(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.
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; strain
a tax on our resources
to levy a tax on (persons, companies, etc, or their incomes, etc)
to make heavy demands on; strain
to tax one's intellect
to accuse, charge, or blame
he 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 costs
to tax costs
slang to steal
First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the verb) Middle English taxen, from Medieval Latin taxāre, from Latin: “to appraise, charge, estimate,” literally, “to touch repeatedly,” from tangere “to touch”; noun derivative of the verb
A charge or fee that a government imposes on a citizen or business is called a tax. Taxes help to pay for the services people (and businesses) receive from the government. There are many different kinds of taxes—on purchases, property, and income, for example—but all tax money is meant to pay for things that benefit people in society. For example, in many places schools, road repairs, fire departments, and health care for elderly and disabled people are all paid for with money from taxes. As a verb, tax can either mean "impose a tax on" or "put a strain or burden on."
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These kinds of bonds cost taxpayers real money over the course of many years, and CPT would add about $60 per $100,000 of assessed property to annual tax bills.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
Value added tax, or VAT, is the tax people have to pay when buying goods or services.
From BBC • May 29, 2026
He said the government was lobbied about tax cuts "all the time", but there was a cost attached.
From BBC • May 29, 2026
The figures sound a warning ahead of midterm elections on pressures that American households are facing as steeper gasoline prices squeeze budgets and a boost from tax refunds fades.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
Then my mom starts chanting, “My kids and me fly for free! My kids and me fly for free! Well, we pay tax, but still! My kids and me fly free!”
From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya
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.
