take its toll
Gradually cause harm
When something takes its toll, it causes gradual damage, loss, or decline over time.
The phrase often describes how stress, hardship, or demanding circumstances wear a person down: Years of hard labor took their toll on his body.
It can apply to physical deterioration, emotional exhaustion, or any situation where cumulative effects produce measurable harm.
The toll referenced is figurative—a price paid not in money but in suffering or depletion.
- consequencesResults of actions taken
- burnoutChronic occupational depletion
- mental healthEmotional and cognitive well-being
- damageHarm or impairment
- fatigueWeariness from prolonged exertion
exhaustion · running on empty · cumulative · cumulative effect · decline · long haul · gradual · impact · lingering · erosion · wear · compounding · slow burn · grind down · weathered · attrition · wear and tear · wear down