The state or quality of being arduous; steepness, difficulty.
A hard struggle, especially one associated with the beginning or finishing of a task.
Any severe pang or spasm, especially an outburst of feeling; a paroxysm.
The pain of labour or childbirth; the suffering of death.
Synonym of froe (“a cleaving tool for splitting cask staves and shingles from a block of wood”)
A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die.