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Disburse vs Expense - What's the difference?

disburse | expense |

As verbs the difference between disburse and expense

is that disburse is (finance) to pay out, expend; usually from a public fund or treasury while expense is to charge a cost against an expense account; to bill something to the company for which one works.

As a noun expense is

a spending or consuming often specifically an act of disbursing or spending funds.

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

    expense

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia expense) (en noun)
  • A spending or consuming. Often specifically an act of disbursing or spending funds.
  • She went to great expense to ensure her children would get the best education.
    Buying the car was a big expense , but will be worth it in the long run.
    We had a training weekend in New York, at the expense of our company.
  • * , Sonnet 44:
  • Husband nature's riches from expense .
  • That which is expended, laid out, or consumed. Sometimes with the notion of loss or damage to those on whom the expense falls.
  • Jones reached the final at the expense of Jones, who couldnĀ“t beat him.
  • (obsolete) Loss.
  • * , Sonnet 30:
  • And moan the expense of many a vanished sight.

    Synonyms

    * (that which is expended) cost, charge, outlay, disbursement, expenditure, payment

    Derived terms

    * expense account

    Verb

  • To charge a cost against an expense account; to bill something to the company for which one works.
  • It should be acceptable to expense a business lunch with a client.

    Derived terms

    * expense magazine, (Military):'' a small magazine containing ammunition for immediate use. - Henry Lee Scot ''Military Dictionary ----