imposes

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of impose.

   The committee imposes a fine on members who miss three meetings.

   Every regime that imposes censorship eventually faces resistance.

   Note

   The present-tense verb form in everyday use: the committee imposes, the law imposes, she imposes. With an object it means setting a rule, tax or restriction on someone with authority. Without an object it shifts toward intruding or presuming, as in a guest who never imposes. The same spelling once served as an obsolete noun plural, so in older texts check whether an article or adjective comes before it.

2. 2
   nounobsolete

   Plural of impose.

   Note

   A noun that has dropped out of the language. An impose was a duty, task or burden laid on someone, which we now call an imposition. In historical pastiche the plural can add period color, as in petitions against the crown's imposes. In modern prose write impositions instead, because readers will take imposes for the present-tense verb.

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