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

The market-place has lost its curious old tolbooth, and in its place stands a town hall of good Tudor design.

From Yorkshire by Home, Gordon

He remembered that Diana Vernon had left the library and immediately returned with the letter which was afterwards claimed by Rob Roy in the tolbooth of Glasgow.

From Red Cap Tales Stolen from the Treasure Chest of the Wizard of the North by Scott, Walter, Sir

Once it befell that the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, the Earl of Traquair, visiting Jedburgh, there found Willie lying in the "tolbooth."

From Stories of the Border Marches by Lang, Jeanie

The noise of taking up my brother and Esau Wardrop to the tolbooth by the soldiers bred a great wonderment in the town, and the magistrates came into the prison to see them.

From Ringan Gilhaize or The Covenanters by Galt, John

Mr. Welch was sent first to Edinburgh tolbooth, and then to Blackness; and so from prison to prison, till he was banished to France, never to see Scotland again.

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