Travail
noun
Hard or painful work.
The travail of carrying heavy loads up the hill exhausted him
Often appears as...
- labors of travail
- birth travails
noun
The pain experienced during childbirth.
The woman was in travail for several hours before the baby was born
Often appears as...
- in travail
- birth travail
Usage tips
Disapproving
verb
To work very hard.
He was travailing in the fields from dawn to dusk
Often appears as...
- travail over something
- travail in the fields
verb
To suffer the pains of childbirth.
She travailed for hours before her baby was born
Often appears as...
- travail in pain
- travail for hours
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
Hard or painful work.
The travail of carrying heavy loads up the hill exhausted him
Often appears as...
- labors of travail
- birth travails
noun
The pain experienced during childbirth.
The woman was in travail for several hours before the baby was born
Often appears as...
- in travail
- birth travail
Usage tips
Disapproving
verb
To work very hard.
He was travailing in the fields from dawn to dusk
Often appears as...
- travail over something
- travail in the fields
verb
To suffer the pains of childbirth.
She travailed for hours before her baby was born
Often appears as...
- travail in pain
- travail for hours
Usage tips
Disapproving
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/3Physically Straining
Usually implies tasks that are exhausting and require great physical effort.
The workers experienced the travail of shoveling snow for hours.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotionally Draining
Can also be used to describe activities that are mentally or emotionally taxing.
Planning the event was a real travail because of numerous setbacks.
Pro Tip 3/3Severe Hardship
Often associated with scenarios involving extreme difficulty or distress.
Their travail through the desert tested their limits.
Pro Tip 1/3Physically Straining
Usually implies tasks that are exhausting and require great physical effort.
The workers experienced the travail of shoveling snow for hours.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotionally Draining
Can also be used to describe activities that are mentally or emotionally taxing.
Planning the event was a real travail because of numerous setbacks.
Pro Tip 3/3Severe Hardship
Often associated with scenarios involving extreme difficulty or distress.
Their travail through the desert tested their limits.
Pro Tip 1/3Physically Straining
Usually implies tasks that are exhausting and require great physical effort.
The workers experienced the travail of shoveling snow for hours.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotionally Draining
Can also be used to describe activities that are mentally or emotionally taxing.
Planning the event was a real travail because of numerous setbacks.
Pro Tip 3/3Severe Hardship
Often associated with scenarios involving extreme difficulty or distress.
Their travail through the desert tested their limits.
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Video examples
How the worst moments in...
for the wisdom she had gained, for the chance to hone her meditation skills. She had sought meaning and made her travail into a crucial identity.
Video examples
How the worst moments in...
for the wisdom she had gained, for the chance to hone her meditation skills. She had sought meaning and made her travail into a crucial identity.
Example 1 of 1
Quote examples
Camille Grammer
American Celebrity
Due to my genetic predisposition to certain cancers and having experienced the travails of my mom and grandmother in their battles against this awful disease, I wanted to use my platform to raise awareness and funds for crucial research for these below-the-belt cancers.
Quote examples
Robert Kennedy
American Politician
The travail of freedom and justice is not easy, but nothing serious and important in life is easy. The history of humanity has been a continuing struggle against temptation and tyranny - and very little worthwhile has ever been achieved without pain.
Quote examples
Bob Newhart
American Comedian
People with a sense of humor tend to be less egocentric and more realistic in their view of the world and more humble in moments of success and less defeated in times of travail.
Quote examples
Jim Bishop
American Journalist
It is impossible to read for pleasure from something to which you are both father and mother, born in such travail that the writer despises the thing that enslaved him.
Quote examples
Padgett Powell
American Novelist
Christmas is the season I use to clock failure in life. It stops time, as it were, on the year - where you are in it, where you are in your travail unto the grave.
Quote examples
Shweta Menon
Indian Model
The film 'Kaliman' is about the various travails a woman undergoes. Since giving birth to a child tops the list and I was pregnant as well, I accepted the role.
Quote examples
Conrad Black
British Businessman
I always keep a firewall between my own travails and my perception of public-policy issues; otherwise I would retain no credibility as a commentator.
Quote examples
Mortimer Adler
American Philosopher
An educated person is one who, through the travail of his own life, has assimilated the ideas that make him representative of his culture.
Quote examples
John L. Lewis
American Leader
Out of the agony and travail of economic America the Committee for Industrial Organization was born.
Quote examples
George Osborne
British Politician
I can't imagine a God who would ever need to intercede in the daily travails of my life.
Quote examples
Camille Grammer
American Celebrity
Due to my genetic predisposition to certain cancers and having experienced the travails of my mom and grandmother in their battles against this awful disease, I wanted to use my platform to raise awareness and funds for crucial research for these below-the-belt cancers.
Quote examples
Robert Kennedy
American Politician
The travail of freedom and justice is not easy, but nothing serious and important in life is easy. The history of humanity has been a continuing struggle against temptation and tyranny - and very little worthwhile has ever been achieved without pain.
Quote examples
Bob Newhart
American Comedian
People with a sense of humor tend to be less egocentric and more realistic in their view of the world and more humble in moments of success and less defeated in times of travail.
Quote examples
Jim Bishop
American Journalist
It is impossible to read for pleasure from something to which you are both father and mother, born in such travail that the writer despises the thing that enslaved him.
Quote examples
Padgett Powell
American Novelist
Christmas is the season I use to clock failure in life. It stops time, as it were, on the year - where you are in it, where you are in your travail unto the grave.
Quote examples
Shweta Menon
Indian Model
The film 'Kaliman' is about the various travails a woman undergoes. Since giving birth to a child tops the list and I was pregnant as well, I accepted the role.
Quote examples
Conrad Black
British Businessman
I always keep a firewall between my own travails and my perception of public-policy issues; otherwise I would retain no credibility as a commentator.
Quote examples
Mortimer Adler
American Philosopher
An educated person is one who, through the travail of his own life, has assimilated the ideas that make him representative of his culture.
Quote examples
John L. Lewis
American Leader
Out of the agony and travail of economic America the Committee for Industrial Organization was born.
Quote examples
George Osborne
British Politician
I can't imagine a God who would ever need to intercede in the daily travails of my life.
Example 1 of 10
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