Is this your crossword clue?
"toil" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often labor (5 letters).
Definitions
productive work (especially physical work done for wages)
Used in a sentence
“[…] he set to work again and made the snow fly in all directions around him. After some further toil his efforts were rewarded, and a very shabby door-mat lay exposed to view.”
“Then toils for beasts, and lime for birds, were found.”
“I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils, destroying the objects that obstructed me and ranging through the wood with a stag-like swiftness.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Hard work”4 letters
Not quite right?
"Search similar patterns."
T___