defraud
verb (used with object)
to deprive of a right, money, or property by fraud.
have been defrauding
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present perfect progressiveof defraud.present perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that began in the past, has continued continuously, and is still in progress.
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.
Asked if the Independence Party knew that Mr. Haggerty might have been defrauding the mayor, the party’s chairman, Frank M. MacKay, said “absolutely not.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2011
Commissioner.—"Then you have been defrauding the public for many years, and injuring the revenue by your illicit practices: the poor have an equal right to be supplied with as genuine an article as the rich."
From A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons Exhibiting the Fraudulent Sophistications of Bread, Beer, Wine, Spiritous Liquors, Tea, Coffee, Cream, Confectionery, Vinegar, Mustard, Pepper, Cheese, Olive Oil, Pickles, and Other Articles Employed in Domestic Economy by Friedrich Christian Accum
