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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 © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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