travail

[truh-veyl, trav-eyl]

noun

1. painfully difficult or burdensome work; toil.

   Synonyms: moil, labor

2. pain, anguish or suffering resulting from mental or physical hardship.

   Synonyms: agony, torment

3. the pain of childbirth.

verb (used without object)

1. to suffer the pangs of childbirth; be in labor.

2. to toil or exert oneself.

travail

/ ˈtræveɪl /

noun

1. painful or excessive labour or exertion

2. the pangs of childbirth; labour

verb

1. (intr) to suffer or labour painfully, esp in childbirth

Word History and Origins

Origin of travail¹

1200–50; (v.) Middle English travaillen < Old French travaillier to torment < Vulgar Latin *trepaliāre to torture, derivative of Late Latin trepālium torture chamber, literally, instrument of torture made with three stakes ( tri-, pale ² ); (noun) Middle English < Old French: suffering, derivative of travailler

Word History and Origins

Origin of travail¹

C13: from Old French travaillier , from Vulgar Latin tripaliāre (unattested) to torture, from Late Latin trepālium instrument of torture, from Latin tripālis having three stakes, from trēs three + pālus stake

Example Sentences

The company, known for its once ubiquitous men’s magazine, has been hard hit by the travails of the print advertising industry and the rise of online adult entertainment sites.

From Los Angeles Times

Quigley’s acting is as melodramatic and artificial as Nina’s was said to be before her travails and losses transformed her talent.

From Los Angeles Times

Rugby Union Weekly: Travel travails, best Test centre combo and Lions tour of France?

From BBC

From a crotchety neighbor who yelled at her daughters, she learned that responding with a homemade peach pie can establish a more harmonious relationship with a person undergoing his own private travails.

From Los Angeles Times

At Ferrari, Hamilton's travails this season continued, underlined by the statistic that he has only once so far qualified higher than the seventh place he managed this weekend.

From BBC

Related Words

• agony 
• anguish 
• tribulation 
• woe