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Attended with toil, or fatigue and pain; laborious; wearisome; as, toilsome work. What can be toilsome in these pleasant walks Milton. -- Toil"some*ly, adv. -- Toil"some*ness, n.

Rendering action or motion difficult or toilsome; serving to obstruct or hinder; burdensome; clogging. He sunk beneath the cumbrous weight. Swift. That cumbrousand unwieldy style which disfigures English composition so extensively. De Quincey.

Hard; harsh; severe; rough; toilsome. [R.] The winter is severe, and life is dure and rude. W. H. Russell.

One who labors in a toilsome occupation; a person who does work that requires strength rather than skill, as distinguished from that of an artisan.

Requiring labor, perseverance, or sacrifices; toilsome; tiresome. Dost thou love watchings, abstinence, or toil, Laborious virtues all Learn these from Cato. Addison.

Labor; toilsome effort; care or trouble taken; -- plural in form, but used with a singular or plural verb, commonly the former. And all my pains is sorted to no proof. Shak. The pains they had taken was very great. Clarendon. The labored earth your pains have sowed and tilled. Dryden.

Progressing in a slow, toilsome manner; characterized by laborious diligence; as, a plodding peddler; a plodding student; a man of plodding habits. --Plod"ding*ly, adv.

Causing sweat; hence, laborious; toilsome; difficult. "The sweaty forge." Prior.

Producing or involving much toil; laborious; toilsome; as, toilful care. Mickle.