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| tra·vail [ trə váyl, trá vàyl ] |
noun (plural tra·vails) |
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| Definition: |
| |
1. hard work: work, especially work that involves hard physical effort over a long period
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2. medicine
(
archaic
)
Same as laborn (sense 6)
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intransitive verb (past and past participle tra·vailed, present participle tra·vail·ing, 3rd person present singular tra·vails) |
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| Definition: |
| |
1. work hard: to work long and hard
(
literary
)
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2. be in labor: to undergo the labor of childbirth
(
archaic
)
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| [13th century. < French, "pain," travailler "to toil" < assumed Vulgar Latin tripalium "instrument of torture" < Latin tripalis "having three stakes" < palus "stake"] |
