defray

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“
THAT he might all expense and cost defray,

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. transitive verb To undertake the payment of (costs or expenses); pay.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (32)

  • Its $787 billion stimulus package includes money that will flow to states for public works projects, help them defray budget cuts, extend unemployment benefits and boost food stamp benefits. —  News from www.muscatinejournal.com
  • Its $787-billion stimulus package includes money that will flow to states for public works projects, help them defray budget cuts, extend unemployment benefits and boost food stamp benefits.
  • The Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus package includes money that will flow to states for public works projects, help them defray budget cuts, extend unemployment benefits and boost food stamp benefits. —  The Memphis Daily News
  • Survey respondents pinned some hopes on the Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus package, which includes money that will flow to states for public works projects, help them defray budget cuts, extend unemployment benefits and boost food stamp benefits. —  Marketplace
  • It's an effort to help defray the cost of the surgery and Carol's mounting medical expenses.
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French défrayer, from Old French desfrayer : des-, de- + *frai, expense (from Latin frāctum, from neuter past participle of frangere, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Old French defrayer, defraier, deffrayer, desfraier, also deffraitier, desfraitier, deffretier, modern F. défrayer, dial. (Picard) défraitier, pay the expense, from de-, des-, off, + frait, modern F. plural frais, expense, cost, from Middle Latin fredum, fredus, fridus, cost, expense, tax, orig. a fine for a breach of the peace, from Old High German fridu, frido, German friede = Anglo-Saxon frithu, peace: see frith. The syllable -fray, of the same origin, occurs in affray, a breach of the peace: see affray, and cf. Old French deffrei, deffroi, trouble, disturbance. For the meaning, cf. pay, ult. from Latin pax, peace. The Middle Latin fractum, fractus, expense, is a later and erroneous “restored” form of Old French frait, expense, after the analogy of Latin fractus, the source of Old French frait, past participle, broken.
  2. Middle English, from Old French deffrei, deffroi, trouble, disturbance, the same, with different prefix de-, des-, as effrei, effroi, trouble, disturbance, affray: see affray, n., and cf. defray, of the same ult. elements as defray.
 

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/dəˈfreɪ/
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