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⇱ travail - WordReference.com Dictionary of English


travail

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UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈtræveɪl/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(trə vāl, travāl)


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
tra•vail  (trə vāl, travāl),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. painfully difficult or burdensome work;
    toil.
  2. pain, anguish or suffering resulting from mental or physical hardship.
  3. the pain of childbirth.

v.i. 
  1. to suffer the pangs of childbirth;
    be in labor.
  2. to toil or exert oneself.
  • Old French: suffering, derivative of travailler
  • Vulgar Latin *trepaliāre to torture, derivative of Late Latin trepālium torture chamber, literally, instrument of torture made with three stakes (see tri-, pale2); (noun, nominal) Middle English
  • Old French travaillier to torment
  • (verb, verbal) Middle English travaillen 1200–50
    1. labor, moil. 2. torment, agony.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
travail /ˈtræveɪl/ literary n
  1. painful or excessive labour or exertion
  2. the pangs of childbirth; labour
vb
  1. (intransitive) to suffer or labour painfully, esp in childbirth
Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French travaillier, from Vulgar Latin tripaliāre (unattested) to torture, from Late Latin trepālium instrument of torture, from Latin tripālis having three stakes, from trēs three + pālus stake
'travail' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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