From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tax \Tax\, n. [F. taxe, fr. taxer to tax, L. taxare to touch,
sharply, to feel, handle, to censure, value, estimate, fr.
tangere, tactum, to touch. See Tangent, and cf. Task,
Taste.]
1. A charge, especially a pecuniary burden which is imposed
by authority. Specifically:
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(a) A charge or burden laid upon persons or property for
the support of a government.
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A farmer of taxes is, of all creditors,
proverbially the most rapacious. --Macaulay.
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(b) Especially, the sum laid upon specific things, as upon
polls, lands, houses, income, etc.; as, a land tax; a
window tax; a tax on carriages, and the like.
Note: Taxes are annual or perpetual, direct or
indirect, etc.
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(c) A sum imposed or levied upon the members of a society
to defray its expenses.
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2. A task exacted from one who is under control; a
contribution or service, the rendering of which is imposed
upon a subject.
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3. A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; as, a heavy
tax on time or health.
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4. Charge; censure. [Obs.] --Clarendon.
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5. A lesson to be learned; a task. [Obs.] --Johnson.
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Tax cart, a spring cart subject to a low tax. [Eng.]
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Syn: Impost; tribute; contribution; duty; toll; rate;
assessment; exaction; custom; demand.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Direct \Di*rect"\, a. [L. directus, p. p. of dirigere to direct:
cf. F. direct. See Dress, and cf. Dirge.]
1. Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by
the short or shortest way to a point or end; as, a direct
line; direct means.
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What is direct to, what slides by, the question.
--Locke.
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2. Straightforward; not of crooked ways, or swerving from
truth and openness; sincere; outspoken.
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Be even and direct with me. --Shak.
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3. Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
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He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
--Locke.
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A direct and avowed interference with elections.
--Hallam.
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4. In the line of descent; not collateral; as, a descendant
in the direct line.
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5. (Astron.) In the direction of the general planetary
motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs;
not retrograde; -- said of the motion of a celestial
body.
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6. (Political Science) Pertaining to, or effected immediately
by, action of the people through their votes instead of
through one or more representatives or delegates; as,
direct nomination, direct legislation.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Direct action.
(a) (Mach.) See Direct-acting.
(b) (Trade unions) See Syndicalism, below. [Webster 1913
Suppl.]
Direct discourse (Gram.), the language of any one quoted
without change in its form; as, he said "I can not come;"
-- correlative to indirect discourse, in which there is
change of form; as, he said that he could not come. They
are often called respectively by their Latin names,
oratio directa, and oratio obliqua.
Direct evidence (Law), evidence which is positive or not
inferential; -- opposed to circumstantial evidence, or
indirect evidence. -- This distinction, however, is
merely formal, since there is no direct evidence that is
not circumstantial, or dependent on circumstances for its
credibility. --Wharton.
Direct examination (Law), the first examination of a
witness in the orderly course, upon the merits. --Abbott.
Direct fire (Mil.), fire, the direction of which is
perpendicular to the line of troops or to the parapet
aimed at.
Direct process (Metal.), one which yields metal in working
condition by a single process from the ore. --Knight.
Direct tax, a tax assessed directly on lands, etc., and
polls, distinguished from taxes on merchandise, or
customs, and from excise.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Direct \Di*rect"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Directed; p. pr. & vb.
n. Directing.]
1. To arrange in a direct or straight line, as against a
mark, or towards a goal; to point; to aim; as, to direct
an arrow or a piece of ordnance.
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2. To point out or show to (any one), as the direct or right
course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way; as,
he directed me to the left-hand road.
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The Lord direct your into the love of God. --2
Thess. iii. 5.
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The next points to which I will direct your
attention. --Lubbock.
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3. To determine the direction or course of; to cause to go on
in a particular manner; to order in the way to a certain
end; to regulate; to govern; as, to direct the affairs of
a nation or the movements of an army.
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I will direct their work in truth. --Is. lxi. 8.
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4. To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior;
to order; as, he directed them to go.
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I 'll first direct my men what they shall do.
--Shak.
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5. To put a direction or address upon; to mark with the name
and residence of the person to whom anything is sent; to
superscribe; as, to direct a letter.
Syn: To guide; lead; conduct; dispose; manage; regulate;
order; instruct; command.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Direct \Di*rect"\, v. i.
To give direction; to point out a course; to act as guide.
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Wisdom is profitable to direct. --Eccl. x. 10.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Direct \Di*rect"\, n. (Mus.)
A character, thus [?], placed at the end of a staff on the
line or space of the first note of the next staff, to apprise
the performer of its situation. --Moore (Encyc. of Music).
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