I. travail trəˈvā(ə)l, ˈtraˌvāl sometimes traˈvā(ə)l or ˈtravəl noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from travaillier, traveillier to labor, travail
1.
a. : physical or mental work or exertion especially of a painful or laborious nature : labor , toil , drudgery
tackles his outdoor travail with the furious drive of a bulldozer — R.L.Taylor
sat glum and thoughtful, his mind in unproductive travail — Rafael Sabatini
periods of high intellectual achievement and travail , of critical analysis and doubt — Times Literary Supplement
b. : a physical or mental exertion or piece of work : task , effort
manfully undertakes his assigned travail
my literary travail — G.B.Shaw
— often used in plural
reminisced on the travails of campaigning — New York Times
c. : pain or suffering resulting from physical struggle or mental conflict : agony , torment
chose … to share France's travail as earlier he had shared her happier days — Paul Farmer
rises joyously superior to the outward calamities … and celebrates the greatness of the human spirit whose travail he describes — J.W.Krutch
the travail of an artist in a society of so many material conveniences — M.D.Geismar
— sometimes used in plural
takes up some of the special travails of the upper classes — Rex Lardner
2. : labor , parturition
woman must marry because the race must perish without her travail — G.B.Shaw
suggested that the nation had been long in travail , and had at last produced a man — John Buchan
3. obsolete : travel 2
Synonyms: see work
II. travail verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English travailen, traveilen, from Old French travaillier, traveillier to labor, toil, trouble, torture, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin tripaliare to torture, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin tripalium instrument of torture, from Latin tripalis having three stakes, from tri- + palus stake — more at pole
intransitive verb
1. : to labor hard : drudge , toil
travails hard for his daily wage
2. : labor 3
3. obsolete : travel 2
transitive verb
1. archaic : trouble , torment , harass
2. obsolete : to put to laborious mental or physical work : drive
III. tra·vail trəˈvī noun
( plural travails -vīz ; also tra·vaux -vō)
Etymology: French, from Middle French, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin tripalium instrument of torture
: travois 1