toll

¹ American  

[tohl] / toʊl /

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.

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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 American  

[tohl] / toʊl /

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.

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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 American  

[tohl] / toʊl /

verb (used with object)

Law.

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

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toll ¹ British  

/ təʊl, tɒl /

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 called: tollage.  (formerly) the right to levy a toll

4. Also called: toll charge.  a charge for a telephone call beyond a free-dialling area

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toll ² British  

/ 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)

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noun

1. the act or sound of tolling

toll Idioms  

1. see take its toll.

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Etymology

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”

Explanation

A toll is a payment made for something. To drive on some highways, drivers have to pay a toll when they exit. Toll comes from the Greek word for "tax," telos. When a fee is charged for the privilege of driving on a road or crossing a bridge, it's called a toll. Another kind of toll is the charge to make a long distance telephone call. Occasionally, toll refers to a different kind of cost — a loss of human life: the human toll of an earthquake or war. Finally, there's the toll, or deep ringing sound, of a bell.

Example Sentences

As of Tuesday, the official death toll from the two quakes — the deadliest in more than two centuries to hit the South American nation — approached 2,000.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026

Even if the fights don’t end up in front of a judge, that doesn’t mean they don’t take a physical, emotional and financial toll.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 30, 2026

In a Moscow suburb, shut-down shops and "for rent" signs reveal the creeping toll of Russia's slowing wartime economy.

From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026

"I think that took a toll on my confidence… I was very shy and I didn't want to engage much with teachers," he said.

From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026

After twelve weeks of fighting in France, the SS-HJ paid a heavy toll: In all, casualty lists include 8,626 SS-HJ soldiers.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Related Words

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