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Excise takes part of its meaning from the prefix ex-, "out". A writer may excise long passages of a novel to reduce it to a reasonable length, or a film director may excise a scene that might give offense. A surgeon may excise a large cancerous tumor, or make a tiny excision to examine an organ's tissue. Excise is also a noun, meaning a tax paid on something manufactured and sold in the U.S. Much of what consumers pay for tobacco or alcohol products go to cover the excise taxes that the state and federal government charge the manufacturers. But it's only accidental that this noun is spelled like the verb, since it comes from a completely different source.
Example Sentences
Byleo Schwartz, Fortune Crypto, 31 May 2023
His plan would cost the state $600 million to pause the sales tax on diesel for one year and $523 million to pause inflation increases to gas and diesel excise taxes.
—Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Apr. 2022
Indiana lawmakers, governor reluctant to make changes IMPD is pushing the state to give local authorities more autonomy or equip excise police with resources to tackle the problem.
—The Indianapolis Star, 1 Feb. 2023
There are also state and local excise taxes, and a sales tax.
—Mary Jane Gibson, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2022
Researchers calculated residents' tax burden, or the percentage of income consumed by state and local taxes, by adding up three types of tax types: property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes.
—Elizabeth Napolitano, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2023
Ilihia Gionson, a public affairs officer with the Hawaii Tourism Authority Hawaii, for example, is seeing a strong post-pandemic tourism recovery, even though its 13.3% state and county transient accommodation taxes combine with 4.5% excise taxes to add close to 18% to nightly hotel bills.
—Harriet Baskas, NBC News, 8 Mar. 2023
The excise officers will work out of the unit's offices on Keystone Avenue and will receive IMPD laptops and radios.
—The Indianapolis Star, 4 Feb. 2023
Clemmons said excise police could shut down a party and the township could be held liable for any incident involving an individual who attended the event if no permit is issued.
—Karen Caffarini, chicagotribune.com, 21 Sep. 2021
Carolyn L. Todd, SELF, 29 Nov. 2021
In her account, French museums shunned his works until astonishingly late, while French officials, French critics and French bureaucrats did their best to sideline him, denigrate his work or excise him from the national story altogether.
—Hugh Eakin, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2023
Maybe a shorter run would have allowed the writers to excise some of the duller material.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2023
Norway plans to excise Russian assets from its $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund.
—Fortune, 28 Feb. 2022
The move to excise racist elements in dance has not been without controversy, especially in Europe.
—New York Times, 29 Nov. 2021
States including Oregon, Montana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Maine, have passed laws to excise it from place names, maps and markers.
—Gregory Thomas, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Sep. 2021
Mallory’s impossible task is to find and excise all the fabrications.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 31 Dec. 2020
McCloskey’s insistence that people should evaluate situations in transhistorical terms rather than protest the inequities of their own time and place proceeds from a wrongheaded conception of freedom that excises us from our contexts.
—Lisa Wells, Harper’s Magazine , 13 Mar. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'excise.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
obsolete Dutch excijs (now accijns), from Middle Dutch, probably modification of Old French assise session, assessment — more at assize
Verb (2)
Latin excisus, past participle of excidere, from ex- + caedere to cut
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb (1)
1652, in the meaning defined above
Verb (2)
1634, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing excise
Dictionary Entries Near excise
Cite this Entry
“Excise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excise. Accessed 3 Jun. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
excise
1 of 2 noun
excise
2 of 2 verb
Noun
from obsolete Dutch excijs "tax," probably derived from early French assise "assessment"
Verb
from Latin excisus, past participle of excidere "to cut out," from ex- "out, out of" and caedere "to cut"
Medical Definition
Legal Definition
excise
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on excise
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for excise
Nglish: Translation of excise for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of excise for Arabic Speakers
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