defray

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   bear the expenses of

   The grant helped defray the cost of travel.

2. 2
   verb

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

   The expenses of the war, while in progress, were defrayed by executing rich men and confiscating their property.

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

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