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travail definition

trav·ail (trə vāl′, trav′āl′)

noun

  1. very hard work; toil
  2. labor pains; pains of childbirth
  3. intense pain; agony

Etymology: OFr < VL *tripalium, instrument of torture composed of three stakes < LL tripalis, of three stakes < L tri-, tri- + palus, a stake: see pale

intransitive verb

  1. to work very hard; toil
  2. to have labor pains; suffer the pains of childbirth

Etymology: ME travaillen < OFr travaillier, to labor, toil < VL *tripaliare, to torment < *tripalium

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

travail Synonyms

travail

n.

labor, toil, drudgery; see work 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

travail Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • sore: This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

Modifies a noun

  • sur: Un intérêt pour le développement social et le travail sur le terrain avec les plus pauvres et le monde rural.

Modifying Another Word

  • not: While the world around us perish, we do not travail.

Noun used with modifier

  • son: Avant qu'il ( ne ) parte en vacances, il doit finir son travail.

Preposition: in

  • work: Surely right naught; and therefore I tell thee no more but those that fall unto thee if thou travail in this work.

Preposition: of

  • life: We are victorious when we don't allow the travails of life to get us down.
travail usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

travail quotes

But ah! what once has been shall be no more! The groaning earth in travail and in pain Brings forth its races, but does not restore, And the dead nations never rise again.

-Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

travail quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"travail." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/travail>

APA Style

travail. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/travail

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