tolbooth

American  

[tohl-booth, -booth] / ˈtoʊlˌbuθ, -ˌbuð /

Or tollbooth

noun

Chiefly Scot.

plural

tolbooths

1. a town jail.

2. a town hall or guild hall, especially a place where tolls are paid.

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tolbooth British  

/ -ˌbuːð, ˈtɒl-, ˈtəʊlˌbuːθ /

noun

1. a town hall

2. a variant spelling of tollbooth

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Etymology

Origin of tolbooth

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at tollbooth

Example Sentences

It was the fault of yon Highland cateran, whom it is my curse to be cumbered with; but he shall go back to his glens tomorrow, or taste the tolbooth of the burgh.

From The Fair Maid of Perth Or, St. Valentine's Day by Scott, Walter, Sir

Gibb and some of them were again apprehended and taken to the Canongate tolbooth, where they took such fits of fasting for several days, that their voices changed like to the howlings of dogs.

From Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies) A Brief Historical Account of the Lives, Characters, and Memorable Transactions of the Most Eminent Scots Worthies by Howie, John

"Weel, Meg, and how mony gipsies were sent to the tolbooth?"

From Guy Mannering by Scott, Walter, Sir

In the meantime they are lodged in the tolbooth of that town.

From History of the Mackenzies, with genealogies of the principal families of the name by Mackenzie, Alexander

At the first sight of her at the tolbooth stairhead, a universal sob rose from all the multitude, and the sternest e’e couldna refrain from shedding a tear. 

From The Provost by Galt, John