mulct

/məlkt/

Other forms: mulcted; mulcts; mulcting

The meaning of mulct is as nasty as it sounds; it means to fine someone or the money you collect as a result of a fine. No one wants to pay an extra mulct to the city, when it's the city who mismanaged the budget.

Got mulct? Then somebody took your money. They "milked" you by mulcting you. And the money that they took? That's called mulct, too. Some people believe that there's no difference between being mulcted by the state and being shaken down by the mob. In fact, the word mulct is often used to mean having your money taken unfairly or as a kind of punishment or as extortion.

Definitions of mulct

1. noun

   money extracted as a penalty
   synonyms: amercement, fine

   types:

   library fine

   fine imposed by a library on books that overdue when returned

   type of:

   penalty

   a payment required for not fulfilling a contract
2. verb

   impose a fine on
   type of:

   impose, levy

   charge and collect payment
3. verb

   (offensive) deprive of by deceit
   synonyms: bunco, con, defraud, diddle, gip, goldbrick, hornswoggle, nobble, rook, scam, short-change, shortchange, swindle, victimize

   types:

   short, short-change, shortchange

   cheat out of by giving back less money than is due to someone who has overpaid

   type of:

   cheat, chisel, rip off

   deprive somebody of something by deceit