What does "travail" mean?
Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship.
Travail
/tɹəˈveɪl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship.
- Grammar: travail is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: exertion, labor, accouchement, adversity.
- Useful contrasts: avoid, benefit, comfort.
- Usage evidence: They finally succeeded after many months of travail.
How to use "travail"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "travail" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "travail" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "travail" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "travail" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "travail" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "exertion" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "travail", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship. literary
"Great trauail is created to al men, and an heauie yoke vpon the children of Adam, from the day of their comming forth of their mothers wombe, vntil the day of their burying, into the mother of al. […]"
- 2 use of physical or mental energy; hard work wordnet
- 3 Specifically, the labor of childbirth.
"The lady shrieks and, well-a-near, Does fall in travail with her fear."
- 4 concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child wordnet
- 5 An act of working; labor (US), labour (British). countable, obsolete
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 The eclipse of a celestial object. obsolete
- 7 Obsolete form of travel. alt-of, obsolete
- 8 Alternative form of travois (“a kind of sled”) alt-of, alternative
Verb
- 1 To toil.
"[A]ll slothful persons, which will not travail for their livings, do the will of the devil."
- 2 work hard wordnet
- 3 To go through the labor of childbirth.
"A woman when she traveyleth hath sorowe, be cause her houre is come: but as sone as she is delivered off her chylde she remembreth no moare her anguysshe, for ioye that a man is borne in to the worlde."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"They finally succeeded after many months of travail."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "travail"?
Common synonyms include: exertion, labor, accouchement, adversity, be confined, bear.
How do you use "travail" in a sentence?
They finally succeeded after many months of travail.
How do you pronounce "travail"?
Pronounced /tɹəˈveɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
PIE word *tréyes ] From Middle English travail, from Old French travail (“suffering, torment”), deverbal of travailler, from Vulgar Latin *tripāliāre, from Late Latin tripālium, from Latin tripālis (“held up by three stakes”) from Proto-Italic *trēs + *pākslos from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-. Doublet of travel and travois.
Etymology 2
From Middle English travailen, from Old French travaillier, from the noun (see above). Doublet of travel. Displaced native Middle English swinken (“to work”) (from Old English swincan (“to labour, to toil, to work at”)).