Meaning of take its toll | Babel Free

Definitions

To affect something, especially negatively; to damage or degrade; to cause harm or destruction.

idiomatic, often

Equivalents

Examples

“Time had taken its toll on the old bridge, and it was no longer sound.”

“Heavy smoking and drinking will take its toll on a person's health.”

“The Thirty Years' War in Germany took its toll of bloodshed without bequeathing as a recompense any real political or moral blessing.”

“A lot of attention has rightly been paid to the toll that fulfilling our orders takes upon workers in warehouses or drivers in delivery vans.”

“England not only reached the World Cup semi-finals for the first time since Italia 90, they did the job under the pressure of the occasion and the requirement to back up the victory over Colombia on penalties in the last 16 - with all of the mental toll that will have taken.”

CEFR level