travail

1 of 2

noun

tra·​vail trə-ˈvāl  ˈtra-ˌvāl 

1

a

: work especially of a painful or laborious nature : toil

b

: a physical or mental exertion or piece of work : task, effort

c

: agony, torment

2

: labor, childbirth

travail

2 of 2

verb

tra·​vail trə-ˈvāl  ˈtra-ˌvāl 

 in prayer-​book communion service usually  ˈtra-ˌvāl

travailed; travailing; travails

intransitive verb

1

: to labor hard : toil

2

: labor sense 4

Did you know?

Travail traces back to trepalium, a Late Latin word for an instrument of torture. We don't know exactly what a trepalium looked like, but the word's history gives us an idea. Trepalium comes from the Latin adjective tripalis, which means "having three stakes" (from tri-, meaning "three," and palus, meaning "stake"). Trepalium eventually led to the Anglo-French verb travailler, meaning "to torment" but also, more mildly, "to trouble" and "to journey." The Anglo-French noun travail was borrowed into English in the 13th century, along with another descendant of travailler, travel.

Synonyms

Noun

• affliction
• agony
• anguish
• distress
• excruciation
• hurt
• misery
• pain
• rack
• strait(s)
• torment
• torture
• tribulation
• woe

Verb

• bang away
• beaver (away)
• dig (away)
• drudge
• endeavor
• fag
• grub
• hump
• hustle
• labor
• moil
• peg (away)
• plod
• plow
• plug
• slave
• slog
• strain
• strive
• struggle
• sweat
• toil
• tug
• work

Choose the Right Synonym for travail

work, labor, travail, toil, drudgery, grind mean activity involving effort or exertion.

work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

Examples of travail in a Sentence

Noun

They finally succeeded after many months of travail.

no greater travail than that of parents who have suffered the death of a child

Verb

Labor Day is the day on which we recognize those men and women who daily travail with little appreciation or compensation.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The travels and travails of politicized sisterhood Oprah Winfrey’s and Whoopi Goldberg’s appearance together at the Academy Awards, to introduce a tribute to the late music arranger/producer and Hollywood mogul Quincy Jones, was the strangest way to begin Women’s History Month. —Armond White, National Review, 7 Mar. 2025

While everyone might watch the S&P500 or the travails of bitcoin, it’s all driven by central bank monetary policy, and for the foreseeable future and globally, that is led by the U.S. Federal Reserve and its balance sheet operations. —Clem Chambers, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025

That’s why the legal fight matters to many people who don’t normally lose too much sleep over the travails of huge and lucrative law firms. —Niall Stanage, The Hill, 29 Mar. 2025

The travails of these people, including a suspenseful interrogation sequence sending Eunice and her adolescent daughter, their heads wrapped in black sackcloth, to the very place Rubens was seen recently. —Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 24 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from travailler to torment, labor, journey, from Vulgar Latin *trepaliare to torture, from Late Latin trepalium instrument of torture, from Latin tripalis having three stakes, from tri- + palus stake — more at pole

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for travail

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• email

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Kids Definition

travail

noun

tra·​vail

trə-ˈvā(ə)l,

ˈtrav-ˌāl

1

: work especially of a painful or difficult nature : toil

2

: agony sense 1, torment

travail verb

Etymology

Noun

Middle English travail "hard labor," from early French travail (same meaning), from travailler (verb) "to torment, labor" — related to travel see Word History at travel

Medical Definition

travail

noun

tra·​vail trə-ˈvā(ə)l  ˈtrav-ˌāl 

: labor, childbirth