1WORK THAT somebody DOEShard unpleasant work done over a long period 长时间的辛苦劳作
a life of toil
辛劳的一生
2.the toils of somethingliteraryAL if you are caught in the toils of an unpleasant feeling or situation, you are trapped by it…的困境,…的苦恼
Examples from the Corpus
the toils of something• With one bound, he was ... JohnMajor has escapedthe toils of the polltax.• When we wake it is to find ourselves alone and separate, trapped in the toils of matter.• Yet lured they were, ever deeper into the toils of matter, and women with them too.
(1200-1300)Anglo-Frenchtoiller, from Old Frenchtoeillier“to disturb, argue”, from Latintudiculare“to crush”, from tudicula“machine for crushing olives”, from tudes“hammer”
toil2
1. (1300-1400)Anglo-Frenchtoyl, from Old Frenchtoeil“battle, confusion”, from toeillier; → TOIL1
2. (1500-1600)toil“net”((16-19 centuries)), from Frenchtoile; → TOILET