Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense toils, present participle toiling, past tense, past participle toiled
1. verb
When people toil, they work very hard doing unpleasant or tiring tasks.
[literary]
People who toiled in dim, dank factories were too exhausted to enjoy their familylife. [VERB]
Workers toiled long hours. [VERB noun]
[Also Vat/on n]
Toil away means the same as toil.
She has toiled away at the violin for years. [VP + at/on]
Nora toils away serving burgers at the local cafe. [VERBPARTICLE]
2. verb
If you toil somewhere, you move there slowly and with difficulty, usually because you are very tired.
[literary]
Arnold had his head down, gasping as he toiled up the hill. [VERB preposition/adverb]
Synonyms: struggle, trek, slog, trudge More Synonyms of toil
3. uncountable noun
Toil is unpleasant work that is very tiring physically.
[literary]
Synonyms: hard work, industry, labour, effort More Synonyms of toil
More Synonyms of toil
toil in British English1
(tɔɪl)
noun
1.
hard or exhausting work
2. an obsolete word for strife
verb
3. (intransitive)
to labour
4. (intransitive)
to progress with slow painful movements
to toil up a hill
5. (transitive) archaic
to achieve by toil
Derived forms
toiler (ˈtoiler)
noun
Word origin
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
toil in British English2
(tɔɪl)
noun
1. (often plural)
a net or snare
the toils of fortune had ensnared him
2. archaic
a trap for wild beasts
Word origin
C16: from Old French toile, from Latin tēla loom
toil in American English1
(tɔɪl)
verb intransitive
1.
to work hard and continuously; labor
2.
to proceed laboriously; advance or move with painful effort or difficulty
to toil up a mountain
verb transitive
3. Rare
to make or accomplish with great effort
noun
4. Archaic
contention; struggle; strife
5.
hard, exhausting work or effort; tiring labor
6.
a task performed by such effort
Derived forms
toiler (ˈtoiler)
noun
Word origin
ME toilen < Anglo-Fr toiler, to strive, dispute < OFr toeillier, to pull about, begrime < L tudiculare, to stir about < tudicula, small machine for bruising olives < tudes, mallet < base of tundere, to beat < IE base *(s)teu- > stock, stub
toil in American English2
(tɔɪl)
noun
1. Archaic
a net for trapping
2. [pl.]
any snare suggestive of a net
Word origin
OFr toile, a net, web, cloth < L tela, web, woven material < base of texere: see text
Examples of 'toil' in a sentence
toil
Workers toiled round the clock to fill it and fix power lines.
The Sun (2016)
Yet for whom do these toiling millions work?
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Think of them as you toil away for the rest of the week to pay their wages.
The Sun (2013)
They talked about hard work and toil.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The film is a toiling labour of love.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Look at those golfers toiling away to make pars!
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Guests paying thousands of pounds were trying to sleep as workers toiled away building a hotel next door.
The Sun (2009)
Spring air in new lungs a choir of a thousand tongues singing we'll no longer toil.
Christianity Today (2000)
Men toil in fields, where modern technology is allowed for heavy tasks.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Having time off during European weeks while their rivals toil could work to their advantage.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
We must seek to ensure that all workers toil in safe conditions, for decent wages.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But at least the Ox was toiling in the field.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
This is unhelpful if you are a City worker expected to turn up and toil for long hours.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Yes, all those years of toil and your wages amount to a bus ride and a meal deal.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
When most bosses retire after decades of hard toil, they head for the garden or the golf course.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
For decades the industry has enjoyed its anonymity, toiling away deep in the machine room of the global economy.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The rhetoric of blood, toil, tears and sweat is unavailable.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
We tend to think that it has to do with labour, toil, effort.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Enjoy it: you are witnessing the culmination of five years' toil.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
With toil and labour I've reached a very fair height of refinement.
Elizabeth Gaskell Wives and Daughters (1864)
Ministers may be wary of depicting sunlit uplands when there is the inevitability of blood, toil, tears and sweat to come in the meantime.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In other languages
toil
British English: toil VERB
When people toil, they work very hard doing unpleasant or tiring tasks.
People who toiled in dim, dank factories were too exhausted to enjoy their family life.
American English: toil
Brazilian Portuguese: labutar
Chinese: 辛苦工作
European Spanish: esforzarse
French: peiner
German: sich abmühen
Italian: sgobbare
Japanese: あくせく働く
Korean: 애써 일하다
European Portuguese: labutar
Latin American Spanish: esforzarse
(noun)
Definition
hard or exhausting work
It is only toil which gives meaning to things.
Synonyms
hard work
industry
No one doubted his industry or his integrity.
labour
the labour of seeding, planting and harvesting
effort
A great deal of effort had been put into the planning.
pains
application
his immense talent and unremitting application
sweat
graft (informal)
His career has been one of hard graft.
slog
There is little to show for two years of hard slog.
exertion
panting from the exertion of climbing the stairs
drudgery
the drudgery of everyday life
travail
He did whatever he could to ease their travail.
donkey-work
elbow grease (informal)
blood, sweat and tears (informal)
Opposites
inertia
,
inactivity
,
laziness
,
sloth
,
idleness
,
torpor
,
indolence
1 (verb)
Definition
to work hard
Boys toiled in the hot sun to finish the wall.
