subsidize
Americanverb
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to aid or support with a subsidy
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to obtain the aid of by means of a subsidy
Usage
What does subsidize mean? To subsidize is to grant a subsidy—a direct payment made by a government to a company or other organization as a form of assistance. The process of subsidizing is subsidization. Governments often subsidize particular industries, such as through granting farm subsidies. The word subsidy is most commonly used to refer to such payments. More generally, subsidy can refer to any grant or monetary contribution. More specifically, it can refer to a payment made by one government to another for a particular service, often according to a treaty. Less commonly, the word subsidize can mean to gain someone’s cooperation through bribery. Subsidize is sometimes spelled subsidise (especially in British English). Example: The government is subsidizing my company to help expedite the manufacturing of healthcare products.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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desubsidizationnoun
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subsidizationnoun
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subsidizernoun
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desubsidizeverb (used with object)
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nonsubsidizedadjective
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subsidizableadjective
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unsubsidizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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subsidizesimple
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subsidizessimple
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have subsidizedperfect
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has subsidizedperfect
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am subsidizingprogressive
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are subsidizingprogressive
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is subsidizingprogressive
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have been subsidizingperfect progressive
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has been subsidizingperfect progressive
Past
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subsidizedsimple
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had subsidizedperfect
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was subsidizingprogressive
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were subsidizingprogressive
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had been subsidizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of subsidize
Explanation
To subsidize something is to support it by providing it with money or other resources. Don't expect your parents to subsidize your addiction to solid-gold puppy figurines. We can break down the word subsidize to help us remember its meaning. The prefix sub- means "under, below" and sedēre means "to sit." (A submarine is a ship that goes under the sea.) So to subsidize is to underwrite something financially, providing the support that keeps it going. For example, our taxes are used by the government to subsidize many educational and social programs.
Vocabulary lists containing subsidize
Donald Trump Inauguration Address- January 20, 2017
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State of the Union Address 2016
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Lyddie
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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:
Annuities squeeze more income out of retirement savings than anything else, because the people who die young subsidize those who live a long time.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
When Americans enroll in ObamaCare, many receive advance premium tax credits to subsidize monthly premiums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
But developers found it more profitable to subsidize 100% of their units at the smallest allowable discount, a rent affordable to households at 60% of median income.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
Even with the expansion, the state funds enough slots to subsidize only about 18% of eligible children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
It doesn’t include the billions the government spends to subsidize corn.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
To help make housing affordable, the Singaporean government subsidizes housing by building apartments around the city.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
They deserve a health-insurance marketplace that subsidizes only people who qualify.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
It’s not known who subsidizes the low rents at C Street, which is technically a church and doesn’t disclose its backers.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
"Businesses are going to make a fortune, and that's why you cannot continue to have a payroll tax system that taxes jobs and then subsidizes automation," the governor said in a statement.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
Inside Jilin Province, China created the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, where forty percent of the population is ethnic Korean and where the government subsidizes Korean-language schools and publications.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Bleiker, who joined FIU in 2001, has played a central role in the research team examining school readiness among Miami children receiving subsidized childcare.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
Mamdani floated the stores on the campaign trail as a part of his affordability agenda, arguing that subsidized supermarkets focused on cheap, healthy foods would help New Yorkers adapt to rapidly rising food costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
In 2014, he won a Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting for an investigation into abusive landlords and squalid conditions in publicly subsidized housing for Tampa’s homeless.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
“It was really important to leave my daughter in a place where I knew she was going to be well taken care of,” said Torres, whose child’s enrollment is subsidized by the state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
It’s four stories of gray stone with a double wooden entryway, the kind of basic place I could afford to live if I weren’t subsidized by my aunt’s largesse.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Chinese open-source AI is subsidizing the rest of the world through cheap access to intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Currently tenants with vouchers subsidizing their rent payments need a government inspection before they can move in.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
If a new owner would be willing, should the taxpayers of Anaheim consider subsidizing the name?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
And it will preserve credibility for the most important index on the market, while keeping unwitting buyers from subsidizing a business that has not earned the right to their largesse.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Great Britain abandoned her scheme for a Hanover expanded to stretch from the Scheldt to the Elbe, and, subsidizing both Sweden and Prussia, cemented the new coalition.
From The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte Vol. III. (of IV.) by William Milligan Sloane
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.
