outlay
Americannoun
-
an expending or spending, as of money.
-
an amount expended; expenditure.
verb (used with object)
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outlays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
outlaid,
past participle, past
-
outlaying
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
outlaysimple
-
outlayssimple
-
have outlaidperfect
-
has outlaidperfect
-
am outlayingprogressive
-
are outlayingprogressive
-
is outlayingprogressive
-
have been outlayingperfect progressive
-
has been outlayingperfect progressive
Past
-
outlaidsimple
-
had outlaidperfect
-
was outlayingprogressive
-
were outlayingprogressive
-
had been outlayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outlay
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:
On top of the purchase price, FSG have since facilitated intra-group loans of about £218m, meaning a total outlay of about £518m.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The company has previously said that promotional outlay is focused on Aperol, its biggest seller.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Kalinak defended the outlay, describing the furnishings as being of "mid-range standard" from durable materials and claiming they would last 30 to 50 years.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
That’s a manageable outlay for a family making $75,000 but nearly half the monthly income of someone who earns $35,000 at the local minimum wage.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
The outlay for insecticides in Nova Scotia apple orchards is only from 10 to 20 per cent of the amount spent in most other apple-growing areas.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
The SSA’s administrative budget has fallen from 1.2% of benefit outlays in 2017 to 0.86% currently, which represents an annual loss of $3 billion in operating revenue, the union said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
So how do open-weight model developers recoup those outlays?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
It also plans to test optional passcode-restricted buying steps and new alerts for people who suddenly accelerate their outlays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Most of SG&A consists of cash outlays for costs such as payroll, commissions and marketing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The completion of the Canadian Pacific railway to Vancouver in 1885 involved the department in outlays, which exceeded the revenues by over $200,000 a year.
From The History of the Post Office in British North America by Sir William Smith
Last summer, Premier League clubs outlaid more than ever before in the transfer window as spending surpassed £3bn.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
This summer, Premier League clubs outlaid more than ever before in the transfer window as spending surpassed £3bn.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025
“It’s a very real risk that Hector Luis Garcia will upend some very carefully outlaid plans,” Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza told The Washington Times.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 6, 2022
The Senegal international was even viewed by some as a temporary alternative to the error-prone Kepa Arrizabalaga, with his £22m move from Rennes a fraction of the £71m outlaid on the Spaniard.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2021
For not only the two-leaved tree is outlaid, and the one-leaved inlaid, but the two-leaved tree is branched, and the one-leaved tree is not branched.
From Proserpina, Volume 1 Studies Of Wayside Flowers by John Ruskin
Meta now anticipates outlaying $70 billion to $72 billion on capital expenditures this year, up from $39 billion last year, and expects its capex growth in dollars to be even higher next year.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2025
It may be a lot of pressure for young shoulders, but after outlaying what he wants to achieve by the time he's 25, Maca is taking the expectations in his stride.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2025
Cities that installed ShotSpotter in the past bought the equipment and managed the alerts themselves — a model that often involved outlaying hundreds of thousands of dollars.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2012
Everyone is out to do the job, possibly because that kind was not content to sit at desks and found their way to ships and outlaying bases.
From Time Magazine Archive
This part of the coast is bold too, and is free from outlaying dangers, the depth of water from two to three miles off shore being taken between 16 and 29 fathoms.
From Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2 by George Grey
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.
