Library / English Dictionary

IMPOSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impose something unpleasant

Example:

The principal visited his rage on the students

Synonyms:

bring down; impose; inflict; visit

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "impose" is one way to...):

communicate; intercommunicate (transmit thoughts or feelings)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "impose"):

dictate; order; prescribe (issue commands or orders for)

intrude; obtrude (thrust oneself in as if by force)

clamp (impose or inflict forcefully)

give (inflict as a punishment)

foist (to force onto another)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something on somebody

Derivation:

imposition (the act of imposing something (as a tax or an embargo))

imposition (an uncalled-for burden)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Impose and collect

Example:

levy a fine

Synonyms:

impose; levy

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "impose" is one way to...):

bill; charge (demand payment)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "impose"):

toll (charge a fee for using)

tithe (levy a tithe on (produce or a crop))

reimpose (impose anew)

lay (impose as a duty, burden, or punishment)

mulct (impose a fine on)

tax (levy a tax on)

distrain (levy a distress on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

imposition (the act of imposing something (as a tax or an embargo))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Compel to behave in a certain way

Example:

duty constrains one to act often contrary to one's desires or inclinations

Synonyms:

constrain; enforce; impose

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "impose" is one way to...):

compel; obligate; oblige (force somebody to do something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

"All this," thought Elinor, "is very pretty; but it can impose upon neither of us."

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

This was a disagreeable way of putting the business; because it imposed upon me, a perfect stranger, the unpleasantness of asking Mr. Dolloby to rob his family on my account.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

To Elizabeth, however, he voluntarily acknowledged that the necessity of his absence had been self-imposed.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

This faith gives a solemnity to his reveries that render them to me almost as imposing and interesting as truth.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He has imposed on me, but he has not injured me.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Specifically, we looked at the degree to which rejectees imposed an unpleasant taste test of hot sauce on their rejectors."

(Sometimes You Shouldn't Say Sorry, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Whereas at one time, these were detailed and almost recipe-like, more recent entries may be limited to specifying the formula and imposing a standard limit for the active agent.

(Pharmaceutical Formulation, NCI Thesaurus)

Strong, fearless, and energetic, he had sufficient virtue to enable him to impose his odious vices upon a cowering people for ten or twelve years.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Europe has enforced capping regulations and the World Bank has proposed a ‘user fee’ to be imposed on those buying antibiotics for farm animals.

(Eat less meat to cut drug resistance, SciDev.Net)