Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: travaillier 'to torture, work very hard', from Vulgar Latin tripaliare 'to torture', from tripalium 'instrument of torture', from Latin tri- 'three' + palus 'sharp stick'

travail

 noun
     
trav‧ail [uncountable] written
also travails [plural] a difficult or unpleasant situation, or very tiring work
travail of
the travails of last year's water shortage
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE