Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Toil

Toil

,
Noun.
[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.
As a Numidian lion, when first caught,
Endures the
toil
that holds him.
Denham.
Then
toils
for beasts, and lime for birds, were found.
Dryden.

Toil

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Toiled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Toiling
.]
[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.

Toil

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To weary; to overlabor.
[Obs.]
“Toiled with works of war.”
Shak.
2.
To labor; to work; – often with out.
[R.]
Places well
toiled
and husbanded.
Holland.
[I]
toiled
out my uncouth passage.
Milton.

Toil

,
Noun.
[OE.
toil
turmoil, struggle; cf. OD.
tuyl
labor, work. See
Toil
,
Verb.
]
Labor with pain and fatigue; labor that oppresses the body or mind, esp. the body.
My task of servile
toil
.
Milton.
After such bloody
toil
, we bid good night.
Shakespeare
☞ Toil is used in the formation of compounds which are generally of obvious signification; as, toil-strung, toil-wasted, toil-worn, and the like.
Syn. – Labor; drudgery; work; exertion; occupation; employment; task; travail.
–
Toil
,
Labor
,
Drudgery
. Labor implies strenuous exertion, but not necessary such as overtasks the faculties; toil denotes a severity of labor which is painful and exhausting; drudgery implies mean and degrading work, or, at least, work which wearies or disgusts from its minuteness or dull uniformity.
You do not know the heavy grievances,
The
toils
, the
labors
, weary
drudgeries
,
Which they impose.
Southern.
How often have I blessed the coming day,
When
toil
remitting lent its turn to play.
Goldsmith.

Webster 1828 Edition

Toil

TOIL

,
Verb.
I.
To labor; to work; to exert strength with pain and fatigue of body or mind, particularly of the body, with efforts of some continuance or duration.
Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Luke 5.

TOIL

,
Verb.
T.
To toil out, to labor; to work out.
Toil'd out my uncouth passage--
1.
To weary; to overlabor; as toil'd with works of war.
[Not in use nor proper.]

TOIL

,
Noun.
Labor with pain and fatigue; labor that oppresses the body or mind. Toil may be the labor of the field or the workshop, or of the camp. What toils men endure for the acquisition of wealth, power and honor! Gen.5.

TOIL

,
Noun.
[L. tela, a web; from spreading, extending or laying.]
A net or snare; any thread, web or string spread for taking prey.
A fly falls into the toils of a spider.

Definition 2024

toil

toil

See also: TOIL

English

Alternative forms

  • toyle (obsolete)

Noun

toil ‎(countable and uncountable, plural toils)

  1. labour, work, especially of a grueling nature
    • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
      ...he set to work again and made the snow fly in all directions around him. After some further toil his efforts were rewarded, and a very shabby door-mat lay exposed to view.
  2. trouble, strife
  3. A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey; usually in the plural.
    • Denham
      As a Numidian lion, when first caught, / Endures the toil that holds him.
    • Dryden
      Then toils for beasts, and lime for birds, were found.

Translations

Verb

toil ‎(third-person singular simple present toils, present participle toiling, simple past and past participle toiled)

  1. (intransitive) To labour; work.
  2. (intransitive) To struggle.
  3. (transitive) To work (something); often with out.
    • Holland
      places well toiled and husbanded
    • Milton
      [I] toiled out my uncouth passage.
  4. (transitive) To weary through excessive labour.
    • Shakespeare
      toiled with works of war

Synonyms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Basque

Noun

toil

  1. conger eel

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish tol ‎(“will, desire”).

Pronunciation

Noun

toil f ‎(genitive singular tola)

  1. will

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
toil thoil dtoil
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

  • “tol” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
  • “toil” in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 1927, by Patrick S. Dinneen.
  • "toil" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish tol ‎(“will, desire”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [t̪ɔl], /t̪ʰɔl/

Noun

toil f ‎(genitive singular toile, plural toilean)

  1. will, desire, volition, inclination
  2. delight, pleasure

Phrases

  • Is toil leum ‎(“I like”)
  • Mas e do thoil e ‎(“please”)

Derived terms

References

  • Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, ISBN 0 901771 92 9
  • “tol” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Etymology

From Middle English toilen, toylen, apparently a conflation of Anglo-Norman toiller ‎(“to agitate, stir up, entangle”) (compare Old Northern French tooillier, tooullier ‎(“to agitate, stir”); of unknown origin), and Middle English tilen, telien, teolien, tolen, tolien, tulien ‎(“to till, work, labour”), from Old English tilian, telian, teolian, tiolian ‎(“to exert oneself, toil, work, make, generate, strive after, try, endeavor, procure, obtain, gain, provide, tend, cherish, cultivate, till, plough, trade, traffic, aim at, aspire to, treat, cure”) (compare Middle Dutch tuylen, teulen ‎(“to till, work, labour”)), from Proto-Germanic *tilōną ‎(“to strive, reach for, aim for, hurry”). Cognate with Scots tulyie ‎(“to quarrel, flite, contend”).

An alternate etymology derives Middle English toilen, toylen directly from Middle Dutch tuylen, teulen ‎(“to work, labour, till”), from tuyl ("agriculture, labour, toil"; > Modern Dutch tuil ‎(“toil; work”)). Cognate with Old Frisian teula ‎(“to labour, toil”), teule ‎(“labour, work”), Dutch telen ‎(“to grow; raise; cultivate”). More at till.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɔɪl, -ɔɪəl

Similar Results