Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of levying; the raising or collecting of anything by authority or force; compulsory satisfaction of a requirement, claim, or demand: as, to make a levy of troops or taxes.
  • noun Specifically, in law, a sufficient taking of possession of chattels, and assertion of authority, by a sheriff or similar officer, under color of legal process, to render the officer liable for trespass if he be not protected by process: as, a levy upon a debtor's property.
  • noun That which is levied, as a body of troops, or the amount accruing from a tax or an execution.
  • noun An obsolete form of levee.
  • To raise: as, to levy a siege.
  • To raise or excite; stir up; bring into action; set in motion: as, to levy war.
  • To raise by force or authority; gather or collect by compulsion: as, to levy troops; to levy taxes or tolls; to levy contributions.
  • In law: To commence enforcement of, as a legal process, by seizing property thereunder for the purpose of raising means for payment.
  • To erect or construct: as, to levy a mill; to levy a ditch.
  • To make a levy.
  • noun A coin, the Spanish real, or eighth part of a dollar (twelve and a half cents), formerly current in the United States. Also called an elevenpenny bit. See. fip.
  • noun The sum of twelve and a half cents; a “bit.”

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A name formerly given in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to the Spanish real of one eighth of a dollar (or 121/2 cents), valued at eleven pence when the dollar was rated at 7s. 6d.
  • intransitive verb To seize property, real or personal, or subject it to the operation of an execution; to make a levy
  • intransitive verb to take into custody or seize specific property in satisfaction of a writ.
  • noun The act of levying or collecting by authority
  • noun That which is levied, as an army, force, tribute, etc.
  • noun (Law) The taking or seizure of property on executions to satisfy judgments, or on warrants for the collection of taxes; a collecting by execution.
  • noun a requisition of all able-bodied men for military service.
  • transitive verb obsolete To raise, as a siege.
  • transitive verb To raise; to collect; said of troops, to form into an army by enrollment, conscription, etc.
  • transitive verb To raise or collect by assessment; to exact by authority.
  • transitive verb obsolete, obsolete To gather or exact.
  • transitive verb obsolete To erect, build, or set up; to make or construct; to raise or cast up
  • transitive verb To take or seize on execution; to collect by execution.
  • transitive verb to commence and carry on a suit for assuring the title to lands or tenements.
  • transitive verb to make or begin war; to take arms for attack; to attack.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb impose and collect
  • verb cause to assemble or enlist in the military
  • noun a charge imposed and collected
  • noun the act of drafting into military service

Etymologies

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Examples

  • JUDY SMITH, LEVY FAMILY SPOKESMAN: It's actually a word that the Levy family does not like to use.

    CNN Transcript May 28, 2002 2002

  • BILLY MARTIN, LEVY FAMILY ATTORNEY: I can tell you now, on public TV, that the Levy family has no objection to Gary Condit answering any questions about the relationship.

    CNN Transcript Aug 24, 2001 2001

  • BILLY MARTIN, ATTORNEY FOR THE LEVY FAMILY: ... not get into having dueling statements between the Levy family and Congressman Condit.

    CNN Transcript Jul 10, 2001 2001

  • The recent series on Chandra Levy is an exception, not the rule.

    Matthew Yglesias » A Suggested Correction for George Will 2009

  • Guandique's attorneys, who say prosecutors have charged the wrong man in Levy's slaying, have argued in pretrial hearings that they weren't convinced Levy was killed in the park, saying that her body may have instead been left there.

    No DNA match to Levy's accused killer, jury told Keith L. Alexander 2010

  • Fisher declared Condit non-responsive and that could affect how the jury judges the testimony of the man who was once the prime suspect in Levy's disappearance, said Michael Starr, a former public defender in the District and now a lawyer with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

    Condit takes the stand in Levy case Henri Cauvin 2010

  • I am guessing that Alon Levy is Jewish and his family were probably ethnically cleansed from Germany during the Nazi era.

    Matthew Yglesias » Party-Banning In Israel 2009

  • Oien said the hair was similar to the hair from a comb found in Levy's Dupont Circle bathroom.

    Prison pen pal testified of Guandique's dead girl' letters Keith L. Alexander 2010

  • I am guessing that Alon Levy is Jewish and his family were probably ethnically cleansed from Germany during the Nazi era.

    Matthew Yglesias » Party-Banning In Israel 2009

  • Fisher declared Condit non-responsive and that could affect how the jury judges the testimony of the man who was once the prime suspect in Levy's disappearance, said Michael Starr, a former public defender in the District and now a lawyer with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

    The Crime Scene: Condit -- "We were just friends" Henri Cauvin 2010

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