(a) Physical labor, hard work, toil; work for sustenance or hire; also, an instance of toil or work, a laborious task; ~ and swete, swete other ~, swot and ~; ~ of god werkes, performance of good works; ~ of honde, manual labor; swinkes win, fruits oflabor; (b) toil as man's lot after the Fall; also, the state of toil to which man is condemned by the Fall; -- also pl.; ~ and swete (swot), swete and ~; liven in (wonen on) ~; (c) grievous toil or travail, esp. as a form of mortification; -- also pl.; bodily or spiritual labor directed toward the attaining of salvation; ~ and swot, swete and ~; (d) Jesus' labors on earth in behalf of man and man's salvation; (e) fig. the physical travail endured by Christ at the Passion; ben in sore ~.

(a) Labor directed at a specific physical task, physical exertion; swete ne ~; (b) toil in journeying; the travail of wandering in the wilderness; (c) toil in battle or combat; (d) toil in a sexual context, copulation.

Effort; also, trouble, difficulty; swinkes len, reward for one's efforts; leien ~ on, to expend effort on (sth.); lesen (losen) ~, have one's efforts come to nought, labor in vain; tholen ~, make an effort.

The fruits of labor, product of labor; -- also pl.

Hardship, distress; tribulation, affliction; also, an instance of tribulation.

In proverbs.

As surname.