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"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble" is from which Shakespeare play?

toil

[toil] / tɔɪl /




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:

Her installation of aprons, made of silk printed with her photography and archival images, speaks to women’s toil at home and in the workforce—both realms where their efforts historically have been overlooked and underappreciated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 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

“And men like your husband toil for him there night and day.”

From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin

CHERAW, S.C.—Inside a Schaeffler SHA0 -3.78%decrease; red down pointing triangle auto-parts factory, a most unusual worker toils away.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 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

Co-produced with Edgar Barrera and Sky Rompiendo, the song toils with the wistfulness of what never came to be, and the hope of what could become.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024

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

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

County team — toiled for days to reach Gil, who worked as a security guard in an underground parking structure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026

Caluori had a try wiped off from a knock-on by replacement hooker Jamie Blamire, but England couldn't get a real toehold as they toiled at the set-piece.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

She toiled painfully up the railless stairs, stopping often for breath.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Come January, El-Sayed could be in the Senate, toiling away on behalf of Michiganders as the nation’s first Muslim senator — and Capitol Hill’s resident zaddy.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

Many of them had saved money while toiling as farmworkers, cooks, custodians and construction workers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 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

The road was already going to dust and the dust was rising, and there was nothing to see ahead but troops in the dust toiling upward toward the crest of a divide.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara


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