droil

plural droils

1. countableobsoleteuncountableA drudge; a minion or servile worker.

   Two homely droils were authors of my death

   a. 1595, Robert Southwell, St. Peter's Complaint

   1 more example

   Then I begin to rave at my stars' bitterness, / To see how many muckhills plac'd above me; / Peasants and droils, caroches full of dunghills

   c. 1613, Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, “Wit at Several Weapons. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

2. countableobsoleteuncountablehard work; toil or drudgery.

   When the burden of daytime droil is o'er

   1880, Karl Knortz, Otto Dickman, Modern American Lyrics

present singular third person droils · participle present droiling · participle past droiled · past droiled

1. To work sluggishly or slowly; to plod.