noun / verb

travail

TRAV-ayl/ˈtræveɪl/

An exhausting struggle involving hardship.

The worker endures great travail pushing a loaded wheelbarrow uphill.

An exhausted worker struggles to push a heavily loaded wheelbarrow up a short muddy incline.

Etymology

travailOld Frenchtoil, suffering, painful effort

Old French travail joined work with suffering and painful effort; its related verb originally meant to torment. English preserves that association in labor experienced as exhausting or painful.

In context

Ligonier Ministries16:28

groans together in travail until that curse is removed

Crucifixion: What Did Jesus Do? - Understanding the Work of Christ with R.C. Sproul

More examples

She describes the travails of raising three children alone.
The farmers travail in rocky fields from dawn until dusk.
After hours of travail, she finally holds her newborn.

Forms

travail · travails · travailed · travailing

Similar words

toil: Emphasizes prolonged, strenuous work rather than suffering more broadly.
hardship: Emphasizes difficult conditions rather than the effort of enduring them.
ordeal: Emphasizes a distressing experience rather than sustained exhausting effort.