disburse
Americanverb (used with object)
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disburses,
present (3rd person singular)
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disbursed,
past participle, past
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disbursing
present participle
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to pay out (money), especially for expenses; expend.
- Synonyms:
- lay out
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to distribute or scatter.
Our troops were disbursed over a wide area. She disbursed the flowers to the children.
verb
Usage
What does disburse mean? Disburse most commonly means to pay out money. Disburse is typically used in the context of finance and business—especially when the exchange of money is formal. The noun form of disburse is disbursement, meaning the act of paying out money, or the payment itself. Disburse can also mean to distribute or scatter, but this sense is much less commonly used. (This sense sounds a lot like and means just about the same thing as disperse.)Example: The staff is upset because payroll hasn’t disbursed paychecks yet due to a clerical error.
Synonym Usage
See spend.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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disbursementnoun
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disbursernoun
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redisburseverb (used with object)
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disbursableadjective
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nondisbursableadjective
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nondisbursedadjective
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undisbursedadjective
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well-disbursedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disbursesimple
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disbursessimple
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have disbursedperfect
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has disbursedperfect
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am disbursingprogressive
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are disbursingprogressive
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is disbursingprogressive
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have been disbursingperfect progressive
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has been disbursingperfect progressive
Past
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disbursedsimple
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had disbursedperfect
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was disbursingprogressive
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were disbursingprogressive
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had been disbursingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disburse
First recorded in 1520–30; from Middle French desbourser, Old French desborser, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + -borser, derivative of borse purse, from Late Latin bursa “bag”
Explanation
If someone wants to disburse funds to you, stick around — it means they're going to give you money! Disburse is a fancy, financial word that is just an official way of saying to pay or give out money. Parents don't disburse allowance money, they give it, and if your friend owes you five bucks, he'll pay you what he owes. On the other hand, lawyers disburse funds from a will. The government disburses money for grants and federal projects. And if you get a mortgage, the bank disburses a check to the seller of the house you bought.
Vocabulary lists containing disburse
"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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The Cuckoo's Calling
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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.
See Examples For:
The donor receives a tax benefit in the year they contribute and can disburse the money to charities at any point afterward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
"The Commission may not disburse EU funds to a member state until the required legislative reforms are in force and are effectively being applied," a court statement said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
Other experts point to serious concerns on fees charged by the two money transfer companies exclusively licensed to disburse money from Sham Cash.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2025
Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of the charity, Citizens Advice, said she would like to see the sector work quickly to disburse compensation to the worst affected.
From BBC ● May 27, 2025
Mom and Dad took Laleh trick-or-treating, while I was assigned to monitor the house and disburse candy as necessary.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
Since 2021, the organization has received at least $25 million in grants from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which disburses city, county and federal funds to address the region’s homelessness problem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
There has also been unease at a six-percent reduction in the budget for the development department, which disburses aid.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
The Gator Collective is an independent fundraising arm that disburses money to student-athletes in all sports.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2023
The government has said it would raise teachers' wages once the European Commission disburses EU recovery funding, with pay hikes coming over a period of 3 years.
From Reuters ● Dec. 3, 2022
For, truth to tell, my wretched purse is In its last stage of inanition, And not a single coin disburses: A cobweb's over it, and in it— That Spider Want there loves to spin it.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 378, April, 1847 by Various
The human rights leader said she felt safe in Berlin, despite being distanced from friends and home and her family, which she said was now disbursed over eight countries.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
The mainland companies paid profits to the offshore entities, which disbursed dividends to shareholders in foreign currencies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Before any money is disbursed, former presiding Superior Court Judge Daniel Buckley is vetting the firm’s cases and interviewing people whose accounts raise red flags.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
Under the legislation, the Repayment Assistance Program will become the default income-driven plan for loans disbursed after July 1, 2026, and existing borrowers must switch to the program by 2028.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026
Even then, however, they assured Lawrence that the funds could be disbursed “subject to your discretion without the usual University restrictions.”
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The World Bank said Friday it was disbursing $200 million in emergency funds for the disaster response, as well as a mechanism to assess economic losses to help "prioritize aid and reconstruction efforts."
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
FedEx said it would start disbursing its $800 million in refunds to shippers and consumers in August.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
It received a lifeline in April 2025, when the county announced that it would be disbursing the hospital $3 million collected via Measure B, which brought in about $427 million in fiscal year 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The Energy Secretary Ed Miliband was in the US last week visiting the key officials in charge of disbursing the record subsidies and loans made available in the $400bn Inflation Reduction Act.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2024
Though the principal sights of the city are called free, yet one cannot visit them unattended by a well-known local guide or without disbursing liberally of fees.
From Due North or Glimpses of Scandinavia and Russia by Maturin Murray Ballou
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.
