toil

verb

/tɔɪl/

(formal)

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they toil	/tɔɪl/ /tɔɪl/
he / she / it toils	/tɔɪlz/ /tɔɪlz/
past simple toiled	/tɔɪld/ /tɔɪld/
past participle toiled	/tɔɪld/ /tɔɪld/
-ing form toiling	/ˈtɔɪlɪŋ/ /ˈtɔɪlɪŋ/

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[intransitive] to work very hard and/or for a long time, usually doing hard physical work（长时间）苦干，辛勤劳作 synonym slave
- Hundreds of men toiled for years at building the pyramid.建这座金字塔，数百人苦干了多年。
- She toils tirelessly for various charities.她不知疲倦地为各种慈善机构工作。
[intransitive] + adv./prep. to move slowly and with difficulty艰难缓慢地移动；跋涉 synonym slog
- They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun.他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。

Word OriginMiddle English (in the senses ‘contend verbally’ and ‘strife’): from Anglo-Norman French toiler ‘strive, dispute’, toil ‘confusion’, from Latin tudiculare ‘stir about’, from tudicula ‘machine for crushing olives’, related to tundere ‘crush’.

toil

noun

/tɔɪl/

[uncountable] (formal or literary)

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hard, unpleasant work that makes you very tired苦工；劳累的工作
- a life of hardship and toil艰难劳苦的一生
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- back-breaking
- grinding
- hard
- …
phrases
- hours, years, etc. of toil
- sweat and toil
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see also toils
Word OriginMiddle English (in the senses ‘contend verbally’ and ‘strife’): from Anglo-Norman French toiler ‘strive, dispute’, toil ‘confusion’, from Latin tudiculare ‘stir about’, from tudicula ‘machine for crushing olives’, related to tundere ‘crush’.