Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Impose
Im-pose′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Imposed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Imposing
.] 1.
To lay on; to set or place; to put; to deposit.
Cakes of salt and barley [she] did
Within a wicker basket.
impose
Within a wicker basket.
Chapman.
2.
To lay as a charge, burden, tax, duty, obligation, command, penalty, etc.; to enjoin; to levy; to inflict;
as, to
. impose
a toll or tributeWhat fates
impose
, that men must needs abide. Shakespeare
Death is the penalty
imposed
. Milton.
Thou on the deep
imposest
nobler laws. Waller.
3.
(Eccl.)
To lay on, as the hands, in the religious rites of confirmation and ordination.
4.
(Print.)
To arrange in proper order on a table of stone or metal and lock up in a chase for printing; – said of columns or pages of type, forms, etc.
Im-pose′
,Verb.
I.
To practice tricks or deception.
Im-pose′
,Noun.
A command; injunction.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Webster 1828 Edition
Impose
IMPO'SE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To lay on; to set on; to lay on, as a burden, tax, toll, duty or penalty. The legislature imposes taxes for the support of government; toll is imposed on passengers to maintain roads, and penalties are imposed on those who violate the laws. God imposes no burdens on men which they are unable to bear. On impious realms and barb'rous kings impose
Thy plagues--
2.
To place over by authority or by force. The Romans often imposed rapacious governors on their colonies and conquered countries.
3.
To lay on, as a command; to enjoin, as a duty. Thou on the deep imposest nobler laws.
Impose but your commands--
4.
To fix on; to impute. [Little used.]5.
To lay on, as hands in the ceremony of ordination, or of confirmation.6.
To obtrude fallaciously. Our poet thinks not fit
T' impose upon you what he writes for wit.
7.
Among printers, to put the pages on the stone and fit on the chase, and thus prepare the form for the press.To impose on, to deceive; to mislead by a trick or false pretense; vulgarly, to put upon. We are liable to be imposed on by others,and sometimes we impose on ourselves.
IMPO'SE
,Noun.
Definition 2024
impose
impose
See also: imposé
English
Verb
impose (third-person singular simple present imposes, present participle imposing, simple past and past participle imposed)
- (transitive) To establish or apply by authority.
- Milton
- Death is the penalty imposed.
- Congress imposed new tariffs.
- 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
- Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare.
- Milton
- (intransitive) to be an inconvenience
- I don't wish to impose upon you.
- to enforce: compel to behave in a certain way
- Social relations impose courtesy
- To practice a trick or deception.
- To lay on, as the hands, in the religious rites of confirmation and ordination.
- To arrange in proper order on a table of stone or metal and lock up in a chase for printing; said of columns or pages of type, forms, etc.
Derived terms
Terms derived from "impose"
Translations
to establish or apply by authority
to be an inconvenience
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