toll
1[ tohl ]
/ toʊl /
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noun
verb (used with object)
to collect (something) as toll.
to impose a tax or toll on (a person).
verb (used without object)
to collect toll; levy toll.
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Origin of toll
1First 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
Other definitions for toll (2 of 3)
toll2
[ tohl ]
/ toʊl /
verb (used with object) Also tole (for defs. 5, 6).
verb (used without object)
to sound with single strokes slowly and regularly repeated, as a bell.
noun
Origin of toll
2First 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”
Other definitions for toll (3 of 3)
toll3
[ tohl ]
/ toʊl /
verb (used with object) Law.
to suspend or interrupt, as a statute of limitations.
Origin of toll
3First 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”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use toll in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for toll (1 of 2)
toll1
/ (təʊl) /
verb
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)
noun
the act or sound of tolling
Word Origin for toll
C15: perhaps related to Old English -tyllan, as in fortyllan to attract
British Dictionary definitions for toll (2 of 2)
toll2
/ (təʊl, tɒl) /
noun
- 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, etcthe 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
Word Origin for toll
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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Other Idioms and Phrases with toll
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.