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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.
Examples of excise in a Sentence
Joseph Thorndike, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2024
The town also increased its excise taxes, imposed when connecting to the town’s water or sewer system and paid prior to the issuance of any building permits.
—Carroll County Times, Baltimore Sun, 30 July 2024
Alex Bhattacharji, Rolling Stone, 4 Aug. 2024
The sellers seemed shocked by the forecast for Amazon retail and totally excised the greatness of the much more lucrative Amazon Web Services.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for excise 
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.
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Cite this Entry
“Excise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excise. Accessed 19 Sep. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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
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