toil

toil is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 3 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.To weary; to overlabor. [Obs.] "Toiled with works of war." Shak.
  2. 2.To labor; to work; -- often with out. [R.] Places well toiled and husbanded. Holland. [I] toiled out my uncouth passage. Milton.
  3. 3.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. Shak. Note: Toil is used in the formation of compounds which are generally of obvious signification; as, toil-strung, toil-wasted, toil-worn, and the like. -- 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.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Synonyms (Webster's 1913)

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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