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Disburse vs Defray - What's the difference?

disburse | defray |

As verbs the difference between disburse and defray

is that disburse is to pay out, expend; usually from a public fund or treasury while defray is to spend (money).

disburse

English

Verb

(disburs)
  • (finance) To pay out, expend; usually from a public fund or treasury.

    • Usage notes

    * Do not confuse with the scattering word disperse, despite similarity.

    Synonyms

    (to pay out) shell out (informal), cough up (informal), fork out (informal), fork over (informal)

    Derived terms

    * disbursement

    defray

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To spend (money).
  • To pay or discharge (a debt, expense etc.); to meet (the cost of something).
  • * 1946 , (Bertrand Russell), History of Western Philosophy , I.29:
    • The expenses of the war, while in progress, were defrayed by executing rich men and confiscating their property.
  • * 2009 , ‘A Viennese grind’, The Economist , 30 Jul 2009:
    • Investors, meanwhile, got back a fraction of their money. Some say Mr Meinl’s €100m bail, paid by a source in Liechtenstein, should be used to defray their losses.
  • * 2010 , Roy Greenslade, The Guardian , 9 Dec 2010:
    • In order to help defray the substantial costs involved, they then raised revenue through taking advertisements.
  • To pay for (something).

    • Anagrams

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