0
Jeff_999 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Take toll on

As we all know, exposure to high levels of benzene will reduce white blood cell counts.

So what does "take toll on" mean in "benzene takes toll on white blood cell"?

I know that toll means to sound a bell to declare death or to charge, when used as a verb. But what does "toll" mean here? The charge? "Benzene take toll on white blood cell" means "benzene cost white blood cell('s life)"? Maybe.
  

Top answer

It's the third definition here, Jeff: toll Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin tolonium, alteration of Late Latin telonium customhouse, from Greek tolOnion, from telOnEs collector of tolls, from telos tax, toll; perhaps akin to Greek tlEnai to bear 1 : a tax or fee paid for some liberty or privilege (as of passing over a highway or bridge) 2 : compensation for services rendered: as a : a charge for transportation b : a charge for a long-distance telephone call 3 : a grievous or ruinous price <inflation has taken its toll >; especially : cost in life or health <the death toll from the hurricane>

— Davkett

  • It's the third definition here, Jeff: toll Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin tolonium, alteration of Late Latin telonium customhouse, from Greek tolOnion, from telOnEs collector of tolls, from telos tax, toll; perhaps akin to Greek tlEnai to bear 1 : a tax or fee paid for some liberty or privilege (as of passing over a highway or bridge) 2 : compensation for services rendered: as a : a charge for transportation b : a charge for a long-distance telephone call 3 : a grievous or ruinous price <inflation has taken its toll >; especially : cost in life or health <the death toll from the hurricane>
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

7 Answers
0
It's the third definition here, Jeff:

toll

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin tolonium, alteration of Late Latin telonium customhouse, from Greek tolOnion, from telOnEs collector of tolls, from telos tax, toll; perhaps akin to Greek tlEnai to bear
1 :
0
0
Thank you, Davkett. I guess I guessed it right. Emotion: smile
0
0
Are you sure it wasn't "take a toll on"? I've never heard it without the "a".
0
0
Neither have I ... "Take a toll", or "take its toll"...
0
0
I don't know. I drew it from Scientific American. It is a title: Even at Low Levels, Benzene Takes Toll on White Blood Cells.
Maybe it's a typo, or maybe the author wanted to make the title concise.
0
0
Exactly, Jeff. It's a familiar technique in titles and headlines. And if that were known in your post, you wouldn't be seeing these peripheral comments. People accept a level of compression in a headline, although some of those compressions occasionally carry an unwanted meaning.
0

Related Questions