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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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.
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Recent Examples of toils
Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
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
The film unfolds from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl named Qing (Aline Chen), who lives and works the land with her mother, Hongmei (Li Yanxi), while her father toils in a factory in a faraway city.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Noun
How Tielemans overcame early toils is often used as a source of encouragement by new additions who seem peripheral at first.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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
The film unfolds from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl named Qing (Aline Chen), who lives and works the land with her mother, Hongmei (Li Yanxi), while her father toils in a factory in a faraway city.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toils
Noun
-
Leaving sheets in the dryer for an extended period gives them more opportunity to wrinkle or tangle.—
Anyssa Roberts,
The Spruce,
5 Feb. 2026
-
The debate took place against the backdrop of a tangle of state policies.—
Shun Graves,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
But talking about identity has ever-shifting rules and hierarchies that amount to bear-traps that can spring at any time.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
9 Feb. 2026
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In the bottom of your dishwasher, there’s a small trap that’s meant to catch food particles and debris that’s rinsed off your plates during the wash cycle.—
Ashley Chalmers,
The Spruce,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The film tells the story 21-year-old Junyang, who drifts through life while his father quietly struggles to hold their modest home together.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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The middle-aged woman cured of breast cancer who now struggles to climb stairs because endocrine therapy has carved away her bone density and caused joint aches.—
Gilberto Lopes,
STAT,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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While civilians surf the world wide web like an information superhighway, one prominent lawyer compared inmates’ internet access to a one-lane dirt road.—
Andrew Zucker,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Nirvanna the Band the Show, which ran as a web series from 2007 to 2010 and then as a sitcom from 2017 to 2018 on Viceland, was not known for its stunts.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Cohen said that Harpers, which is also 100 years old this year, strives to make its customers comfortable enough to just come in and visit without necessarily buying anything.—
Jean E. Palmieri,
Footwear News,
6 Feb. 2026
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The 57-year-old now strives for something even more elusive and meaningful than success in the nation’s top baseball conference.—
Edgar Thompson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
My guiding principle would be protecting American interests while avoiding unnecessary entanglements—making decisions grounded in facts, realism, and a clear understanding of the regional, economic, and security implications involved.—
Rachel Royster,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
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When particles interact, entanglement is inevitable.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The average American now works about four years longer than during the 1980s, according to Gallup polling.—
Paige Winfield Cunningham The Washington Post,
Arkansas Online,
9 Feb. 2026
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Containing everyday shoes is one of the trickiest feats in a home, but a system that works for the whole family keeps the chaos contained.—
Wendy Rose Gould,
Martha Stewart,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
One photographer visited Uganda and captured the striking image of a mountain of snares, used to trap wildlife and confiscated by the nation’s rangers.—
Charlotte Reck,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
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The team used non-invasive survey tools, including 285 hair snares and 135 remote cameras, to collect the information from a 150-square-mile area, the institute said.—
Kerry Breen,
CBS News,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Toils.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toils. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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