Link Centre Dictionary

toll

UK/təʊl/ US/tɒl/ fairly common uk us
noun (3) verb (2)

noun

1.

a fee levied for the use of roads or bridges (used for maintenance)

2.

value measured by what must be given or done or undergone to obtain something

  • “the cost in human life was enormous”
  • “the price of success is hard work”
  • “what price glory?”
Synonyms
3.

the sound of a bell being struck

  • “saved by the bell”
  • “she heard the distant toll of church bells”
Synonyms

verb

1.

ring slowly

  • “For whom the bell tolls”
2.

charge a fee for using

  • “Toll the bridges into New York City”

Origin

From Middle English toll, tol, tolle, from Old English toll m or n and toln f (“toll, duty, custom”), from Proto-West Germanic *toll, *tolnu, from Proto-Germanic *tullaz, *tullō (“that which is counted or told, reckoning”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“calculation, fraud”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tol (“toll”), Dutch tol (“toll”), German Zoll (“toll, duty, customs”), Danish told (“toll, duty, tariff”), Swedish tull (“toll, customs”), Icelandic tollur (“toll, customs”). More at tell, tale. Alternate etymology derives Old English toll from Medieval Latin tolōneum, tolōnium, alteration (due to the Germanic forms above) of Latin telōneum, from Ancient Greek τελώνιον (telṓnion, “toll-house”), from τέλος (télos, “tax”).

Phrases

  • burn the coal, pay the toll
  • Cameron Toll
  • death toll
  • take a toll
  • take its toll
  • toll barrier
  • toll booth
  • toll bridge

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.