defray

From Middle French desfrayer, French défrayer, from dé- + Old French fraier (“to spend”).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɹeɪ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɹæɪ/

  • Audio (Queensland):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Hyphenation: de‧fray

defray (third-person singular simple present defrays, present participle defraying, simple past and past participle defrayed) (transitive)

1. To pay or discharge (a debt, expense etc.); to meet (the cost of something).

   Synonyms: finance, (obsolete, rare) fray, offset

   • 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 July 30, ‘A Viennese grind’, The Economist:

     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 December 9, Roy Greenslade, The Guardian:

     In order to help defray the substantial costs involved, they then raised revenue through taking advertisements.

   • 2024 February 5, Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s legal battles are at a critical moment with major implications for the 2024 election”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     With his legal maneuverings, Trump is showing that he also understands the implications of this election — one that could give him substantial powers as president to defray or dismiss many of the legal threats that he’s facing and to behave in office without future accountability.

2. (archaic) To pay for (something).
3. (obsolete) To spend (money).

• fedary, frayed