[toil] n [ME toile, fr. AF toyl, fr. OF toeil battle, confusion, fr. toeillier] (14c) 1 archaic a: struggle, battle b: laborious effort
2: long strenuous fatiguing labor syn see work -- toil.ful adj -- toil.ful.ly adv
[2]toil vb [ME, to argue, struggle, fr. AF toiller, fr. OF toeillier to stir, disturb, dispute, fr. L tudiculare to crush, grind, fr. tudicula machine for crushing olives, dim. of tudes hammer; akin to L tundere to beat--more at contusion] vi (14c) 1: to work hard and long: labor
2: to proceed with laborious effort: plod "~ing wearily up the hill" ~ vt 1 archaic: overwork
2. archaic: to get or accomplish with great effort -- toil.er n [3]toil n [MF toile cloth, net, fr. L tela cloth on a loom--more at subtle] (ca. 1529) 1: a net to trap game
2: something by which one is held fast or inextricably involved: snare, trap--usu. used in pl. "caught in the ~s of the law"