take a toll

A form of take its toll — To affect something, especially negatively; to damage or degrade; to cause harm or destruction.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbtake a toll (third-person singular simple present takes a toll, present participle taking a toll, simple past took a toll, past participle taken a toll)

present singular third person takes a toll · participle present taking a toll · past took a toll · participle past taken a toll

  1. alternativeAlternative form of take its toll.

    Air marshals interviewed for this article said their biggest problem was the number of hours they were expected to fly. They are not allowed to sleep on flights, and back-to-back international trips involving prolonged periods of sitting awake take a toll.

    2018 April 25, Ron Nixon, “Scandals and Investigations, but Few Arrests, for Air Marshals Program”, in The New York Times
Cite this entry
APA

take a toll. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20a%20toll

MLA

“take a toll.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20a%20toll. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take a toll,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20a%20toll.

Source: take a toll on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.