defund
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to withdraw financial support from, especially as an instrument of legislative control.
Many university programs were defunded by the recent government cutbacks.
-
to deplete the financial resources of.
The cost of the lawsuit defunded the company's operating budget.
Etymology
Origin of defund
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He describes how scientists in the 1970s found around 15% of Western gulls formed same-sex pairings - a discovery that sparked a moral panic and even threats to defund their research.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
“I am not running to defund the police,” Mamdani said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
“I don’t think it is the right thing to defund these events.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2025
He has spoken in broad terms about undercutting independent agencies but never spelled out sweeping plans to defund the EPA and other federal agencies.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2024
I never supported the effort to defund the police.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
