toll
In common usage, a toll is money paid in exchange for using something, like a road or bridge.
In a legal context, to toll may mean to stop the running of a time period, especially a time period set by a statute of limitations, which might allow a future lawsuit to be filed even after the statute of limitations for that cause of action has expired. Tolling in this context may be granted on various grounds, usually a specific trait of either the plaintiff or defendant, or when the parties were engaged in good faith negotiations to settle the conflict outside of litigation when the statute of limitations expired.
To toll may also mean to bar or to take away. For example, tolling a right of entry takes away the right to be present on the land.
[Last reviewed in August of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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