travail
1 of 2noun
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 2verb
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?
Etymologists are pretty certain that travail comes from trepalium, the Late Latin name of an instrument of torture. We don't know exactly what a trepalium looked like, but the word's history gives us an idea. Trepalium is derived from the Latin tripalis, which means "having three stakes" (from tri-, meaning "three," and palus, meaning "stake"). From trepalium sprang the Anglo-French verb travailler, which originally meant "to torment" but eventually acquired the milder senses "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
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
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
Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 17 May 2022 Cognates are words that are related etymologically, as travail and travel are … at least historically. James Harbeck, The Week, 23 Feb. 2022 But over time, travel and travail split into two different words. James Harbeck, The Week, 23 Feb. 2022 Steinbeck follows their trek through the travail and injustice that accompanied every step of their journey. Steve West, sun-sentinel.com, 3 June 2021 Who will miss the slaughterhouses, with their groan of travail that was never easy to bear in any age? Matthew Scully, National Review, 17 Jan. 2021 Forty is a biblical number, used as shorthand for a long period of isolation and travail. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2020 Douglas and Paula Rigby inevitably find no easy answers to their financial travails and everyday ennui. oregonlive, 20 Mar. 2020 Luxe Antarctica: Modern-day Antarctic polar explorers don’t have to endure the harrowing travails of British pioneer Ernest Shackleton. Michael George, National Geographic, 15 Oct. 2019 See More
Noun
Carolyn was able to capture the honor and travail of spending 24/7 with young children so well. Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 17 May 2022 Cognates are words that are related etymologically, as travail and travel are … at least historically. James Harbeck, The Week, 23 Feb. 2022 But over time, travel and travail split into two different words. James Harbeck, The Week, 23 Feb. 2022 Steinbeck follows their trek through the travail and injustice that accompanied every step of their journey. Steve West, sun-sentinel.com, 3 June 2021 Who will miss the slaughterhouses, with their groan of travail that was never easy to bear in any age? Matthew Scully, National Review, 17 Jan. 2021 Forty is a biblical number, used as shorthand for a long period of isolation and travail. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2020 Douglas and Paula Rigby inevitably find no easy answers to their financial travails and everyday ennui. oregonlive, 20 Mar. 2020 Luxe Antarctica: Modern-day Antarctic polar explorers don’t have to endure the harrowing travails of British pioneer Ernest Shackleton. Michael George, National Geographic, 15 Oct. 2019 See More 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
Medical Definition
travail
noun
tra·vail trə-ˈvā(ə)l ˈtrav-ˌāl
ˈtrav-ˌāl : labor, childbirth
travails 1 of 2
noun
1
as in pains
a state of great suffering of body or mind no greater travail than that of parents who have suffered the death of a child Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- pains
- distresses
- agonies
- miseries
- tribulations
- anguishes
- woes
- torments
- tortures
- straits
- sorrows
- discomforts
- pangs
- hardships
- afflictions
- hurts
- dangers
- troubles
- heartbreaks
- racks
- heartaches
- difficulties
- excruciations
- trials
- aches
- emergencies
- rigors
- crucibles
- throes
- crosses
- asperities
- stitches
- jeopardies
- pinches
- twinges
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- consolations
- comforts
- solaces
- alleviations
- eases
- reliefs
- assuagements
- securities
- peaces
- well-beings
2
as in efforts
very hard or unpleasant work these villagers now have decent housing, so our travail has not been in vain Synonyms & Similar Words
- efforts
- toils
- labors
- pains
- struggles
- troubles
- exertions
- fatigues
- sweats
- drudgeries
- responsibilities
- grinds
- slaveries
- drudges
- moils
- donkeyworks
- obligations
- duties
- jobs
- chores
- spadeworks
- routines
- treadmills
- tediums
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- plays
- fun
- dalliances
- relaxations
- eases
- diversions
- sports
- entertainments
- amusements
- rests
- recreations
- reposes
- leisures
- inertias
- decompressions
- inactivities
- dormancies
3
as in childbirths
the act or process of giving birth to children a midwife assisted her throughout her long travail Synonyms & Similar Words
- childbirths
- pregnancies
- pains
- deliveries
- labors
- miscarriages
- abortions
- accouchements
- contractions
- childbearings
- parturitions
- birth pangs
- confinements
- cesarean sections
- natural childbirths
- lying-ins
- childbeds
- caesarean sections
- lyings-in
travails
2 of 2verb
as in struggles
to devote serious and sustained effort Labor Day is the day on which we recognize those men and women who daily travail with little appreciation or compensation Synonyms & Similar Words
- struggles
- labors
- works
- toils
- endeavors
- slaves
- tugs
- strives
- drudges
- tries
- hustles
- bangs away
- strains
- sweats
- plows
- humps
- grubs
- slogs
- moils
- plods
- fags
- plugs
- attacks
- sweats blood
- digs (away)
- pegs (away)
- beavers (away)
- essays
- exercises
- pitches in
- knuckles down
- scratches
- drives
- digs in
- ekes out
- overexerts
- exerts
- trudges
- buckles (down)
- wades
- overworks
- applies (oneself)
- hammers (away)
- scrabbles
- puts out
- grinds (out)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- breaks
- eases (up)
- slackens
- hangs (around or out)
- lets up
- shirks
- dallies
- slacks (off)
- chills
- lazes
- bums
- goldbricks
- goofs (off)
- rests
- loafs
- dillydallies
- unwinds
- lounges
- plays
- hacks (around)
- reposes
- basks
- hangs
- dabbles
- lolls
- idles
- footles
- hangs about
- fools around
- relaxes
- doodles
- fribbles
- trifles
- veges out
- messes around
- vegges out
- goofs (around)
- putters (around)
- monkeys (around)
- potters (around)
- mortal foe/rival
- mortal mind
- mortal remains
- mortal rival
- mortal sin
- mortaler
- mortalest
- mortalise
- mortalised
- mortalises
- mortalising
- Mortalism
- Mortalist
- mortalities
- mortality
- mortality rate
- mortality rates
- mortality table
- cis-platinum
- cis-trans
- cis-trans isomerism
- cisalpine
- Cisalpine Gaul
- cisandine
- cisatlantic