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toll

UK [t(ʰ)əʊ̯ɫ]noun, verb

toll is spelled T-O-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, toll means “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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of toll is tolls.

How many letters and syllables are in toll?

Letters4: T-O-L-L
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing12 times per million words; the 6,230th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is toll?

Toll appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce toll?

  • /təʊl/
  • /tɒl/
  • UK [t(ʰ)əʊ̯ɫ]

Toll has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-toll.wav, En-us-toll.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of toll

  • tolls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • tolling participle, present
  • tolled participle, past
  • tole
  • toal

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does toll mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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.

  2. 2

    Loss or damage incurred through a disaster.

    The war has taken its toll on the people.

  3. 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. 4

    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. 5

    USA tollbooth.

    We will be replacing some manned tolls with high-speed device readers.

  6. 6

    UKobsoleteA liberty to buy and sell within the bounds of a manor.

  7. 7

    obsoleteA portion of grain taken by a miller as a compensation for grinding.

  8. 8

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

verb

  1. 1

    To impose a fee for the use of.

    Once more it is proposed to toll the East River bridges.

  2. 2

    To levy a toll on (someone or something).

  3. 3

    To take as a toll.

  4. 4

    To pay a toll or tallage.

  5. 5

    To ring (a bell) slowly and repeatedly.

    Martin tolled the great bell every day.

  6. 6

    To summon by ringing a bell.

    The ringer tolled the workers back from the fields for vespers.

  7. 7

    To announce by ringing a bell.

    The bells tolled the King’s death.

  8. 8

    To make a sound as if made by a bell.

  9. 9

    obsoleteTo draw; pull; tug; drag.

  10. 10

    To tear in pieces.

  11. 11

    To draw; entice; invite; allure.

    Hou many virgins shal she tolle and drawe to þe Lord - "Life of Our Lady"

  12. 12

    To lure with bait; tole (especially, fish and animals).

  13. 13

    obsoleteTo take away; to vacate; to annul.

  14. 14

    To suspend.

    The statute of limitations defense was tolled as a result of the defendant’s wrongful conduct.

  15. 15

    simple past and past participle of tell (a form of tell)

    I done toll you for the last time.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Toll in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpéage (fee for using roads and bridges), perte (loss or damage), domage (business), taxer (to impose a fee), sonnerie (act or sound of tolling), sonner (to make the noise of a bell)
GermanAbgabe, Maut (fee for using roads and bridges), Verluste (loss or damage), läuten (to make the noise of a bell)
Portuguesepedágio, portagem, passagem (fee for using roads and bridges), perda (loss or damage), anunciar, badalar (to make the noise of a bell)
Spanishpeaje, portazgo, pontazgo, pontaje, montazgo (fee for using roads and bridges), tocar (to make the noise of a bell)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does toll come 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”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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