to tax
18
5.8
- verb
- /tæks/
- We just don't want you to tax yourself, darling boy.
- severely tax one's patience
- tax resources
- tax cognitive abilities
Examples
-
The openwork walls looked intricate enough to tax the best craftswoman at her lace frame.
Fiction book (1991) -
Conscious decision-making requires cognitive effort and is a relatively laborious process taxing a highly limited attentional capacity.
Academic text (1998) -
May I tax your memory and, indeed, your patience a little longer?
-
I did not want to tax my tired husband with that can of worms.
Fiction book (1998) -
Mental and physical health may be taxed by child care.
Academic text (2017) -
The boy has a fine mind, but it's a little taxed.
-
But the way she unreservedly gave of herself was taxing her to the limit.
Fiction book (1991) -
Thus, living in Bangladesh requires more than adaptive skills, though it taxes those to the limit.
Academic text (1994) -
The listener's imagination is severely taxed in an effort to grasp the whole.
Academic text (1997) -
The long meeting about budget cuts really began to tax my ability to focus.
Synonyms
6
5.6
Put too much strain on someone or something so they cannot cope
To give someone more work than they can do
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
- Formal
5
3.5
Officially send a completed form showing your income and taxes you owe
Compounds
113
3.2
An official paper you send to the tax office that shows your income to work out tax
- Specialized
99
3.0
A smaller tax people or companies must pay to encourage certain activities
83
3.2
A tax local governments charge on houses and land based on how much they are worth
- Specialized
45
5.4
A tax on the profit you make when you sell things like stocks or property
- Specialized
37
4.8
A tax on someone's money and property when they die before their family gets it
- Specialized
32
3.4
An expense or amount you can subtract from your income to lower your tax
- Formal
26
3.9
A government's plan for how it charges and collects money from people and companies
- Specialized
20
4.2
The total value of income, goods, or sales a government can collect money from
- Formal
16
2.8
An official paper you use to tell the government how much money you earn and owe in tax
- Specialized
15
3.7
A rule that lets people or companies pay less tax to encourage certain activities
- US
14
3.4
Extra money that the government adds to the price of fuel to pay for roads and bridges
- US
14
4.4
A plan or investment that helps people and companies pay less money to the government
- Specialized
11
5.5
A tax on goods like tobacco and alcohol charged for each item or amount sold
- Specialized
10
5.1
Total amount of tax a person or business must pay to the government
8
3.9
A tax system where people with higher incomes pay a larger percentage of their income
- Specialized
8
4.0
A tax added to the price of goods and services each time a business makes or sells them
- Specialized
5
7.6
A claim by the government on property like a house for unpaid taxes that lets the government take it
- Specialized
5
4.2
A tax that a person or business pays directly to the government, not added to the price of goods
- Specialized
4
4.4
A tax taken from an employee's pay by the employer and sent to the government
- Specialized
4
7.0
Money paid in regular payments to the government on income your employer does not take from your pay
- Specialized
3
7.5
A system where people pay only one government charge, usually on land value
- Formal
3
5.2
A fee the government charges to get permission to sell things or do some jobs
- Specialized
2
4.9
A system where people pay a higher share of their income as income rises
- Formal
2
3.7
An official value of property or income that shows how much tax you must pay
- UK
2
7.2
A payment you make by buying an official stamp and putting it on certain documents
- Specialized
1
7.9
A tax some US states charge companies for the right to do business there based on their value or income
- UK
1
4.1
A tax charged by the local council based on a home's value and the people living there
- Specialized
1
5.8
An amount a business subtracts from taxes each year for a machine or building
- Specialized
1
8.1
A right the federal government takes on your property when you do not pay taxes you owe
- Specialized
1
7.9
A claim a state makes on your property when you do not pay taxes, so it can sell the property
How Burdensome
21
3.2
63
3.9
18
5.8
89
4.2
40
3.7
∞
1.1
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tax comes from the Latin taxare, which meant 'to estimate' or 'set a value'. Because being made to pay is a burden, tax also came to mean 'to strain' or put heavy demands on someone's energy or patience.