Toll definition
The war has taken its toll on the people.
We can handle on a toll basis your needs for spray drying, repackaging, crushing and grinding, and dry blending.
Once more it is proposed to toll the East River bridges.
Martin tolled the great bell every day.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls.
The ringer tolled the workers back from the fields for vespers.
The bells tolled the King's death.
When you pay $.50 cents to cross a bridge, this is an example of a toll.
When a plane crash causes 10 deaths, this is an example of a situation where the death toll is equal to ten.
When you suffer a loss and feel sad, this is an example of a situation where the loss took an emotional toll on you.
The tornado took a heavy toll of lives.
Origin of toll
- Middle English tol from Old English variant of toln from Medieval Latin tolōnīum from Latin telōnēum tollbooth from Greek telōneion from telōnēs tax collector from telos tax telə- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- Middle English tollen to ring an alarm perhaps from tollen to entice, pull variant of tillen from Old English -tyllan
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English tol, tolle, from Old English tol, toll, toln (“toll, duty, custom"), from Proto-Germanic *tullō (“what is counted or told"), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud"). Cognate with Dutch tol (“toll"), German Zoll (“toll, duty, customs"), Danish told (“toll, duty, tariff"), Swedish tull (“toll, customs"), Icelandic tollur (“toll"), Latin dolus (“trick, deception"). More at tell, tale.
From Wiktionary
- 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").
From Wiktionary
- 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 (telōnion, “toll-house"), from τέλος (telos, “tax").
From Wiktionary
- Probably the same as Etymology 3. Possibly related to or influenced by toil
From Wiktionary
- From Latin tollere
From Wiktionary