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.
Origin of toil
1
1250–1300; 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, noun un·toil·ing, adjectiveWords nearby toil
togs,
togue,
toheroa,
tohubohu,
tohunga,
toil,
toile,
toile de jouy,
toilet,
toilet bowl,
toilet paper
Definition for toil (2 of 2)
toil
2
[ 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
2
1520–30; < French
toile < Latin
tēla web
Example sentences from the Web for toil
British Dictionary definitions for toil (1 of 2)
toil
1
/ (tɔɪl) /
noun
hard or exhausting work
an obsolete word for strife
verb
(intr)
to labour
(intr)
to progress with slow painful movements
to 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)
toil
2
/ (tɔɪl) /
noun
(often plural)
a net or snare
the 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