Also 7 tole, towle. [f. TOLL v.2] The act of tolling a bell, or the sound made by a bell when tolled; (with pl.) a single stroke made in tolling or ringing a bell, or the sound made by such stroke.
1452. Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889), 276. The comone bell shuld toll iii. tollis iiii. tymes to warne the comones to harr semble.
1653. H. Cogan, trans. Pinto’s Trav., lxi. (1663), 250. At the sound of a bell which gave three toles, the Bonzes prostrated themselves all with their faces to the ground.
1775. S. J. Pratt, Liberal Opin., civ. (1783), III. 253. The sermon-bell was upon the toll when I had not so much as penned a slip of paper.
1822. Scott, Nigel, iv. I should lose my good name for ever within the toll of Paul’s were I to grant quittance.
1872. Rossetti, John of Tours, v. As it neared the midnight toll, John of Tours gave up his soul.
1875. Encycl. Brit., III. 537/2. At the news of Nelson’s triumph and death at Trafalgar, the bells of Chester rang a merry peal alternated with one deep toll.
b. A sound resembling the tolling of a bell, as the note of the S. American bell-bird or campanero.
1825. Waterton, Wand. S. Amer., II. 118. No sound or song from any of the winged inhabitants of the forest … cause such astonishment, as the toll of the Campanero…. You hear his toll, and then a pause for a minute, then another toll, and then a pause again, and then a toll, and again a pause.
