toll

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toll¹

  • /təʊl/
  • /tɒl/
  • [t(ʰ)əʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] UK
  • [tʰɔwɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [tʰɔɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t(ʰ)oːɫ] Canada
  • [t(ʰ)ɔ(ː)ɫ] Canada
  • [tʰo(ʊ̯)ɫ] US
  • [tʰɑ(ː)ɫ] US
  • [t(ʰ)oɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ɔɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ou̯ɫ] Wales
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] Wales

Sounds like tole (toe–tow merger) · Rhymes with -əʊl

Where it comes from

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”).

noun tolls

  1. A fee paid for some liberty or privilege, particularly for the privilege of passing over a bridge or on a highway, or for that of vending goods in a fair, market, etc. Meanwhile, the tolls dispute had gone to the courts, and the E.L.R. was completely successful when, in 1856, the House of Lords awarded it the sum of £30,000 against the L.Y.R. for tolls overcharged.
  2. Loss or damage incurred through a disaster. The war has taken its toll on the people.
  3. A fee paid by the owner of materials or other goods for processing such goods, as under a tolling agreement. toll ore refining; toll manufacturing
  4. broadly A fee for using any kind of material processing service. We can handle on a toll basis your needs for spray drying, repackaging, crushing and grinding, and dry blending.
  5. US A tollbooth. We will be replacing some manned tolls with high-speed device readers.
  6. UK, obsolete A liberty to buy and sell within the bounds of a manor.
  7. England, obsolete, regional A portion of grain taken by a miller as a compensation for grinding.

verb tolls · tolling · tolled

  1. transitive To impose a fee for the use of. Once more it is proposed to toll the East River bridges.
  2. ambitransitive To levy a toll on (someone or something). No Italian priest Shall tithe or toll in our dominions.
  3. transitive To take as a toll.
  4. To pay a toll or tallage. I will buy me a sonne in Law in a faire, and toule for this. Ile none of him.

toll²

  • /təʊl/
  • /tɒl/
  • [t(ʰ)əʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] UK
  • [tʰɔwɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [tʰɔɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t(ʰ)oːɫ] Canada
  • [t(ʰ)ɔ(ː)ɫ] Canada
  • [tʰo(ʊ̯)ɫ] US
  • [tʰɑ(ː)ɫ] US
  • [t(ʰ)oɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ɔɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ou̯ɫ] Wales
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] Wales

Sounds like tole (toe–tow merger) · Rhymes with -əʊl

Where it comes from

Probably the same as Etymology 3. Possibly related to or influenced by toil

noun tolls

  1. The act or sound of ringing a bell, especially slowly, as with a church or cemetery bell.

verb tolls · tolling · tolled

  1. ergative To ring (a bell) slowly and repeatedly. Martin tolled the great bell every day.
  2. transitive To summon by ringing a bell. The ringer tolled the workers back from the fields for vespers.
  3. transitive To announce by ringing a bell. The bells tolled the King’s death.
  4. figuratively To make a sound as if made by a bell. The chaplain's first mention of the name Yossarian! had tolled deep in his memory like a portentous gong.

toll³

  • /təʊl/
  • /tɒl/
  • [t(ʰ)əʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] UK
  • [tʰɔwɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [tʰɔɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t(ʰ)oːɫ] Canada
  • [t(ʰ)ɔ(ː)ɫ] Canada
  • [tʰo(ʊ̯)ɫ] US
  • [tʰɑ(ː)ɫ] US
  • [t(ʰ)oɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ɔɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ou̯ɫ] Wales
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] Wales

Sounds like tole (toe–tow merger) · Rhymes with -əʊl

Where it comes from

From Middle English tolen, tollen, variation of tullen, tillen (“to draw, allure, entice”), from Old English *tyllan, *tillan (“to pull, draw, attract”) (found in compounds fortyllan (“to seduce, lead astray, draw away from the mark, deceive”) and betyllan, betillan (“to lure, decoy”)), related to Old Frisian tilla (“to lift, raise”), Dutch tillen (“to lift, raise, weigh, buy”), Low German tillen (“to lift, remove”), Swedish dialectal tille (“to take up, appropriate”).

verb tolls · tolling · tolled · tole · toal

  1. obsolete, transitive To draw; pull; tug; drag.
  2. transitive To tear in pieces.
  3. transitive To draw; entice; invite; allure. Hou many virgins shal she tolle and drawe to þe Lord - "Life of Our Lady"
  4. transitive To lure with bait; tole (especially, fish and animals).

