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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

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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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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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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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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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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