travail

[ truh-veyl, trav-eyl ]

/ trəˈveɪl, ˈtræv eɪl /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: travail / travailed / travailing / travails on Thesaurus.com

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR travail

1 labor, moil.

2 torment, agony.

See synonyms for travail on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use travail in a sentence

He returned home a pauper without a pension and 50 years later, at 70, chronicled the travails of the War of Independence.
McCain’s 13 Favorite Soldiers|Sandra McElwaine|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The whole history of Western film and TV is mostly the travails of wealthy people with problems only the wealthy can understand.
Complaining Like It’s 1999: ‘Fight Club,’ ‘American Beauty,’ and the Revolt of the Cubicle Drone|Arthur Chu|June 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ira is classic Moore; his travails feature her signature blend of absurdity and desperation.
This Week’s Hot Reads: February 18, 2014|Mythili Rao|February 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was he who guided us through the travails of early adulthood.
My Eulogy for My Father, Murray Frum|David Frum|May 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST

That quip reflected his own travails with thinking outside the box.
Peter Worthington on Thinking Outside the Box|David Frum|May 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They took with them two dogs, which drew well-laden travails (sledges), and hoped to arrive there in about nine days.
Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, Part III (the Text Being Chapters XXVIII-XXXIII of the London Edition, 1843, and the Appendix a Combination of the Appendices of the London and German [Coblentz, 1839] Editions)|Maximilian, Prinz von Wied
And so I leave the Captain, walking slowly, already forgetful of my recent travails, blind to the things about me.
'Neath Verdun, August-October, 1914|Maurice Genevoix
His heart yearns towards them; he travails over them in birth again.
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Galatians|G. G. Findlay
Better travails, I suppose, had the Stoics taken in this argument, as far as I can gather by that which we have at second hand.
The Advancement of Learning|Francis Bacon
More often the emotion precedes the conception; the vague, awed sense of God travails till a new thought is born among men.
The Right and Wrong Uses of the Bible|R. Heber Newton

British Dictionary definitions for travail

travail

/ (ˈtræveɪl) literary /

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

travail

OTHER WORDS FOR travail

Origin of travail

Words related to travail

How to use travail in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for travail

Word Origin for travail