toil
Usage
What are other ways to say toil?
Toil suggests wearying or exhausting labor: toil that breaks down the worker's health. Drudgery suggests continuous, dreary, and dispiriting work, especially of a menial or servile kind: the drudgery of household tasks. Labor particularly denotes hard manual work: backbreaking labor; arduous labor. Work is the general word and may apply to exertion that is either easy or hard: fun work; heavy work.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Whether through technique or toil, Stan Wawrinka has always been able to whip fans into a frenzy.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
After years of investment, hype, and toil, their A.I. code was quite good—maybe too good.
From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2026
He famously worked alone, content to toil away on his own singular vision, but the innovations he made in visual effects spread well beyond his studio.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
This is an incredible start to their adult life; most working people take years of toil to get to that level.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
After that, after a year of toil, there was his promotion to the pel-quintain.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
As Baraa toils on, he longs for a return to a normal life with prospects of more profitable employment.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
Keuer wonders if the work is worth it, noting how hard he toils for little pay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
While Noah toils away in the desert, artist Maya seeks to recolor her own faded view of the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2025
So are the film’s many montages underlining Ryuta’s plight — he toils at multiple jobs to care for his sick mother — that reduce the character to something of a sob story.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
Tanzid then put on 93 with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto as Australia toiled in stiflingly hot conditions at the Marrara Oval.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Northern Ireland's McIlroy played alongside his European Ryder Cup team-mate as the pair toiled late on a baking day, although he did finish positively with a birdie on the 18th.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Most players who have toiled in the minor league system debut in front of applauding friends and family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Veteran Jessica Pegula, 32, the top-ranked American who also toiled away on the sport’s lower tier before becoming a top-10 mainstay, appreciates Liu’s resolve.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Even the ducks and hens toiled to and fro all day in the sun, carrying tiny wisps of hay in their beaks.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
While Russell was toiling and failing to pass McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Antonelli was operating on another level entirely, as he has so often this season.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
For those toiling at fishmeal plants and fish farms, the work and conditions can be brutal, the investigation found.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Since last year, Japanese businesses have faced tougher legal requirements to help employees toiling in the heat.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
He turned pro in 2012 and spent years toiling away on the PGA Tour of Australasia, and only notched his first European Tour win in 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
All these aching creatures, thinks von Rumpel, toiling under different pressures.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Vocabulary lists containing toil
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Labor Day Lexicon: Words That Put You To Work
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Animal Farm
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