Definition of "impost" [im•post]

• Something, such as a tax or duty, that is imposed. (noun)
• Sports The weight a horse must carry in a handicap race. (noun)
• The uppermost part of a column or pillar supporting an arch. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "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."
• "While they will rise up against a vexatious impost, they crouch before a system of which the impost is the smallest evil."
• "But revenue must be had, and the impost is the best source of revenue."