toll

/toʊl/

/təʊl/

Other forms: tolls; tolling; tolled

A toll is a payment made for something. To drive on some highways, drivers have to pay a toll when they exit.

Toll comes from the Greek word for "tax," telos. When a fee is charged for the privilege of driving on a road or crossing a bridge, it's called a toll. Another kind of toll is the charge to make a long distance telephone call. Occasionally, toll refers to a different kind of cost — a loss of human life: the human toll of an earthquake or war. Finally, there's the toll, or deep ringing sound, of a bell.

Definitions of toll

1. noun

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

   fee

   a fixed charge for a privilege or for professional services
2. noun

   value measured by what must be given or done or undergone to obtain something
   synonyms: cost, price

   types:

   death toll

   the number of deaths resulting from some particular cause such as an accident or a battle or a natural disaster

   type of:

   value

   the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable
3. verb

   charge a fee for using
   “Toll the bridges into New York City”

   type of:

   impose, levy

   charge and collect payment
4. verb

   ring slowly
   “For whom the bell tolls”

   type of:

   knell, ring

   make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification
5. noun

   the sound of a bell being struck
   synonyms: bell

   types:

   knell

   the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something

   angelus, angelus bell

   the sound of a bell rung in Roman Catholic churches to announce the time when the Angelus should be recited

   type of:

   sound

   the sudden occurrence of an audible event