toll

¹

[ tohl ]

noun

1. a payment or fee exacted by the state, the local authorities, etc., for some right or privilege, as for passage along a road or over a bridge.
2. the extent of loss, damage, suffering, etc., resulting from some action or calamity:

   The toll was 300 persons dead or missing.

3. a tax, duty, or tribute, as for services or use of facilities.

   Synonyms: exaction, impost, levy, tariff

4. a payment made for a long-distance telephone call.
5. (formerly, in England) the right to take such payment.
6. a compensation for services, as for transportation or transmission.
7. grain retained by a miller in payment for grinding.

verb (used with object)

1. to collect (something) as toll.
2. to impose a tax or toll on (a person).

verb (used without object)

1. to collect toll; levy toll.

toll

²

[ tohl ]

verb (used with object)

1. to cause (a large bell) to sound with single strokes slowly and regularly repeated, as for summoning a congregation to church, or especially for announcing a death.
2. to sound or strike (a knell, the hour, etc.) by such strokes:

   In the distance Big Ben tolled five.

3. to announce by this means; ring a knell for (a dying or dead person).
4. to summon or dismiss by tolling.
5. to lure or decoy (game) by arousing curiosity.
6. to allure; entice:

   He tolls us on with fine promises.

verb (used without object)

1. to sound with single strokes slowly and regularly repeated, as a bell.

noun

1. the act of tolling a bell.
2. one of the strokes made in tolling a bell.
3. the sound made.

toll

³

[ tohl ]

verb (used with object)

, Law.

1. to suspend or interrupt, as a statute of limitations.

toll

¹

/ tɒl; təʊl /

noun

1. 1. an amount of money levied, esp for the use of certain roads, bridges, etc, to cover the cost of maintenance
   2. ( as modifier )

      toll road

      toll bridge

2. loss or damage incurred through an accident, disaster, etc

   the war took its toll of the inhabitants

3. Also calledtollage (formerly) the right to levy a toll
4. Also calledtoll charge a charge for a telephone call beyond a free-dialling area

toll

²

/ təʊl /

verb

1. to ring or cause to ring slowly and recurrently
2. tr to summon, warn, or announce by tolling
3. to decoy (game, esp ducks)

noun

1. the act or sound of tolling

Word History and Origins

Origin of toll¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English tol(le), Old English noun toll “tax, levy, custom, toll” (cognate with Dutch tol, German Zoll, Old Norse tollr ), assimilated variant of Middle English toln(e), Old English toln, from Late Latin tolōnēum, telonium, teloneum for Latin telōnēum “customs post,” from Greek telōneîon “tollhouse,” derivative of télos “tax”; the verb is derivative of the noun

Origin of toll²

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English tollen, tol(le) “to entice, lure, pull,” hence probably “to make (a bell) ring by pulling a rope”; akin to Old English tyllan “to draw, attract,” found only in the compound verb fortyllan “to draw off, seduce”

Origin of toll³

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English tollen “to remove, legally annul,” from Anglo-French to(u)ller, from Latin tollere “to lift up, take away, remove”

Word History and Origins

Origin of toll¹

Old English toln; related to Old Frisian tolene, Old High German zol toll, from Late Latin telōnium customs house, from Greek telónion, ultimately from telos tax

Origin of toll²

C15: perhaps related to Old English -tyllan, as in fortyllan to attract

Idioms and Phrases

see take its toll .

Example Sentences

In Sweden, the government’s decision to adopt a light-touch strategy to tackle the pandemic pushed its death toll per capita many times higher than in the rest of the Nordic region.

From Fortune

In contrast, income growth has stalled or even turned negative among the hundreds of millions in the low- to middle-income population as the pandemic took a toll on the jobs market.

From Ozy

Even as the number of confirmed covid-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir crossed 13,000 and the death toll passed 200 in mid-July, the government refused to restore 4G internet speeds.

From MIT Technology Review

In early June, it forced the health ministry to start publishing comprehensive data on covid-19 deaths again, after the ministry stopped doing so in what was widely seen as an attempt to cover up the rapidly rising death toll.

From MIT Technology Review

The incident took a severe toll on public confidence in vaccination.

From Ozy

The death toll, which experts believe has been significantly undercut by secret burials, stands at 7,905.

From The Daily Beast

In France, the death toll has been lower: One young man killed in the city of Nantes.

From The Daily Beast

The latest reported death toll is 80 children and 46 adults, but that is expected to rise.

From The Daily Beast

While the look worked for some, the combination of heat and chemicals took a toll on the hair of others.

From The Daily Beast

“The amount of literal brainwork needed to do his job too such a toll on him that it sent him to an early grave,” Goode says.

From The Daily Beast

On this the royal band of music would strike up its liveliest airs, and a great bell would toll its evening warning.

From Project Gutenberg

Jack's keeper offered the right toll, but the toll-bar man would not take it.

From Project Gutenberg

A country girl, riding by a turnpike-road without paying toll, the gate-keeper hailed her and demanded his fee.

From Project Gutenberg

Sixty, nay fifty, years ago, there were six toll-houses and turnpike bars between London and Portsmouth.

From Project Gutenberg

On leaving Conway we crossed the suspension bridge, paying a goodly toll for the privilege.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cost
• expense
• levy
• payment
• price
• rate
• tariff
• tax