excise without duty being paid
Preserved but no longer current.
This enables a merchant to re-export without financial complications, or to import in bulk and pay duty on part of the goods at a time as he requires them. Wines and spirits are some- times described as "bottled in bond" — i.e. bottled in H.M. warehouses, before there could be any adulteration.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “excise without duty being paid” mean?
This enables a merchant to re-export without financial complications, or to import in bulk and pay duty on part of the goods at a time as he requires them. Wines and spirits are some- times described as "bottled in bond" — i.e. bottled in H.M. warehouses, before there could be any adulteration.
Is “excise without duty being paid” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.