IMPOSE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Impose

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/ɪmpˈoʊz/ Listen

verb

Impose v. t. (past & past part. imposed; pres. part. imposing)

To lay on; to set or place; to put; to deposit. "Cakes of salt and barley (she) did impose Within a wicker basket."

To lay as a charge, burden, tax, duty, obligation, command, penalty, etc.; to enjoin; to levy; to inflict; as, to impose a toll or tribute. "What fates impose, that men must needs abide." "Death is the penalty imposed." "Thou on the deep imposest nobler laws."

(Eccl.) To lay on, as the hands, in the religious rites of confirmation and ordination.

(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.

Impose v. i. To practice tricks or deception.

To impose on or To impose upon,

(a)

to pass or put a trick on; to delude; to cheat; to defraud. "He imposes on himself, and mistakes words for things."

(b)

to place an unwelcome burden or obligation on (another person); as, she imposed on her friend to drive her daughter to school.

(c)

to take unfair advantage of (a person, a friendship); as, he imposed on his friendship with The Mayor to gain business.

noun

Impose n. A command; injunction. (Obs.)

See images of 'Impose'

Etymology of 'Impose'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Impose" Quotes from Famous Books

... numerous train of pages. St. Bennet, who was then sitting, saw him coming to his cell, and cried out to him at some distance: "Put off, my son, those robes which you wear, and which belong not to you." The mock king, being struck with a panic for having attempted to impose upon the man of God, fell prostrate at his feet, together with all his attendants. The saint, coming up, raised him with his hand; and the officer returning to his master, related trembling what had befallen him. The king then went himself, but was no sooner come into the ...

— The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints - January, February, March • Alban Butler

... situation is so, they are fewer in number, and mixed with more objects of contentment than in any other mode of life. But I must not philosophise too much with her, lest I give her too serious apprehensions of a friendship I shall impose on her. I am with very great esteem, dear Sir, your sincere ...

— The Writings of Thomas Jefferson - Library Edition - Vol. 6 (of 20) • Thomas Jefferson

... old Jesuit!" thought Randal; "he has certainly learned, since we met last, that he has no chance of regaining his patrimony, and so he wants to impose on me the hand of a girl without a shilling. What other motive can he possibly have? Had his daughter the remotest probability of becoming the greatest heiress in Italy, would he dream of bestowing her on me in this off-hand way? The ...

— My Novel, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... gun.[22] I presented him my breast, and desired him to strike. The firmness of my countenance, with which he had been doubtless little accustomed, astonished him. This served the more to strengthen my opinion, that one might impose on these people, by assuming an undaunted appearance. As I approached to this man, a stone thrown from an unknown hand, but which I supposed to be that of a woman, struck me on the head. I lost recollection for a little; but when I recovered, I exclaimed in a ...

— Perils and Captivity • Charlotte-Adelaide [nee Picard] Dard

... know. He will not admit that the Jews are persecuted. And yet I am confident that he would rather be sent to the King's Bench Prison for three months, or be fined a hundred pounds, than be subject to the disabilities under which the Jews lie. How can he then say that to impose such disabilities is not persecution, and that to fine and imprison is persecution? All his reasoning consists in drawing arbitrary lines. What he does not wish to inflict he calls persecution. What he does wish to inflict he will not call persecution. What he takes from the Jews he calls ...

— The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 4 (of 4) - Lord Macaulay's Speeches • Thomas Babington Macaulay

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