1 moil | Definition of moil
Logo
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

moil

verb
\ ˈmȯi(-ə)l How to pronounce moil (audio) \
moiled; moiling; moils

Definition of moil

 (Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

chiefly dialectal : to make wet or dirty

intransitive verb

1 : to work hard : drudge
2 : to be in continuous agitation : churn, swirl

moil

noun

Definition of moil (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : hard work : drudgery
2 : confusion, turmoil
Other Words from moil Synonyms Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about moil

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from moil

Verb

moiler noun

Did You Know?

Verb

Moil may mean "to work hard" but its origins are the opposite of hard; it ultimately derives from Latin mollis, meaning "soft." (Other English derivatives of mollis are emollient, mollify, and mollusk.) A more immediate ancestor of moil is the Anglo-French verb moiller, meaning "to make wet, dampen," and one of the early meanings of moil in English was "to become wet and muddy." The "work hard" sense of moil appears most frequently in the pairing "toil and moil." Both moil and toil can also be nouns meaning "work." Moil implies work that is drudgery and toil suggests prolonged and fatiguing labor.

Examples of moil in a Sentence

Verb

 miners moiling all day in the sunless recesses of the earth the angry mob moiled around the courthouse

Noun

 went for a retreat at the monastery for a temporary respite from the moil of the modern world fed up with the moil and moneygrubbing of Wall Street, he decided to open a bed-and-breakfast in Vermont
See More

First Known Use of moil

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for moil

Verb

Middle English mollen, moillen, from Anglo-French moiller, from Vulgar Latin *molliare, from Latin mollis soft — more at mollify

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on moil

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with moil

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for moil

WORD OF THE DAY

See Definitions and Examples

Get Word of the Day daily email!