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
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
How should citizens protesting be informed that an escalation of force is occurring so they can disburse before it’s too late?
From Slate ● Jan. 15, 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
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
Instead, we recommend an inclusive, global public investment funding model that gives lower-income countries a seat at the table and disburses funds based on a country’s needs and finances.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 17, 2022
The Deb Zimpun, the official sent into our territory every year to receive it, now hands it over to the Maharajah, who disburses it.
From Life in an Indian Outpost by Gordon Casserly
He explained the money was disbursed in buckets, and bureaucrats made the specific choices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
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 first tranche of the $4-billion payout — which amounts to roughly $600 million — is set to be disbursed to victims in the next week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 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
The three-way appeal from Weaver, Lawrence, and Sproul convinced Fosdick and the foundation trustees: the grant, to be disbursed over two years, came through before the end of January.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
In June, the company said that it had received $800 million in refunds that belong to its customers and that it would start disbursing the funds in August.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
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
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
One way in which consumers could be compensated is by businesses disbursing any funds recouped from Customs and Border Protection to those affected, though few have announced plans to do so.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
I desire to live free from the vexing annoyances consequent upon the providing and disbursing of money.
From Mississippi Outlaws and the Detectives Don Pedro and the Detectives; Poisoner and the Detectives by Allan Pinkerton
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.
