toll
1 Americannoun
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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.
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the extent of loss, damage, suffering, etc., resulting from some action or calamity.
The toll was 300 persons dead or missing.
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a tax, duty, or tribute, as for services or use of facilities.
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a payment made for a long-distance telephone call.
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(formerly, in England) the right to take such payment.
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a compensation for services, as for transportation or transmission.
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grain retained by a miller in payment for grinding.
verb (used with object)
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to collect (something) as toll.
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to impose a tax or toll on (a person).
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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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.
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to sound or strike (a knell, the hour, etc.) by such strokes.
In the distance Big Ben tolled five.
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to announce by this means; ring a knell for (a dying or dead person).
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to summon or dismiss by tolling.
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to lure or decoy (game) by arousing curiosity.
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to allure; entice.
He tolls us on with fine promises.
verb (used without object)
noun
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the act of tolling a bell.
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one of the strokes made in tolling a bell.
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the sound made.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an amount of money levied, esp for the use of certain roads, bridges, etc, to cover the cost of maintenance
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( as modifier )
toll road
toll bridge
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loss or damage incurred through an accident, disaster, etc
the war took its toll of the inhabitants
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Also called: tollage. (formerly) the right to levy a toll
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Also called: toll charge. a charge for a telephone call beyond a free-dialling area
verb
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to ring or cause to ring slowly and recurrently
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(tr) to summon, warn, or announce by tolling
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to decoy (game, esp ducks)
noun
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”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Teachers nationwide shared stories with The 19th about the toll that immigration enforcement is having on students, from chronic absenteeism to emotional distress that makes learning nearly impossible.
From Salon
The escalation of conflict between the U.S. and Iran took its toll on markets Monday.
The domestic toll of this campaign suddenly became more painful and acute, particularly as many Americans are still raw at following the loss of lives in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent decades.
Beyond the fatalities among Iranian leadership, the human toll on civilians continues to mount.
From Salon
Speaking on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said there was a risk of further violence in the Middle East and an increasing death toll in Iran.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
