See Also: moil(1)(dictionary)
moil(2)(dictionary)
moil(3)(dictionary)
moil(4)(dictionary)

to-break (iou) and moil(4) (iou)


to-break (iou)



to-break verb.Pa. t. -brake, -broke, pa. pple -broke(n). OE.
[from TO-1 + BREAK verb.]
verb trans. Break to pieces; shatter, rupture; destroy, demolish. OE-L17.
b. Break (a commandment, promise, etc.). OE-LME.
c. Rend, tear (clothes or the like). Only in ME.
verb intrans. Break apart or into pieces; be ruptured, shattered, or fractured. ME-E16.

moil(4) (iou)



moil verb. LME.
[Old French moillier wet, moisten, paddle in mud (mod. mouiller) from Proto-Romance, from Latin mollis soft.]
verb trans. Wet, moisten; soil, bedaub. Now arch. & dial. LME.
b. fig. Defile. rare. L16-M17.
verb intrans. Toil, work hard, drudge. Freq. in toil and moil. M16.
verb trans. Weary, fatigue; harass, worry. Chiefly refl. & in pass. Now rare or obsolete. M16.
verb intrans. & trans. Burrow (in). Long obsolete exc. dial. M16.
verb intrans. Move around in agitation or confusion; swirl, mill about. M20.