toiling

toil ¹

 (toil)

intr.v. toiled, toil·ing, toils

1. To labor continuously; work strenuously.

2. To proceed with difficulty: "The old woman ... proceeded to toil up the narrow staircase before us" (James Joyce).

n.

1. Exhausting labor or effort. See Synonyms at work.

2. Archaic Strife; contention.

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[Middle English toilen, from Anglo-Norman toiler, to stir about, from Latin tudiculāre, from tudicula, a machine for bruising olives, diminutive of tudes, hammer.]

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toil′er n.

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toil ²

 (toil)

n.

1. often toils Something that binds, snares, or entangles one; an entrapment: caught in the toils of despair.

2. Archaic A net for trapping game.

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[French toile, cloth, from Old French teile, from Latin tēla, web; see teks- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Adj.

1.

toiling - doing arduous or unpleasant work; "drudging peasants"; "the bent backs of laboring slaves picking cotton"; "toiling coal miners in the black deeps" drudging, laboring, labouring busy - actively or fully engaged or occupied; "busy with her work"; "a busy man"; "too busy to eat lunch"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.