Mulct is a verb that means to cheat or defraud.

The Latin word mulcta (MOOLK tah) refers to ‘a fine.’ Our word of the day may refer to the act of extracting money from someone by fine or it may mean extracting money from someone through fraud.

I felt the health inspector was trying to mulct me with that fine. It just didn’t make sense that having too many fire extinguishers could be considered a fire hazard.