poll tax
[ pohl ]
/ poʊl /
noun
a capitation tax, the payment of which is sometimes a prerequisite to exercise the right of suffrage.
RELATED CONTENT
Tickle Your Sensorium With This Word Of The Day QuizWe hope you get a mickle of right answers this week! Check in on Facebook or Twitter to let us know how you do on the Word of the Day Quiz. And don’t forget to vote for your favorite word in the poll below. If the quiz doesn’t display, please try opening in the Chrome browser.
Whoosis? Take The Word Of The Day Quiz!Get your brain ready for this serotinal WOTD quiz. We know you’re ready to fossick answers—and no gramarye should be required. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite word in the poll below! And when you have your results, tell us how you did on Facebook or Twitter. If the quiz doesn’t display, please try opening in the Chrome browser.
Nearby words
polka dots, poll, poll end, poll evil, poll parrot, poll tax, poll watcher, pollack, pollaiuolo, pollajuolo, pollakiuria
Origin of poll tax
First recorded in 1685–95
Also called head tax.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for poll tax
British Dictionary definitions for poll tax
poll tax
noun
a tax levied per head of adult population
an informal name for (the former) community charge
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Culture definitions for poll tax
poll tax
A tax required as a qualification for voting. After the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution extended the vote to blacks in 1870, many southern states instituted poll taxes to prevent blacks from voting. The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1964, prohibits poll taxes for federal elections.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.