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Toil vs Tug - What's the difference?

toil | tug |

In lang=en terms the difference between toil and tug

is that toil is to weary through excessive labour while tug is to tow by tugboat.

As nouns the difference between toil and tug

is that toil is labour, work while tug is a sudden powerful pull.

As verbs the difference between toil and tug

is that toil is to labour; work while tug is to pull or drag with great effort.

toil

English

Alternative forms

* (l) (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • labour, work
  • * 1908:
    • ...he set to work again and made the snow fly in all directions around him. After some further toil his efforts were rewarded, and a very shabby door-mat lay exposed to view.
  • trouble, strife
  • A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey; usually in the plural.
  • * Denham
    • As a Numidian lion, when first caught, / Endures the toil that holds him.
  • * Dryden
    • Then toils for beasts, and lime for birds, were found.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To labour; work.
  • To struggle.
  • To work (something); often with out .
  • * Holland
    • places well toiled and husbanded
  • * Milton
    • [I] toiled out my uncouth passage.
  • To weary through excessive labour.
  • * Shakespeare
    • toiled with works of war

    Synonyms

    * , (l)

    See also

    * toil and moil

    Anagrams

    * ----

    tug

    English

    Verb

    (tugg)
  • to pull or drag with great effort
    • The police officers tugged the drunkard out of the pub.
  • to pull hard repeatedly
    • He lost his patience trying to undo his shoe-lace, but tugging it made the knot even tighter.
  • to tow by tugboat

    • Derived terms

    * tug down * tug up

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a sudden powerful pull
  • * Dryden
    • At the tug he falls, / Vast ruins come along, rent from the smoking walls.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=September 24 , author=David Ornstein , title=Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=But Van Persie slotted home 40 seconds after the break before David Wheater saw red for a tug on Theo Walcott.}}
  • (nautical) a tugboat
  • (obsolete) A kind of vehicle used for conveying timber and heavy articles.
    • (Halliwell)
  • A trace, or drawing strap, of a harness.
  • (mining) An iron hook of a hoisting tub, to which a tackle is affixed.
  • (slang) An act of masturbation
    • He had a quick tug to calm himself down before his date.

    Derived terms

    * tug of war

    Anagrams

    * ----