Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: French
Origin: imposer, from Latin imponere, from ponere 'to put'

impose

 verb
     
im‧pose W2
1 [transitive] if someone in authority imposes a rule, punishment, tax etc, they force people to accept it:
The court can impose a fine.
impose something on something/somebody
The government imposed a ban on the sale of ivory.
2 [transitive] to force someone to have the same ideas, beliefs etc as you
impose something on somebody
parents who impose their own moral values on their children
3 [intransitive] formal to expect or ask someone to do something for you when this is not convenient for them
impose on/upon
We could ask to stay the night, but I don't want to impose on them.
4 [transitive] to have a bad effect on something or someone and to cause problems for them
impose a burden/hardship etc (on somebody/something)
Military spending imposes a huge strain on the economy.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary