disburse

verb

dis·​burse dis-ˈbərs 

disbursed; disbursing

transitive verb

1

a

: to pay out : expend especially from a fund

disburse money

b

: to make a payment in settlement of

disburse a bill

2

: distribute

disburser noun

Synonyms

• drop
• expend
• fork (over, out, or up)
• give
• lay out
• outlay
• pay
• shell out
• spend

Examples of disburse in a Sentence

The money will be disbursed on the basis of need.

The government has disbursed millions of dollars in foreign aid.

Recent Examples on the Web

Finally, on the off-chance a grant decision is well-made (hey, a broken clock is right twice a day!), the mechanics of disbursing grant funding can be cumbersome. —Ryan Craig, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024

About $140,000 was raised for the family before donations stopped being accepted so the money could be disbursed, the Sikh society wrote. —Adam Carlson, People.com, 30 Oct. 2024

Whenever additional funding is provided, the agency should be able to disburse loan funds quickly. —Doug Criscitello, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024

Anyone signing the document has to enter their full name, address of residence, email contact, and mobile phone number into a database, information his America PAC will then verify before disbursing any cash. —Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle French desbourser, from Old French desborser, from des- dis- + borse purse, from Medieval Latin bursa

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

disburse

verb

dis·​burse dis-ˈbərs 

disbursed; disbursing

: to pay out : expend

disburse money

disburser noun

Etymology

from early French desbourser "to pay out money," from des- "out, away" and borse "a purse," from Latin bursa "a small leather bag" — related to purse, reimburse