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lend-lease

American  
[lend-lees] / ˈlɛndˈlis /

noun

  1. 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.

  2. the two-way transfer of ideas, styles, etc.

verb (used with object)

lend-leased, lend-leasing

  1. to supply (matériel or services) as authorized by the Lend-Lease Act.

lend-lease British  

noun

  1. (during World War II) the system organized by the US in 1941 by which equipment and services were provided for countries fighting Germany

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of lend-lease

First recorded in 1935–40

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.

Eighty years ago, the Soviet Union ground down German forces, using the U.S. lend-lease material, including 183,000 trucks received by the summer of 1943.

From Washington Post • Jan. 18, 2023

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

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.

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.