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toll road

toll road

7 2.5
A road you must pay to drive on, often a highway
  • noun
  • /toʊl roʊd/
translation icon : carretera de peaje
  • The new toll road between the two cities charges a fee for every vehicle that uses it.

We need tunnels, optional toll roads, and better public transportation.

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Examples

  • Competing private toll roads might work in rural areas but would not be practical in a city.

    Blog text (1)
  • You'll want to use the toll roads if you plan to be an urban explorer.

    Blog text (28)
  • Most of the major inner city highways in those countries are toll roads, so people have to pay more to drive between the cities.

  • We need tunnels, optional toll roads, and better public transportation.

  • We are officially in Bosnia and we're back on the toll roads, which we love.

  • It's all for a new stretch of a toll road running 41 miles from Austin to Seguin.

    Blog text (13)
  • The N.C. Turnpike Authority was created in 2002 to plan and build the state's first toll roads.

    Blog text (1)
  • Union County business leaders and public officials have long hoped the toll road would bring a 5,000-acre office and industrial park to Marshville.

    Blog text (1)
  • Since the MX-14 toll road between Morelia and Uruapan was opened, most commercial traffic has bypassed the smaller towns in the study area.

    Academic text (2004)
  • The transition from publicly administered highways to privately operated toll roads may also trigger concern, especially if the funds generated from tolls do not result in improved infrastructure (e.g., fewer potholes and additional lanes of traffic).

    Academic text (2017)

Synonyms

turnpike
vstoll road
  • US
33 6.1

A main road where you pay a toll to travel

is the more general name for any road where a fee is charged
tollway
vstoll road
  • US
3 3.7

A road you must pay to use

is used especially for main highways rather than every paid route

Surface Forms

toll road singular
toll roads plural

Morphology

toll + road

The meaning 'a road on which a fee is charged' is directly and compositionally derived from 'toll' (a fee) + 'road' (a route for vehicles). This straightforward noun+noun compound follows a common cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Toll road comes from old roads where travelers paid a small toll, or money, at a gate to use the road. So today a toll road means a road where drivers must 'pay a fee' to use it.