reimburse
Americanverb (used with object)
-
reimburses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reimbursed,
past participle, past
-
reimbursing
present participle
-
to make repayment to for expense or loss incurred.
The insurance company reimbursed him for his losses in the fire.
- Synonyms:
- redress, recoup, indemnify, remunerate, recompense
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reimbursementnoun
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reimbursernoun
-
nonreimbursedadjective
-
reimbursableadjective
-
unreimbursableadjective
-
unreimbursedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reimbursesimple
-
reimbursessimple
-
have reimbursedperfect
-
has reimbursedperfect
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am reimbursingprogressive
-
are reimbursingprogressive
-
is reimbursingprogressive
-
have been reimbursingperfect progressive
-
has been reimbursingperfect progressive
Past
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reimbursedsimple
-
had reimbursedperfect
-
was reimbursingprogressive
-
were reimbursingprogressive
-
had been reimbursingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reimburse
First recorded in 1605–15; re- + obsolete imburse “to put into a purse, pay,” from Medieval Latin imbursāre, equivalent to Latin im- im- 1 + Medieval Latin -bursāre, derivative of bursa “bag” ( see purse)
Explanation
If you buy a basketball for your school team with your own money, and you ask your coach to reimburse you, you are asking him to pay you back. To reimburse is to compensate for an expense or loss. The person who collects money at a college is the bursar, a purse is where you store money, and reimburse means to pay money back. All three of these words share the Latin root bursa 'moneybag.' If you want to be paid back for overpaid tuition, ask the bursar, Mr. Moneybags, to reimburse you from the schools purse.
Vocabulary lists containing reimburse
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Richard Nixon's "Checkers" Speech (1952)
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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:
On social media, she asked strangers whether she should ask the seller to reimburse the cost of appraisals and inspections.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Berney in his email offered to reimburse Afram’s company for the missing drive or create a new digital cinema package, but Afram said the damage was much greater than that, according to the lawsuit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The commissioned report also suggested that utilities should no longer reimburse property insurers for damage from fires sparked by electrical equipment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
"I've probably spent between three and four hundred euros today on my credit card just to buy stuff, which, I think, I hope they'll reimburse," he added.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
And the sweetest part of the whole deal was that there really was no need to reimburse the government at all.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
You could leave each of her children $108,000, which is more than generous, and reimburses them for the money your aunt gave you out, with interest, assuming that the down payment reduced their inheritance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
The Justice Department says Blanche’s campaign “appearances are reviewed and cleared by the Department’s ethics officials” and that he reimburses travel expenses “in accordance with federal law, regulations, and policies.”
From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2026
In 2019, the state established a wildfire fund paid by utility companies that reimburses claims stemming from wildfires caused by the companies’ equipment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
But the company stumbled last year, tripped up by rising medical costs and changes to how the government reimburses private insurers.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
Reimburse′ment, act of reimbursing; Reimburs′er, one who reimburses.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
The city was awarded a $300,000 grant from the vehicle authority to cover most of the cost of its cameras in fiscal year 2026, none of which has been reimbursed, according to the agency’s records.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
WASHINGTON—President Trump said that Donald Trump Jr. reimbursed a Russian businessman who financed his son’s lavish wedding afterparty in the Bahamas earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“The Authority improperly reimbursed consultants for travel expenses that appeared unallowable under regulations intended to ensure economy to the State.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Tran’s insurer reimbursed her about $1,350, leaving her responsible for $250 of the bill, equal to her deductible.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
His aunt talked a lot about money, how much the boy was costing her, the hassle of filling out the paperwork to get some of the money reimbursed.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
In a statement in 2022, Wales said she had sent a cheque in 2019 reimbursing the council for most of the spending to stop "electorally motivated questions".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Los Angeles officials have reached a tentative agreement with organizers of the 2028 Olympic Games laying out the process for reimbursing the city for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in public services.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
By the time he returned to Congress in early 2024, the House was reimbursing members for lodging expenses in Washington.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
He also bolstered the employee health plan and started reimbursing his workers’ commuting expenses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
I think perhaps she saw the wide twisted mouth and embarrassed eyes of Martin Hopps on her and felt that in some way she was reimbursing him for his stolen life.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
