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

Indirect \In`di*rect"\, a. [Pref. in- not direct: cf. F.
indirect.]
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1. Not direct; not straight or rectilinear; deviating from a
direct line or course; circuitous; as, an indirect road.
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2. Not tending to an aim, purpose, or result by the plainest
course, or by obvious means, but obliquely or
consequentially; by remote means; as, an indirect
accusation, attack, answer, or proposal.
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By what bypaths and indirect, crooked ways
I met this crown. --Shak.
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3. Not straightforward or upright; unfair; dishonest; tending
to mislead or deceive.
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Indirect dealing will be discovered one time or
other. --Tillotson.
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4. Not resulting directly from an act or cause, but more or
less remotely connected with or growing out of it; as,
indirect results, damages, or claims.
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5. (Logic & Math.) Not reaching the end aimed at by the most
plain and direct method; as, an indirect proof,
demonstration, etc.
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{Indirect claims}, claims for remote or consequential damage.
Such claims were presented to and thrown out by the
commissioners who arbitrated the damage inflicted on the
United States by the Confederate States cruisers built and
supplied by Great Britain.

{Indirect demonstration}, a mode of demonstration in which
proof is given by showing that any other supposition
involves an absurdity (reductio ad absurdum), or an
impossibility; thus, one quantity may be proved equal to
another by showing that it can be neither greater nor
less.

{Indirect discourse}. (Gram.) See {Direct discourse}, under
{Direct}.

{Indirect evidence}, evidence or testimony which is
circumstantial or inferential, but without witness; --
opposed to {direct evidence}.

{Indirect tax}, a tax, such as customs, excises, etc.,
exacted directly from the merchant, but paid indirectly by
the consumer in the higher price demanded for the articles
of merchandise.
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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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