EXCISE n.
In inland duty or impost operating as an indirect tax on the consumer, levied upon certain specified articles, as, tobacco, ale, spirits, etc., grown or manufactured in the country. It is also levied to pursue certain trades and deal in certain commodities. Certain direct taxes (as, in England, those on carriages, serv…
FOR prep.
Indicating the remoter and indirect object of an act; the end or final cause with reference to which anything is, acts, serves, or is done. The oak for nothing ill, The osier good for twigs, the poplar for the mill. Spenser. It was young counsel for the persons, and violent counsel for the matters. Bacon. Shall I think…
FUNCTION n.
ction of x. -- Implicit function, a quantity whose relation to the variable is expressed indirectly by an equation; thus, y in the equation x2 + y2 = 100 is an implicit function of x. -- Inverse trigonometrical functions, or Circular function, the lengths of arcs relative to the sines, tangents, etc. Thus, AB is the…
HOOK n.
-- called also hook bones. By hook or by crook, one way or other; by any means, direct or indirect. Milton. "In hope her to attain by hook or crook." Spenser. -- Off the hooks, unhinged; disturbed; disordered. [Colloq.] "In the evening, by water, to the Duke of Albemarle, whom I found mightly off the hooks that the sh…