Word.ws English Dictionary

taking its toll

taking its toll is the present participle and gerund of take its toll.

Meaning of take its toll

Verb

take its toll (third-person singular simple present takes its toll, present participle taking its toll, simple past took its toll, past participle taken its toll)

  1. (idiomatic, often) To affect something, especially negatively; to damage or degrade; to cause harm or destruction.
    • Time had taken its toll on the old bridge, and it was no longer sound.
    Synonyms:
    do a number on

Questions about taking its toll

What is taking its toll the present participle and gerund of?
Taking its toll is the present participle and gerund of take its toll.

Words near taking its toll in the dictionary

  1. taking it to the next level
  2. taking it up the ass
  3. taking it upon oneself
  4. taking its course
  5. taking its rise
  6. taking its toll
  7. taking kindly
  8. taking L's
  9. taking law into one's own hands
  10. taking leave
  11. taking leave of one's senses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking its toll (page history and authors); take its toll (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “taking its toll.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taking_its_toll. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.