Showing Results for "tollbooth"

See Also:

• a variation of tolbooth.

tollbooth

American  

[tohl-booth, -booth] / ˈtoʊlˌbuθ, -ˌbuð /

noun

tollbooths plural

1. a booth, as at a bridge or the entrance to a toll road, where a toll is collected.

2. Chiefly Scot. tolbooth.

---

tollbooth British  

/ ˈtəʊlˌbuːθ, ˈtɒl-, -ˌbuːð /

noun

1. a booth or kiosk at which a toll is collected

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• tollbooths
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tollbooth

First recorded in 1300–50, tollbooth is from the Middle English word tolbothe. See toll ¹, booth

Explanation

The highway kiosk where you stop and pay a fee is called a tollbooth. In the classic novel The Phantom Tollbooth, a boy drives his toy car through a magical tollbooth and is transported to a strange land. If your car has a transponder, a special electronic device, you can drive slowly past a tollbooth and pay automatically, rather than stopping and handing money to a toll collector. Only toll roads or turnpikes have tollbooths — drivers pay based on the size of their vehicle, and the toll revenue contributes to maintaining the road. The oldest tollbooths, called toll houses, were built in England, Wales, and Scotland during the 18th century.

Example Sentences

Tollbooth attendant: A sign in the window reads, “Taking a break — back in 10.”

From Washington Post • May 26, 2022

The Hobbit would have remained, for me, a treasured book of childhood, right there with The Phantom Tollbooth.

From Slate • Jul. 5, 2016

Tollbooth stations on roadways and bridges usually have a piece of wire stuck in the pavement before them that will touch a car as it approaches.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

"He" was Norton Juster, and the result of their unplanned collaboration was "The Phantom Tollbooth," the now-classic children's book.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2014

He opened it quickly and read: Dear Milo, You have now completed your trip, courtesy of the Phantom Tollbooth.

From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster