tax

[ taks ]

/ tæks /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tax ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tax ON THESAURUS.COM

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 confused

tacks tax

Definition for tax (2 of 3)

tax-

variant of taxo- before a vowel: taxeme.

Definition for tax (3 of 3)

ad valorem tax

noun

a tax levied according to the value of the property, merchandise, etc., being taxed.

Origin of ad valorem tax

First recorded in 1690–1700

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

Examples from the Web for tax

Have you tried to access the research that your tax dollars finance, almost all of which is kept behind a paywall?
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
His life as a man is built around health insurance and tax services.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Cocaine busts, tax cheats, and bribe-taking, born-again Christians: Welcome to the political scandals of 2014.
2014 Was a Delectably Good Year for Sleaze|Patricia Murphy|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Tax evasion carries a maximum penalty of five years, and thus it seems likely that Grimm would be covered by the provision.
The Felon Who Wouldn’t Leave Congress|Ben Jacobs, David Freedlander|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He also promised not to raise taxes and to give a three-year tax holiday to small businesses with good reputations.
Recession? Devaluation? Inflation? Putin Tells Russia Stay the Course.|Anna Nemtsova|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their heavy fines and irritating restrictions upon foreign workmen were nothing so much as a tax upon industrial progress.
Political Thought in England from Locke to Bentham|Harold J. Laski
"Government wanted to tax them for imperial purposes," said Gordon.
Ponce de Leon|William Pilling
It must therefore be taken as a tax paid for the efficacy supposed to be communicated to the other branch—the 'duty to man.'
The English Utilitarians, Volume II (of 3)|Leslie Stephen
So long as any profit exists, the State has a right to tax it; unjustly it may be, and partially, but still the title is there.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 68, No. 421, November 1850|Various
Only a couple of years ago, I think it was, the Prohibitionists said that they wanted this tax taken from alcohol.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 9 (of 12)|Robert G. Ingersoll

British Dictionary definitions for tax

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 Forms

taxer, 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 tax

tax

In addition to the idiom beginning with tax

tax with

also see:

death and taxes