tolbooth

or toll·booth

[ tohl-booth, -booth ]

/ ˈtoʊlˌbuθ, -ˌbuð /

noun, plural tol·booths [tohl-booth z, -booths] /ˈtoʊlˌbuðz, -ˌbuθs/. Chiefly Scot.

a town jail.

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

Nearby words

tokyo bay, tola, tolan, toland, tolar, tolbooth, tolbukhin, tolbutamide, tolbutamide test, told, tole

Origin of tolbooth

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tolbooth

He lost all his wealth by heavy fines, and, after imprisonment in the Castle and in the Tolbooth, died in 1648.
Edinburgh|Rosaline Masson
The Tolbooth was broken open, and Porteous hanged to a barber's pole, all with the greatest order and regularity.
A History of England, Period III.|Rev. J. Franck Bright
The latter was taken easily enough, and clapped into the Tolbooth.
Claverhouse|Mowbray Morris
Ian Rullock, after lying two months in the tolbooth, has escaped.
Foes|Mary Johnston

Two or three others were killed, and some (taken prisoners) had to Edinburgh, and cast into irons in the tolbooth.
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Vol. II (of 3)|Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for tolbooth

tolbooth

/ (ˈtəʊlˌbuːθ, -ˌbuːð, ˈtɒl-) /

noun

mainly Scot a town hall

a variant spelling of tollbooth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012