In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
TOIL
labor, labour, toil
(noun) productive work (especially physical work done for wages); “his labor did not require a great deal of skill”
labor, labour, toil, fag, travail, grind, drudge, dig, moil
(verb) work hard; “She was digging away at her math homework”; “Lexicographers drudge all day long”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
toil (countable and uncountable, plural toils)
Labour, work, especially of a grueling nature.
Synonyms: derve, drudgery, swink, Thesaurus:drudgery
Trouble, strife.
(usually, in plural) A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey.
Verb
toil (third-person singular simple present toils, present participle toiling, simple past and past participle toiled)
(intransitive) To labour; work.
(intransitive) To struggle.
(transitive) To work (something); often with out.
(transitive) To weary through excessive labour.
Anagrams
• -itol, loti
Noun
TOIL (uncountable)
(UK, employment) Initialism of time off in lieu.
Anagrams
• -itol, loti
Source: Wiktionary
Toil, n. Etym: [F. toiles, pl., toils, nets, fr. toile cloth, canvas, spider web, fr. L. tela any woven stuff, a web, fr. texere to weave. See Text, and cf. Toilet.]
Definition: A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey; -- usually in the plural. As a Numidian lion, when first caught, Endures the toil that holds him. Denham. Then toils for beasts, and lime for birds, were found. Dryden.
Toil, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Toiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Toiling.] Etym: [OE. toilen to pull about, to toil; of uncertain origin; cf. OD. teulen, tuylen, to labor, till, or OF. tooillier, toailler, to wash, rub (cf. Towel); or perhaps ultimately from the same root as E. tug.]
Definition: To exert strength with pain and fatigue of body or mind, especially of the body, with efforts of some continuance or duration; to labor; to work.
Toil, v. t.
1. To weary; to overlabor. [Obs.] "Toiled with works of war." Shak.
2. To labor; to work; -- often with out. [R.] Places well toiled and husbanded. Holland. [I] toiled out my uncouth passage. Milton.
Toil, n. Etym: [OE. toil turmoil, struggle; cf. OD. tuyl labor, work. See Toil, v.]
Definition: Labor with pain and fatigue; labor that oppresses the body or mind, esp. the body. My task of servile toil. Milton. After such bloody toil, we bid good night. Shak.
Note: Toil is used in the formation of compounds which are generally of obvious signification; as, toil-strung, toil-wasted, toil-worn, and the like.
Syn.
– Labor; drudgery; work; exertion; occupation; employment; task; travail.
– Toil, Labor, Drudgery. Labor implies strenuous exertion, but not necessary such as overtasks the faculties; toil denotes a severity of labor which is painful and exhausting; drudgery implies mean and degrading work, or, at least, work which wearies or disgusts from its minuteness or dull uniformity. You do not know the heavy grievances, The toils, the labors, weary drudgeries, Which they impose. Southern. How often have I blessed the coming day, When toil remitting lent its turn to play. Goldsmith.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
26 January 2025
NEGLECT
(verb) leave undone or leave out; “How could I miss that typo?”; “The workers on the conveyor belt miss one out of ten”
Coffee Trivia
