Toil, n.
Etymology: [OE. toil turmoil, struggle; cf. OD. tuyl labor, work. See Toil, v.]
Labor with pain and fatigue; labor that oppresses the body or mind, esp. the body. My task of servile toil. Milton. After such bloody toil, we bid good night. Shak.
Note: Toil is used in the formation of compounds which are generally of obvious signification; as, toil-strung, toil-wasted, toil-worn, and the like.
Syn. -- Labor; drudgery; work; exertion; occupation; employment; task; travail. -- Toil, Labor, Drudgery. Labor implies strenuous exertion, but not necessary such as overtasks the faculties; toil denotes a severity of labor which is painful and exhausting; drudgery implies mean and degrading work, or, at least, work which wearies or disgusts from its minuteness or dull uniformity. You do not know the heavy grievances, The toils, the labors, weary drudgeries, Which they impose. Southern. How often have I blessed the coming day, When toil remitting lent its turn to play. Goldsmith.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Toil, n.
A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey; -- usually in the plural. As a Numidian lion, when first caught, Endures the toil that holds him. Denham. Then toils for beasts, and lime for birds, were found. Dryden.
Toil, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Toiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Toiling.]
To exert strength with pain and fatigue of body or mind, especially of the body, with efforts of some continuance or duration; to labor; to work.
Toil, v. t.
1. To weary; to overlabor. [Obs.] "Toiled with works of war." Shak.
2. To labor; to work; -- often with out. [R.] Places well toiled and husbanded. Holland. [I] toiled out my uncouth passage. Milton.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for toil; he lists it under work.
Where he writes about it:
Labor is hard and wearying work; toil is straining and exhausting work. — from work
Work is also used for any result of working, physical or mental, and has special senses, as in mechanics, which labor and toil do not share. — from work