Toil

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Toil, n. [F. toiles, pl., toils, nets, fr. toile cloth, canvas, spider web, fr. L. tela any woven stuff, a web, fr. texere to weave. See Text, and cf. Toilet.].

 A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey; -- usually in the plural.  [1913 Webster]
"As a Numidian lion, when first caught,
Endures the toil that holds him."  [1913 Webster]
"Then toils for beasts, and lime for birds, were found."  [1913 Webster]

Toil, v. i. [OE. toilen to pull about, to toil; of uncertain origin; cf. OD. teulen, tuylen, to labor, till, or OF. tooillier, toailler, to wash, rub (cf. Towel); or perhaps ultimately from the same root as E. tug.].

 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.  [1913 Webster]

Toil, v. t. 

•  To weary; to overlabor.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  To labor; to work; -- often with out.  [1913 Webster]

  "Places well toiled and husbanded."  [1913 Webster]

  "[I] toiled out my uncouth passage."  [1913 Webster]

Toil, n. [OE. toil turmoil, struggle; cf. OD. tuyl labor, work. See Toil, v.].

 Labor with pain and fatigue; labor that oppresses the body or mind, esp. the body.  [1913 Webster]
" Toil is used in the formation of compounds which are generally of obvious signification; as, toil-strung, toil-wasted, toil-worn, and the like."  [1913 Webster]
"My task of servile toil."  [1913 Webster]
"After such bloody toil, we bid good night."  [1913 Webster]
"You do not know the heavy grievances,
The toils, the labors, weary drudgeries,
Which they impose."  [1913 Webster]
"How often have I blessed the coming day,
When toil remitting lent its turn to play."  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Labor; drudgery; work; exertion; occupation; employment; task; travail.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Toil, v. & n.
--v.intr.
1 work laboriously or incessantly.
2 make slow painful progress (toiled along the path).
--n. prolonged or intensive labour; drudgery.

Idiom

toil-worn worn or worn out by toil.

Derivative

toiler n.

Etymology

ME f. AF toiler (v.), toil (n.), dispute, OF tooilier, tooil, f. L tudiculare stir about f. tudicula machine for bruising olives, rel. to tundere beat

THESAURUS

Toil

bait, be employed, birdlime, bola, burden, carry on business, cobweb, cramp, cripple, cumber, dig, dirty work, do business, donkeywork, dragnet, drive, drudge, drudgery, embarrass, employment, encumber, enmesh, ensnarl, entangle, entoil, entrammel, entrap, entwine, fag, fatigue, fetter, fishhook, fly, follow a trade, gill net, grind, ground bait, grub, hammer, hammer away, hamper, hamstring, handicap, handiwork, handwork, have a job, hobble, hook, impede, industry, involve, jig, keep up, labor, lame, lariat, lasso, lick, lick of work, lime, lumber, lure, manual labor, meshes, moil, moonlight, muck, net, noose, peg, peg away, plod, plug, plug along, plug away, pound away, pound net, practice a profession, press down, purse seine, rat race, saddle with, scut work, seine, set up shop, shackle, slave, slavery, slog, slogging, slop, snare, snarl, sniggle, spadework, spinner, springe, squid, stay employed, stodge, strain, strive, stroke, stroke of work, sweat, tangle, task, tiresome work, toils, trammel, transact business, trash, travail, trawl, treadmill, trudge, tug, wade through, weigh down, wobbler, work, work at, work away, work for

ROGET THESAURUS

Toil

Exertion

N exertion, effort, strain, tug, pull, stress, throw, stretch, struggle, spell, spurt, spirt, stroke of work, stitch of work, a strong pull a long pull and a pull all together, dead lift, heft, gymnastics, exercise, exercitation, wear and tear, ado, toil and trouble, uphill work, hard work, warm work, harvest time, labor, work, toil, travail, manual labor, sweat of one's brow, swink, drudgery, slavery, fagging, hammering, limae labor, industry, industriousness, operoseness, operosity, trouble, pains, duty, resolution, energy, laboring, laborious, operose, elaborate, strained, toilsome, troublesome, wearisome, uphill, herculean, gymnastic, palestric, hard-working, painstaking, strenuous, energetic, hard at work, on the stretch, laboriously, lustily, pugnis et calcibus, with might and main, with all one's might, with a strong hand, with a sledge hammer, with much ado, to the best of one's abilities, totis viribus, vi et armis, manibus pedibusque, tooth and nail, unguibus et rostro, hammer and tongs, heart and soul, through thick and thin, by the sweat of one's brow, suo Marte, aide-toi le ciel t'aidera, and still be doing, never done, buen principio la mitad es hecha, cosa ben fatta e' fatta due volie, it is better to wear out than to rust out, labor omnia vincit, labor, wide as the earth, has its summit in Heaven, le travail du corps delivre des peines de l'esprit, manu forti, ora et labora.

VB exert oneself, exert one's energies, tax one's energies, use exertion, labor, work, toil, moil, sweat, fag, drudge, slave, drag a lengthened chain, wade through, strive, stretch a long arm, pull, tug, ply, ply the oar, tug at the oar, do the work, take the laboring oar bestir oneself (be active), take trouble, trouble oneself, work hard, rough it, put forth one's strength, put forth a strong arm, fall to work, bend the bow, buckle to, set one's shoulder to the wheel, work like a horse, work like a cart horse, work like a galley slave, work like a coal heaver, labor day and night, work day and night, redouble one's efforts, do double duty, work double hours, work double tides, sit up, burn the candle at both ends, stick to, work one's way, fight one's way, lay about one, hammer at, take pains, do one's best, do one's level best, do one's utmost, give one hundred percent, do the best one can, do all one can, do all in one's power, do as much as in one lies, do what lies in one's power, use one's best endeavor, use one's utmost endeavor, try one's best, try one's utmost, play one's best card, put one's best leg foremost, put one's right leg foremost, have one's whole soul in his work, put all one's strength into, strain every nerve, spare no efforts, spare no pains, go all lengths, go through fire and water, move heaven and earth, leave no stone unturned.