toll line

5.6

A phone connection for long distance calls that costs extra

noun
/toʊl laɪn/

: línea de peaje

I need to call my parents on a toll line.

Examples

The toll line charges are quite high these days.
In the early days of telephony, businesses relied on dedicated toll lines for long-distance communication.
Making a call on the toll line was much more expensive than using a local line.
The company installed a toll line to connect its headquarters and regional office.
To save money, we decided to use the toll line for our long-distance calls.
The toll line connection allowed us to speak with family overseas, although it added extra charges.
After checking the rates, he opted to use the toll line for his important business call.

How Distant

long-distance

50 3.0

toll line

5.6

phone line

73 1.6

local call

5 1.0

Surface Forms

toll line singular

toll lines plural

Morphology

toll + line

The meaning is directly derivable from 'toll' (a fee) + 'line' (a communication channel): it denotes a phone line that incurs a charge. This compositional pattern (compare 'toll call') is common in English and mirrored in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

The noun toll line comes from the image of a toll road: you pay at a toll to travel a long way, and a line is a link between places. So, a toll line is a phone line you pay extra to use for 'long-distance' calls.