, from Latin tripālis having three stakes, from trēs three + pālus stake

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for travail

"labor, toil," mid-13c., from Old French travail "suffering or painful effort, trouble" (12c.), from travailler "to toil, labor," originally "to trouble, torture," from Vulgar Latin *tripaliare "to torture," from *tripalium (in Late Latin trepalium) "instrument of torture," probably from Latin tripalis "having three stakes" (from tria, tres "three" + palus "stake"), which sounds ominous, but the exact notion is obscure. The verb is recorded from late 13c.