toll
1a 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.
the extent of loss, damage, suffering, etc., resulting from some action or calamity: The toll was 300 persons dead or missing.
a tax, duty, or tribute, as for services or use of facilities.
a payment made for a long-distance telephone call.
(formerly, in England) the right to take such payment.
a compensation for services, as for transportation or transmission.
grain retained by a miller in payment for grinding.
to collect (something) as toll.
to impose a tax or toll on (a person).
to collect toll; levy toll.
Origin of toll
1Other words for toll
Words Nearby toll
Other definitions for toll (2 of 3)
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.
to sound or strike (a knell, the hour, etc.) by such strokes: In the distance Big Ben tolled five.
to announce by this means; ring a knell for (a dying or dead person).
to summon or dismiss by tolling.
to lure or decoy (game) by arousing curiosity.
to allure; entice: He tolls us on with fine promises.
to sound with single strokes slowly and regularly repeated, as a bell.
the act of tolling a bell.
one of the strokes made in tolling a bell.
the sound made.
Origin of toll
2Other definitions for toll (3 of 3)
to suspend or interrupt, as a statute of limitations.
Origin of toll
3Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use toll in a sentence
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.
Europe is at a turning point as COVID cases spike, and fragile governments feel the heat | Bernhard Warner | August 20, 2020 | FortuneIn 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.
Haves and Have-Nots: Pandemic Recovery Explodes China’s Wealth Gap | Daniel Malloy | August 19, 2020 | OzyEven 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.
How India became the world’s leader in internet shutdowns | Katie McLean | August 19, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewIn 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.
Brazil is sliding into techno-authoritarianism | Tate Ryan-Mosley | August 19, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewThe incident took a severe toll on public confidence in vaccination.
The death toll, which experts believe has been significantly undercut by secret burials, stands at 7,905.
In France, the death toll has been lower: One young man killed in the city of Nantes.
France’s Wave of Crazy-Terror Christmas Attacks | Christopher Dickey | December 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe latest reported death toll is 80 children and 46 adults, but that is expected to rise.
Taliban: We Slaughtered 100+ Kids Because Their Parents Helped America | Sami Yousafzai | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhile the look worked for some, the combination of heat and chemicals took a toll on the hair of others.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45 | Danielle Belton | December 16, 2014 | 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 Good Wife’ to ‘The Imitation Game’: Matthew Goode Wages His Charm Offensive | Kevin Fallon | November 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOn this the royal band of music would strike up its liveliest airs, and a great bell would toll its evening warning.
Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. PikeJack's keeper offered the right toll, but the toll-bar man would not take it.
The Nursery, July 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 1 | VariousA country girl, riding by a turnpike-road without paying toll, the gate-keeper hailed her and demanded his fee.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; | VariousSixty, nay fifty, years ago, there were six toll-houses and turnpike bars between London and Portsmouth.
The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries | Charles G. HarperOn leaving Conway we crossed the suspension bridge, paying a goodly toll for the privilege.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car | Thomas D. Murphy
British Dictionary definitions for toll (1 of 2)
/ (təʊl) /
to ring or cause to ring slowly and recurrently
(tr) to summon, warn, or announce by tolling
US and Canadian to decoy (game, esp ducks)
the act or sound of tolling
Origin of toll
1British Dictionary definitions for toll (2 of 2)
/ (təʊl, tɒl) /
an amount of money levied, esp for the use of certain roads, bridges, etc, to cover the cost of maintenance
(as modifier): toll road; toll bridge
loss or damage incurred through an accident, disaster, etc: the war took its toll of the inhabitants
Also called: tollage (formerly) the right to levy a toll
Also called: toll charge NZ a charge for a telephone call beyond a free-dialling area
Origin of toll
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with toll
see take its toll.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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