tax

[ taks ]

/ tæks /

noun

a sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for specific facilities or services, levied upon incomes, property, sales, etc.

a burdensome charge, obligation, duty, or demand.

verb (used with object)

(of a government)

to demand a tax from (a person, business, etc.).
to demand a tax in consideration of the possession or occurrence of (income, goods, sales, etc.), usually in proportion to the value of money involved.

to lay a burden on; make serious demands on: to tax one's resources.

to take to task; censure; reprove; accuse: to tax one with laziness.

Informal. to charge: What did he tax you for that?

Archaic. to estimate or determine the amount or value of.

verb (used without object)

to levy taxes.

Nearby words

tawny owl, tawny pipit, tawpie, taws, tawse, tax, tax avoidance, tax break, tax certificate, tax credit, tax deduction

Origin of tax

1250–1300; (v.) Middle English taxen < Medieval Latin taxāre to tax, appraise, Latin: to appraise, handle, frequentative of tangere to touch; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.

SYNONYMS FOR tax

1 duty, impost, levy.

4 strain, tire, stretch.

Related forms

tax·er, nountax·ing·ly, adverbtax·less, adjectivetax·less·ly, adverb

tax·less·ness, nounan·ti·tax, adjectivenon·tax, noun, adjectivenon·tax·er, nounpro·tax, adjectivere·tax, verb (used with object)self-taxed, adjectivesub·tax·er, nounun·der·taxed, adjectiveun·tax, verb (used with object)well-taxed, adjective

Can be confusedtacks tax

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for retax

tax

/ (tæks) /

noun

a compulsory financial contribution imposed by a government to raise revenue, levied on the income or property of persons or organizations, on the production costs or sales prices of goods and services, etc

a heavy demand on something; straina tax on our resources

verb (tr)

to levy a tax on (persons, companies, etc, or their incomes, etc)

to make heavy demands on; strainto tax one's intellect

to accuse, charge, or blamehe was taxed with the crime

to determine (the amount legally chargeable or allowable to a party to a legal action), as by examining the solicitor's bill of coststo tax costs

slang to steal

Derived Formstaxer, nountaxless, adjective

Word Origin for tax

C13: from Old French taxer, from Latin taxāre to appraise, from tangere to touch

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

Idioms and Phrases with retax

tax

In addition to the idiom beginning with tax

tax with

also see:

death and taxes