Synonyms
labour
farmers labouring in the fields
work
My father worked hard all his life.
struggle
They had to struggle against all kinds of adversity.
strive
He strives hard to keep himself very fit.
grind (informal)
sweat (informal)
slave
slaving over a hot stove
graft (informal)
I really don't enjoy grafting away in a stuffy office all day.
go for it (informal)
slog
We've slogged at the project for months now.
grub
bend over backwards (informal)
People are bending over backwards to please customers.
drudge
go for broke (slang)
push yourself
bust a gut (informal)
give it your best shot (informal)
break your neck (informal)
work like a dog
make an all-out effort (informal)
work like a Trojan
knock yourself out (informal)
do your damnedest (informal)
give it your all (informal)
work your fingers to the bone
rupture yourself (informal)
2 (verb)
Definition
to move slowly and with difficulty, for instance because of exhaustion or the steepness of a slope
He had his head down as he toiled up the hill.
Synonyms
struggle
trek
They trekked from shop to shop looking for knee-length socks.
slog
The men had to slog up a muddy incline.
trudge
We had to trudge up the track back to the station.
push yourself
fight your way
drag yourself
footslog
Additional synonyms
in the sense of application
Definition
concentrated effort
his immense talent and unremitting application
Synonyms
effort,
work,
study,
industry,
labour,
trouble,
attention,
struggle,
pains,
commitment,
hard work,
endeavour,
dedication,
toil,
diligence,
perseverance,
travail (literary),
attentiveness,
assiduity,
blood, sweat, and tears (informal)
in the sense of bend over backwards
People are bending over backwards to please customers.
Synonyms
try,
endeavour,
try hard,
toil,
make every effort,
go all out (informal),
do your best,
bust a gut (informal),
do all you can,
give it your best shot (informal),
jump through hoops (informal),
break your neck (informal),
exert yourself,
do your utmost,
do your damnedest (informal),
give it your all (informal),
rupture yourself (informal),
drive someone round the bend
in the sense of drudgery
Definition
uninteresting work that must be done
the drudgery of everyday life
Synonyms
labour,
grind (informal),
sweat (informal),
hard work,
slavery,
chore,
fag (informal),
toil,
slog,
donkey-work,
sweated labour,
menial labour,
skivvying (British)
Synonyms of 'toil'
toil
Explore 'toil' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of effort
Definition
physical or mental energy needed to do something
A great deal of effort had been put into the planning.
Synonyms
exertion,
work,
labour,
trouble,
force,
energy,
struggle,
stress,
application,
strain,
striving,
graft,
toil,
welly (slang),
hard graft,
travail (literary),
elbow grease (facetious),
blood, sweat, and tears (informal)
in the sense of exertion
Definition
effort or exercise, esp. physical effort
panting from the exertion of climbing the stairs
Synonyms
effort,
action,
exercise,
struggle,
industry,
labour,
trial,
pains,
stretch,
strain,
endeavour,
toil,
travail (literary),
elbow grease (facetious)
in the sense of graft
Definition
hard work
His career has been one of hard graft.
Synonyms
labour,
work,
industry,
effort,
struggle,
sweat,
toil,
slog,
exertion,
travail,
blood, sweat, and tears (informal)
in the sense of graft
Definition
to work hard
I really don't enjoy grafting away in a stuffy office all day.
Synonyms
work,
labour,
struggle,
sweat (informal),
grind (informal),
slave,
strive,
toil,
drudge,
travail
in the sense of industry
Definition
the quality of working hard
No one doubted his industry or his integrity.
Synonyms
diligence,
effort,
labour,
hard work,
trouble,
activity,
application,
striving,
endeavour,
toil,
vigour,
zeal,
persistence,
assiduity,
tirelessness
in the sense of slave
Definition
to work very hard for little or no money
slaving over a hot stove
Synonyms
toil,
labour,
grind (informal),
drudge,
sweat,
graft,
slog,
sweat blood,
skivvy (British),
work your fingers to the bone,
work your guts out,
keep your nose to the grindstone
in the sense of slog
Definition
long exhausting work
There is little to show for two years of hard slog.
Synonyms
work,
labour,
toil,
industry,
grind (informal),
effort,
struggle,
pains,
sweat (informal),
painstaking,
exertion,
donkey-work,
blood, sweat, and tears (informal)
in the sense of slog
Definition
to work hard and steadily
We've slogged at the project for months now.
Synonyms
work,
labour,
toil,
slave,
plod,
persevere,
plough through,
sweat blood (informal),
apply yourself to,
work your fingers to the bone,
peg away at,
keep your nose to the grindstone
in the sense of slog
Definition
to make one's way with difficulty
The men had to slog up a muddy incline.
Synonyms
trudge,
tramp,
plod,
trek,
hike,
traipse (informal),
yomp,
walk heavily,
footslog
in the sense of strive
Definition
to make a great effort
He strives hard to keep himself very fit.
Synonyms
try,
labour,
struggle,
fight,
attempt,
compete,
strain,
contend,
endeavour,
go for it (informal),
try hard,
toil,
make every effort,
go all out (informal),
bend over backwards (informal),
do your best,
go for broke (slang),
leave no stone unturned,
bust a gut (informal),
do all you can,
give it your best shot (informal),
jump through hoops (informal),
break your neck (informal),
exert yourself,
make an all-out effort (informal),
knock yourself out (informal),
do your utmost,
do your damnedest (informal),
give it your all (informal),
rupture yourself (informal)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of travail
Definition
painful or exceptionally hard work
He did whatever he could to ease their travail.
Synonyms
toil,
suffering,
pain,
stress,
labour,
grind (informal),
effort,
tears,
strain,
distress,
sweat,
hard work,
slavery,
hardship,
slog,
exertion,
drudgery
in the sense of trek
Definition
to make a trek
They trekked from shop to shop looking for knee-length socks.
Synonyms
trudge,
plod,
traipse (informal),
footslog,
slog
in the sense of trudge
Definition
to walk or plod heavily or wearily
We had to trudge up the track back to the station.