Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun That which is imposed or levied; a tax, tribute, or duty; particularly, a duty or tax laid by government on goods imported; a customs-duty.
- noun In architecture, the point where an arch rests on a wall or column; also, the condition of such resting or meeting.
- noun In sporting slang, a weight placed upon a horse in a handicap race.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun That which is imposed or levied; a tax, tribute, or duty; especially, a duty or tax laid by goverment on goods imported into a country.
- noun (Arch.) The top member of a pillar, pier, wall, etc., upon which the weight of an arch rests.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The top part of a
column orpillar thatsupports anarch . - noun A
tax ,tariff orduty that isimposed , especially on merchandise. - noun The top member of a
pillar ,pier ,wall , etc., upon which the weight of anarch rests. - noun horse racing, slang The
weight that must becarried by ahorse in arace , the handicap.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the lowest stone in an arch -- from which it springs
- noun money collected under a tariff
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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By what is called the impost 1692, a duty of five and twenty per cent., of the rate or value, was laid upon all French goods; while the goods of other nations were, the greater part of them, subjected to much lighter duties, seldom exceeding five per cent.
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While they will rise up against a vexatious impost, they crouch before a system of which the impost is the smallest evil.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VI (of X)—Great Britain and Ireland IV Various 1885
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But revenue must be had, and the impost is the best source of revenue.
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So far as tribute was a sign of dependance and inferiority, the impost was a hardship; but for this they who paid it are to be blamed rather than those who received.
Athens: Its Rise and Fall, Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838
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The impost is the highest weight assignment since Favorite Trick received 128 pounds, after being named the 1997 Horse of the Year.
NY Daily News JERRY BOSSERT 2011
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[1] The impost was the duty imposed by Britain on imported tobacco, and the cocket (for which a fee was charged) was the certified document issued that the impost had been paid.
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[4] The impost was the duty imposed by Britain on imported tobacco.
Letter from Robert Carter to John Pemberton & Company, August 29, 1729 1729
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(Survey Report 6800 for Adm. 68/195, ff. 76v, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.) [9] The impost was the duty imposed by Britain on imported tobacco, and the cocket (for which a fee was charged) was the certified document issued that the impost had been paid.
Letter from Robert Carter to William Camp, June 14, 1729 1729
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(Survey Report 6800 summarizing Adm. 68/194, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.) [2] The impost was the duty imposed by Britain on imported tobacco, and the cocket (for which a fee was charged) was the certified document issued that the impost had been paid.
Letter from Robert Carter to Micajah Perry, April 12, 1728 1728
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(Admiralty 68/194, ff. 82r, abstracted in Survey Report 6801, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.) [4] The impost was the duty imposed by Britain on imported tobacco, and the cocket (for which a fee was charged) was the certified document issued that the impost had been paid.
Letter from Robert Carter to John Pemberton and Company, June 1, 1728 1728
chained_bear commented on the word impost
"Then as now, all racehorses were assigned a weight, called an impost, to carry in each race. The impost consisted of the jockey, his roughly four and a half pounds of saddle, boots, pants, and silks, and, if necessary, lead pads inserted into the saddle."
—Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit: An American Legend (New York: Ballantine Books, 2001), 65
October 20, 2008
qms commented on the word impost
To Ernest it seems not a bribe
To pay as the locals imbibe.
A few drinks at most
Is a modest impost
To loosen the tongues of the tribe.
Find out more about Ernest Bafflewit
May 2, 2015