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
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. 2024
How to use toll in a sentence
The technologies of war became more deadly and the planet grew more populous, so the death tolls were often enormous.
Disproportionate death tolls, tragic though they may be, are an excuse to place Israel in an utterly indefensible position.
He took a secluded road, telling me that avoiding the freeway would save me the tolls.
‘Brave Miss World’: Linor Abargil on Her Journey From Rape Victim to Beauty Queen to Activist | Linor Abargil | May 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe UN has quit updating its Darfur death tolls and even experts on the conflict are hard pressed to provide accurate estimates.
The Forgotten Genocidal War in Darfur Revealed in New Satellite Photos | Akshaya Kumar , Jacinth Planer | March 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFederal rules limit the tolls that can be charged on inter-state pipelines to prevent gouging.
How the Kings of Fracking Double-Crossed Their Way to Riches | ProPublica | March 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In the "good old coaching days" the turnpike tolls paid on a coach running daily from here to London amounted to £1,428 per year.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellIn addition to the tolls and charges, the Acts usually contained a rough classification of goods to which they applied.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowYon deep bell tolls no matin—'tis the tocsin's hurried blare!
It had a fortification such as became usual in later bridges for defence or for the enforcement of tolls.
In the 8th century we hear frequently of tolls on merchant ships at various ports, especially London.
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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