impost
1 Americannoun
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a tax; tribute; duty.
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a customs duty.
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Horse Racing. the weight assigned to a horse in a race.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the point of springing of an arch; spring.
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an architectural feature immediately beneath this point.
noun
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a tax, esp a customs duty
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horse racing the specific weight that a particular horse must carry in a handicap race
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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impostsimple
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impostssimple
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have impostedperfect
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has impostedperfect
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am impostingprogressive
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are impostingprogressive
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is impostingprogressive
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have been impostingperfect progressive
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has been impostingperfect progressive
Past
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impostedsimple
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had impostedperfect
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was impostingprogressive
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were impostingprogressive
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had been impostingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of impost1
1560–70; < Medieval Latin impostus a tax, noun use of Latin impostus, variant of impositus imposed; see imposition
Origin of impost2
1655–65; < French imposte < Italian imposta < Latin: feminine of impostus (past participle); see impost 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He tells clients in a note that a sale for A$500 million plus appropriate brand value, with only a modest capital gains tax impost, would be positively received by investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
As early as 1781, superintendent of finance and Philadelphia financier Robert Morris had proposed an amendment to the Articles of Confederation that would authorize a 5 percent impost, or import tariff.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
In the 1968 Washington Park Handicap in Chicago, carrying an impost of 134 pounds, Dr. Fager won by 10 lengths and set the mile record of 1 minute 32 1/5 seconds.
From New York Times ● Aug. 13, 2015
She defied a penalty at Lingfield last time with ease and another 6lb impost for that victory is unlikely to stop her such was the manner of her success.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 23, 2013
After Seabiscuit’s extraordinarily easy win in Tijuana, the Bay Meadows racing secretary had proposed assigning him 136 pounds, but Howard had intercepted him and charmed 3 pounds off of his horse’s impost.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
The spending clause allows Congress to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises all for the general welfare of the United States.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026
Article I, Section 8 allows Congress to “lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2019
In policy matters, he proved obtuse, recommending, in one of his first initiatives, a blanket cancellation of all trade imposts.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 6, 2018
He and others, including former President Madison, argued that Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution gave Congress the power to “lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises.”
From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014
Woolf weighed a lot more than the imposts assigned to most of these horses, but somehow he was able to circumvent the rule requiring riders to be within five pounds of the assignment.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
