toiling

verb

present participle of toil
as in laboring
to devote serious and sustained effort toiled for many years on the mammoth outdoor sculpture

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of toiling To watch someone toiling away in the service of something great is not, in the end, so very different from watching someone toiling away in the service of something terrible. — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026 Many of them had saved money while toiling as farmworkers, cooks, custodians and construction workers. — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026 Why does the fantasy of an artist toiling away in solitude have so much appeal? — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026 This is a team that spent years toiling to even get on the grid, and has been aggressive in its ambitions to evolve into a future powerhouse. — Luke Smith, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026 Had the trolls toiling in the darkest tunnels of the internet shown up at her actual doorstep? — Literary Hub, 30 June 2026 These days, many would-be retirees are punching clocks in warehouses, toiling as home health aides, or serving customers in retail stores. — Ann Larson, Time, 11 June 2026 The 60-year-old owner of All-Pro Lawnmower Sales, Service & Recycling at 555 Santa Fe Drive in Denver spends his days toiling on small engines. — Matthew Geiger, Denver Post, 29 May 2026 Though work continues to be handled outside the Trop, a workload with increasing demands with the summer months upon us, the Rays’ grounds crew takes care of a field inside without having to change clothes multiple times per day while toiling in unrelenting heat and humidity. — Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toiling
  1. laboring
  2. struggling
  3. striving
  4. working
Verb
  • While practicing for a sixth straight day, laboring in a heat index pushing 90 degrees, the Chiefs were bound to be a bit ill-mannered.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Complicated births that require, for example, extended time laboring will now be differentiated and might cost more, while uncomplicated births will cost less.
    — Camille A. Clare, STAT, 23 July 2026
Definition of laboring
Verb
  • The papers served to underline how central banks are struggling to keep up with challenges introduced by technology.
    — Maria Eloisa Capurro, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The longer the current situation continues, the greater the strain on an economy already struggling with shortages, inflation and restrictions on trade.
    — Hamidreza Azizi, Time, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of struggling
Verb
  • However, instead of a conservative regression, Dressen has noticed institutions striving to adopt more innovative practices on a number of levels.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • But a home that cannot absorb something deeply meaningful is striving for taste at the expense of inauthenticity.
    — Steven Weill, Architectural Digest, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of striving
Verb
  • Other areas of concern are the library system's self-check-out kiosks, instances in which minor teenagers handle materials while working or volunteering at a branch, and platforms for loaning electronic materials, Adams said.
    — Joseph Flaherty, Arkansas Online, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Now his focus is on following in his parents’ footsteps working with the Children’s Institute, an organization that supports children and families.
    — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of working

Browse Nearby Words

toilful
toiling
toils
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Toiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toiling. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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