    Similar: bait, lure

toll⁴

  • /təʊl/
  • /tɒl/
  • [t(ʰ)əʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] UK
  • [tʰɔwɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [tʰɔɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t(ʰ)oːɫ] Canada
  • [t(ʰ)ɔ(ː)ɫ] Canada
  • [tʰo(ʊ̯)ɫ] US
  • [tʰɑ(ː)ɫ] US
  • [t(ʰ)oɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ɔɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ou̯ɫ] Wales
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] Wales

Sounds like tole (toe–tow merger) · Rhymes with -əʊl

Where it comes from

From Latin tollō (“to lift up”).

verb tolls · tolling · tolled

  1. obsolete To take away; to vacate; to annul.
  2. To suspend. The statute of limitations defense was tolled as a result of the defendant’s wrongful conduct.

toll⁵

  • /təʊl/
  • /tɒl/
  • [t(ʰ)əʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒʊ̯ɫ] UK
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] UK
  • [tʰɔwɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [tʰɔɫ] British, Southern, Standard
  • [t(ʰ)oːɫ] Canada
  • [t(ʰ)ɔ(ː)ɫ] Canada
  • [tʰo(ʊ̯)ɫ] US
  • [tʰɑ(ː)ɫ] US
  • [t(ʰ)oɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ɔɫ] Scotland
  • [t(ʰ)ou̯ɫ] Wales
  • [t(ʰ)ɒɫ] Wales

Sounds like tole (toe–tow merger) · Rhymes with -əʊl

Where it comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

verb

  1. participle, past simple past and past participle of tell I done toll you for the last time.

Toll⁶

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, variant of Towle, Tole.

* As a German surname, from the adjective toll, meaning both "wonderful" and "crazy, mad." Also shortened from Bartholomäus.

* As a Dutch surname, variant of Tol, sometimes shortened from Van Toll.

proper noun Tole · Toles

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: peal, cost, price, death, casualty, mortality, dead, havoc, devastation, loss, victim, damage, harm, injury, load, burden

Translations

Every language

noun loss or damage

한국어손실 sonsil
日本語損失 sonjitsu
中文損失 /损失 sǔnshī, 傷亡 /伤亡 shāngwáng
हिन्दीक्षतिपूर्ति kṣatipūrti
Portuguêsperda
Françaisperte
DeutschVerluste
Русскийпоте́ри potéri, же́ртвы žértvy
العربيةخَسَائِر ḵasāʔir

noun fee for using roads and bridges

Españolpeaje, portazgo, pontazgo, pontaje, montazgo
한국어통행료 tonghaengnyo
日本語通行料金 tsūkō ryōkin, 通行料 tsūkōryō, 有料 yūryō
中文通行費 /通行费 tōngxíng fèi, 過路費 /过路费 guòlù fèi, 過橋費 /过桥费 guòqiáo fèi
हिन्दीपथकर pathkar
Portuguêspedágio, portagem, passagem
Françaispéage
DeutschAbgabe, Maut
Italianopedaggio, dazio
Ελληνικάδιόδια diódia
Românăpeaj
Русскийпла́та pláta, сбор sbor, по́шлина póšlina
Tiếng Việt(lệ) phí cầu đường
العربيةرَسْم rasm
עבריתאַגְרָה agrá

noun business

Françaisdomage
עבריתאַגְרָה agrá

verb to impose a fee

Françaistaxer

noun act or sound of tolling

Françaissonnerie
Русскийзвон zvon, бла́говест blágovest

verb to ring a bell slowly and repeatedly

Françaissonner le glas

verb to summon by ringing a bell

Русскийзвони́ть zvonítʹ, позвони́ть pozvonítʹ

verb to announce by tolling

Русскийбла́говестить blágovestitʹ, благовести́ть blagovestítʹ

verb to make the noise of a bell

Españoltocar
中文敲 qiāo, 鳴 /鸣 míng
Portuguêsanunciar, badalar
Françaissonner
Deutschläuten
Italianosuonare
Русскийзвони́ть zvonítʹ, позвони́ть pozvonítʹ

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Cite this
MLA

"toll." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/toll. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

toll. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/toll

Chicago

"toll." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/toll.

BibTeX
@misc{toll_2026,
  title = {toll},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/toll},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}