Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Something that binds, snares, or entangles one; an entrapment.
- noun Archaic A net for trapping game.
- intransitive verb To labor continuously; work strenuously.
- intransitive verb To proceed with difficulty.
- noun Exhausting labor or effort. synonym: work.
- noun Archaic Strife; contention.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In the toils, ensnared; captured.
- noun A net, snare, or gin; any web, cord, or thread spread for taking prey.
- To pull about; tug; drag.
- To harass; weary or exhaust by toil: often used reflexively (whence later, by omission of the reflexive pronoun, the intransitive use): sometimes with out.
- To labor; work; till.
- To work, especially for a considerable time, and with great or painful fatigue of body or mind; labor.
- To move or travel with difficulty, weariness, or pain.
- Synonyms To drudge, moil, strive. See the noun.
- noun Confusion; turmoil; uproar; struggle; tussle.
- noun Harassing labor; labor accompanied with fatigue and pain; exhausting effort.
- noun A work accomplished; an achievement.
- noun Synonyms Labor, Drudgery, etc. (see
work , n.); effort, exertion, pains.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To exert strength with pain and fatigue of body or mind, especially of the body, with efforts of some continuance or duration; to labor; to work.
- transitive verb obsolete To weary; to overlabor.
- transitive verb rare To labor; to work; -- often with
out . - noun Labor with pain and fatigue; labor that oppresses the body or mind, esp. the body.
- noun A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey; -- usually in the plural.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
labour ,work - noun
trouble ,strife - noun A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey; usually in the plural.
- verb intransitive To
labour ;work . - verb intransitive To
struggle .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun productive work (especially physical work done for wages)
- verb work hard
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word toil.
Examples
-
The fact is, the peon of Mexico, so far as liberty and a share in the happiness produced by his toil is concerned, is as much a slave as he ever was.
-
Some are rich they have money enough for a thousand men all to themselves — and they live without occupation; others bow their backs in toil all their life, and they haven't a penny.
Fomá Gordyéeff 2010
-
A curse was laid upon them, it would seem, and they must work it out in toil and hardship.
KEESH, SON OF KEESH 2010
-
At the same time, critics, perhaps especially critics who are not themselves "creative" writers, ought more often to acknowledge that this toil is only compounded in the labor performed by poets and novelists.
-
The best of nights and days of toil is that there comes a twilight in which fatigued eyes see clear.
-
BUT THEN, it happens, we make the cheesecake – all the ingredients come together and in the midst of toil is perfection!
Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » It’s all about the cheesecake 2009
-
You know what that sum really means in toil and effort and work; work, here, there and everywhere on every farm right over this great country.
-
Work songs of all kinds sustained the rhythm of the hand in toil, while the mind escaped on the wing of romance.
-
Therefore in addition to adequate wages, Labor demands a fair share of the profits resulting from the industry, its toil is aiding to develop.
-
The fact is, the peon of Mexico, so far as liberty and a share in the happiness produced by his toil is concerned, is as much a slave as he ever was.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.