poll tax
[ pohl ]
/ poʊl /
noun
a capitation tax, the payment of which is sometimes a prerequisite to exercise the right of suffrage.
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Nearby words
polka dot, poll, poll end, poll evil, poll parrot, poll tax, poll watcher, pollack, pollaiuolo, pollakiuria, pollan
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.