Meaning & use
toiling away
Last updated
“toiling away” is a form of “toil away”.
Meaning
verbintransitive
Working hard for a long time on something, often without much reward or attention.
Grammar: The -ing form of 'toil away'; it is used in progressive tenses or as a participle, and is often followed by 'at' or 'on'.
Patterns
- toil away at something
- toil away on something
- be toiling away
She's been toiling away at her thesis for months.
They toiled away in the garden all afternoon.
While everyone else was relaxing, he was toiling away in the kitchen.
Word forms
| base form | toil away |
|---|---|
| third person singular | toils away |
| past tense | toiled away |
| past participle | toiled away |
| -ing form | toiling away |
Common combinations
- toil away at something
- He toiled away at the same report for three days.
- toil away in the heat
- The workers toiled away in the midday heat.
- toil away for hours
- We toiled away for hours without a break.
- toil away unnoticed
- Many researchers toil away unnoticed for years.
Synonyms and how they differ
- labor
- Similar meaning but more formal and often used in American English; it can also be a noun.
- work hard
- A plainer phrase that lacks the suggestion of long, tiring, and possibly unrewarded effort.
- slave away
- Stronger and more informal, suggesting that someone is treated almost like a servant.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: toiling away or tolling?
toiling away vs tolling
Tolling means ringing a bell slowly, or paying a toll; it sounds similar but has a completely different meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'toiling away' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Toil away' is intransitive and takes 'at' or 'on' before the work: toiling away at her novel. The other prepositions do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “toiling away”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.