Toil

German Meaning

Mühe

Mühsal

Plage

mühselige Arbeit

arbeiten

sich abmühen

sich plagen

sich abplagen

sich schleppen

English Meaning

  1. To labor continuously; work strenuously.
  2. To proceed with difficulty: toiling over the mountains.
  3. Exhausting labor or effort: "A bit of the blackest and coarsest bread is . . . the sole recompense and the sole profit attaching to so arduous a toil” ( George Sand). See Synonyms at work.
  4. Archaic Strife; contention.
  5. Something that binds, snares, or entangles one; an entrapment. Often used in the plural: caught in the toils of despair.
  6. Archaic A net for trapping game.