customs

British  

/ ˈkʌstəmz /

noun

1. duty on imports or exports

2. the government department responsible for the collection of these duties

3. the part of a port, airport, frontier station, etc, where baggage and freight are examined for dutiable goods and contraband

4. the procedure for examining baggage and freight, paying duty, etc

5. ( as modifier )

   customs officer

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Explanation

Customs are taxes, or duties, that you sometimes have to pay when you import goods from another country. When you return home from a trip to another country, you have to clear customs by talking to a customs officer and declaring everything you bought or got as a gift while you were traveling. If you're bringing in a lot of stuff, you may have to pay customs — the duty on imports. Customs are a source of income for a country, and they also provide control over what’s coming in.

Example Sentences

They range from the language and customs, to the schedule and travel, to the competition, to the baseball itself.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

Antony Martin, whose great uncle William Bray was one of Pachuca's prominent players in the early 1900s, says Bray's siblings brought some Mexican customs back to England with them.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026

In early 2022, after more than a year of underreporting customs values, First Brands paid the Chinese subsidiary a $40 million lump sum to compensate for the artificially depressed payments, the lawsuit said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

The day after the rules appeared, Reuters reported that Chinese customs officers had been told not to let the chips in.

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

Once their small suitcases were collected from the luggage carousel, they proceeded through customs, had their luggage inspected, and then finally exited the wide double doors.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai