lend-lease
Americannoun
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the matériel and services supplied by the United States to its allies during World War II under an act of Congress Lend-Lease Act passed in 1941: such aid was to be repaid in kind after the war.
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the two-way transfer of ideas, styles, etc.
verb (used with object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of lend-lease
First recorded in 1935–40
Explanation
Before the United States engaged in World War II, the government used a program called lend-lease to provide military and food aid to the Allies. Under lend-lease, the U.S. sent ammunition, tanks, and other supplies overseas. A lend-lease program involves lending goods with the understanding that they will be used to benefit the donor in some way (or sometimes, that they will eventually be returned). In World War II's lend-lease program, the U.S. gave supplies and material to several Allied nations, and in return those countries defended America from the Axis forces. It was also an indirect way for the U.S. to involve itself in the war before fully committing to fighting with the Allies.
Vocabulary lists containing lend-lease
World War II
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American History - Middle School
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American History - High School
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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:
Shmyhal also said the Ukrainian government had approved a request to the U.S. government for a "gas lend-lease" arrangement to help Ukraine through what he said would be the toughest heating season in its history.
From Reuters ● Jul. 26, 2022
“It’s easy for him to do it. And I think right now what we’re doing with supply and with lend-lease, with the financing is right.”
From Washington Times ● May 1, 2022
House gave final passage Thursday to legislation that would streamline a World War II-era military lend-lease program to more quickly provide Ukraine and other Eastern European countries with American equipment to fight the Russian invasion.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2022
An example is the Senate’s recent unanimous approval of a lend-lease bill modeled on the law that enabled swift U.S. supply for the anti-Hitler coalition in Europe before the country entered World War II.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 9, 2022
During the war, 15 cents of each dollar of our war expenditures was for lend-lease aid.
From State of the Union Address by Truman, Harry S.
The U.S. lend-leased a symphony conductor to the Commonwealth of Australia this week.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ltd. as a quid pro quo for lend-leased U.S. oil, but had backed down before Teheran.
From Time Magazine Archive
Selznick lend-leased Hitchcock to-20th Century-Fox to make Lifeboat for $200,000.
From Time Magazine Archive
And many a corporation had warned its lend-leased talent: come on back or stay away for good.
From Time Magazine Archive
Before long more than 40,000 tons of silver, which cost the U.S. about $675,000,000, will be lend-leased to war plants for the duration.*
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
