tolling

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of toll.

   The cathedral bells were tolling as the procession passed beneath them.

   Mourners stood in silence while the great bell went on tolling.

   Note

   The verb toll does two quite different jobs, and this form serves both. One is about money: a county tolling a bridge charges for its use, and drivers paying at the booth can be said to be tolling too. The other is the bell's slow, repeated stroke, which works either way round: the bell is tolling, or a ringer is tolling it, sometimes tolling worshippers to prayer. The bell noun keeps only the second.

   The county began tolling the new bridge last spring to pay for its upkeep.

   The old ringer was tolling the village to evening prayer.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of sounding a bell with slow, measured strokes.

   The solemn tolling of the bell marked the passing of the old king.

   A steady tolling drifted from the abbey tower as dusk settled over the town.

   Similarringing, pealing, knell, chiming

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