TOLL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does toll mean? 

• TOLL (noun)
  The noun TOLL has 3 senses:

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

3. the sound of a bell being struck

  Familiarity information: TOLL used as a noun is uncommon.

• TOLL (verb)
  The verb TOLL has 2 senses:

1. ring slowly

2. charge a fee for using

  Familiarity information: TOLL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TOLL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("toll" is a kind of...):

fee (a fixed charge for a privilege or for professional services)

Derivation:

toll (charge a fee for using)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

cost; price; toll

Context example:

what price glory?

Hypernyms ("toll" is a kind of...):

value (the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "toll"):

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

The sound of a bell being struck

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

bell; toll

Context example:

she heard the distant toll of church bells

Hypernyms ("toll" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "toll"):

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)

Derivation:

toll (ring slowly)

• TOLL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they toll    ... he / she / it tolls   
Past simple: tolled   
Past participle: tolled   
-ing form: tolling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ring slowly

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

For whom the bell tolls

Hypernyms (to "toll" is one way to...):

knell; ring (make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

toll (the sound of a bell being struck)

toller (a person who rings church bells (as for summoning the congregation))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Charge a fee for using

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

Toll the bridges into New York City

Hypernyms (to "toll" is one way to...):

impose; levy (impose and collect)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

It said the heaviest toll is paid by children in low- and middle-income countries.

(WAir Pollution a Health Risk for Children, Lisa Schlein/VOA)

Why should the great bell of Beaulieu toll when the shadows were neither short nor long?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The researchers say the toll could be especially high in southern Europe.

(Study: Climate Change Will Bring 50-Fold Rise in Europe Weather-related Deaths, VOA News)

The world's rivers and fresh water systems are full of pollution from prescription and over-the-counter drugs and it is taking a toll on the environment and wildlife, experts say.

(Experts Warn Prescription, Over-the-Counter Drugs Polluting World's Rivers, VOA)

Symptomatic ventricular disease takes a growing toll on the health of nations.

(NFAT Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

According to Irwin, Suffocation and exposure in the negative 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) atmosphere made of mostly hydrogen, helium and methane would take its toll long before the smell.

(What Uranus Cloud Tops Have in Common With Rotten Eggs, NASA)

The life of only one member was demanded, which was a remoter interest than their lives, and in the end they were content to pay the toll.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) of the Philippines increased the previous death toll to six following the landslide caused by the 5.0 earthquake.

(Aftershocks increase death toll of magnitude 6.3 earthquake in southern Philippines, Wikinews)

Somewhere near, a passing bell was tolling; the dogs all round the neighbourhood were howling; and in our shrubbery, seemingly just outside, a nightingale was singing.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

From out of the fog came the mournful tolling of a bell, and I could see the pilot turning the wheel with great rapidity.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)