toils 1 of 2

noun

plural of toil
as in tangle
something that catches and holds a married woman hopelessly caught in the toils of an extramarital affair

Synonyms & Similar Words

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toils

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of toil
as in labors
to devote serious and sustained effort toiled for many years on the mammoth outdoor sculpture

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of toils
Noun
The gods themselves are also an unnerving presence, omnipresent beings of colossal power who see humans as their playthings and view Ulysses' toils as some twisted spectator sport. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 July 2026 There has to be a chance that Jos Buttler’s toils in Sri Lanka and India represent his last ventures on the international stage, and therefore the end of an era. — Paul Newman, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026 Both were premised on the idea of frictionless ease, liberating their users from outmoded toils. — Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2026 The conceit of narrating a year in one’s life through the toils and sensations of the kitchen is one that many have taken up before. — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Verb
Raissa’s going to Caltech in America and leaving Jo, a wannabe artist who toils in fast food mascot jobs. — Mark Kennedy, Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2026 Anthony Hernandez toils in the brutish profession that is a mixed martial arts fighter, no wimps allowed. — Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 25 July 2026 The silent sci-fi film, which depicts a dystopian future in which the wealthy upper class prospers in a utopia while the working class lives and toils in a dismal underground society, was released in theaters in 1927. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 16 June 2026 While Alina toils in the greenhouses, Lucian makes new friends. — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 13 May 2026 Yoriko toils in anonymity in Nagi as a sculptor of human figures hewn from raw blocks of wood. — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2026 Union itself released a dramatic trailer set in a surgical amphitheater in which a medical team toils away at the sneaker. — Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 4 Feb. 2026 Several Democratic incumbents are seeing their young primary opponents boast impressive fundraising numbers as the party toils between placing its faith in its incumbent establishment or in a future featuring younger, more progressive candidates. — Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toils
  1. tangle
  2. labors
  3. trap
  4. struggles
  5. web
  6. strives
  7. entanglement
  8. works
Noun
  • The shampoo didn’t strip the tester’s already-dry hair, and a two-minute conditioner left her tangles smooth enough to finger-comb.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The double-deck Wacker Drive obliterated a tangle of buildings and produce stalls in favor of a broad Beaux Arts thoroughfare by the Chicago River.
    — Robert Loerzel, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of tangle
Verb
  • Thoroughly unimpressed by her suburban idyll, and evidently unmoved by her responsibilities as wife and mother, Denise labors in her basement on a novel whose protagonist wishes to forsake her family for a life in New York.
    — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Every man and woman who labors in the construction industry deserves that.
    — Tim Dunn, Boston Herald, 5 Mar. 2026
Definition of labors
Noun
  • The hacker set a trap designed to lure the impostor into claiming more Bitcoin.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The personalization trap The core of the problem is that Google wants its products and services to talk to each other.
    — Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of trap
Verb
  • Sometimes, though, a team simply struggles to find its footing.
    — David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • This mostly lifeless car struggles every few seconds to get its engine going.
    — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of struggles
Noun
  • Kinder Morgan operates a dominant, interconnected web of steel pipelines that links oversupplied shale basins directly to major demand centers and Gulf Coast export complexes.
    — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The full 12-company delegation spans original story IP in drama, film, animation and web novels, as well as generative AI, interactive entertainment and fan platforms.
    — Deadline, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of web
Verb
  • In so doing, the tradition could achieve for ASL what the word of the year strives to achieve for English.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Said soup is being attended to by at least four cooks, as Hal (with helpful coaching by an off-camera Kate) strives to explain himself to Grace back at the embassy, and then the two of them work to get Eidra on-side.
    — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of strives
Noun
  • After all, Apple and Google are sworn frenemies, dragging each other in the press while simultaneously holding multi-billion-dollar entanglements behind the scenes.
    — Joe Osborne, PC Magazine, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Salsa was rescued once as a pup during an Unprecedented Mortality Event, released in 2015, re-stranded due to a fishing entanglement and deemed non-releasable by the federal government.
    — Valerie Greene, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of entanglement
Verb
  • In Bellorado-Samuels’s own bedroom, the television is stashed under the bed and works by Barkley Hendricks, Sadie Barnett, and Charisse Pearlina Weston take pride of place.
    — Sean Santiago, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Microsoft’s Advanced Shader Delivery works by offloading shader compilation for different hardware combinations to the cloud.
    — Tom Warren, The Verge, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of works

Browse Nearby Words

toiling
toils
toilsome
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Cite this Entry

“Toils.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toils. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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