Phrase guide

blood tax

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A tax paid by bloodshed; especially, a derogatory term for military conscription.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • "France is the mother of Conscription. What has she gained by that blood-tax?"
  • "I appeal to the working men of Great Britain..not to be misled by catch-phrases about ‘the liberty of the subject’ and the ridiculous cant about a ‘Blood Tax’!"
  • "They would have paid their blood-tax, done their own part in the immemorial human warfare against nature."

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Portuguese: imposto de sangue — a tax paid by bloodshed; especially, a derogatory term for military conscription