beswink means to labour, toil; belabour. It carries an Arena rating of 1531, earned across 84 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, beswink ranks #621 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #1,208 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #1,883 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #1,894 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
Why “beswink” is a great word
BESWINK — [Verb] To labor or toil thoroughly, or to belabor with strenuous effort. From Middle English beswinken, from Old English beswincan ("to labour, toil, exert oneself"), equivalent to the prefix be- ("about, thoroughly") + swink ("toil, labor"). First attested c. 1175. Unlike "swink" (which simply means to toil) or "belabor" (which connotes excessive verbal argument or physical beating), "beswink" implies laboring over a thing with exhaustive, enveloping effort. It is the sweat-darkened shirt of the gardener turning heavy, clay-rich earth; the rhythmic, unceasing stroke of a hand polishing a worn wooden railing to a deep gloss; or the weary, focused posture of a scribe illuminating a single, intricate letter through the long hours of a candle's burn—a testament to the old, physical grammar of achievement, where worth was measured in the thorough saturation of one's effort.
Etymology
From Middle English beswinken, from Old English beswincan (“to labour, toil, exert oneself”); equivalent to be- + swink. More at swink.
verb
- to labour, toil; belabour
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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