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:
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
That is the message from some companies that toil far from the public eye looking for ways to use fewer of the key minerals dominated by Beijing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
When the new Rangers striker made it 2-1, then 3-1, a day of toil against the 10 men of Curacao - world ranking of 82 - turned into something altogether more palatable.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
Most toil on the building sites of the Gulf and Saudi Arabia or in hotels and factories there, while others work in India and Malaysia.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026
And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium, and suffering, it struck me that most of us were probably seeking, above all else, something like a state of grace.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
John toils as a sheep farmer and weaver, and practices a fire-and-brimstone form of Presbyterianism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
As Baraa toils on, he longs for a return to a normal life with prospects of more profitable employment.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 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
Boyarsky toils in a back room drenched in natural light, her cat Roxy at her side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2023
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
On another hot day and in improved batting conditions, India finished 154-1 - an ominous lead of 269 - as England's bowlers toiled and lacked wicket-taking threat on a flat surface.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
A native of Sonora, Mexico, Yepez and her husband toiled at various food trucks and restaurants until 2018, when they launched a series of stands named after their daughter: Ricos Tacos Naomi.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 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
After Sharma was dismissed by Liam McCarthy, India's middle-order toiled as Hollard took the wickets of Ishan Kishan, captain Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Every day he made his way to the Rad Lab in a seven-passenger limousine, which would remain parked next to the wooden building, attended by its chauffeur, while Loomis toiled inside.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Thousands have spent the past three days similarly toiling away, without government support.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
Working, after all, is how a majority of people must spend most of their waking hours, and toiling away in an industry or at a position you find grating will undoubtedly make you miserable.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
In 1940, Woody Guthrie sat in a Midtown Manhattan hotel, toiling over lyrics for what would become “This Land Is Your Land.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
In his 50 years of toiling the land, dealing with the odd mouse is normal, but "I've never seen it this bad, ever".
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
To see him toiling up the slope inch by inch, his breath coming fast, the tips of his hoofs clawing at the ground, and his great sides matted with sweat, filled everyone with admiration.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
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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