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Glite Dictionary
to defund

to defund

32 5.9
To stop or reduce giving money to an organization
  • verb
  • /dɪˈfʌnd/
  • Literature
: dejar de financiar
  • Administration is defunding programs for our troops that they claim to support.

Trump she wants to confiscate everyone's gun, ban fracking and defund the police.

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Examples

  • So we have to couple this call to defund the police with reimagining public safety.

  • OK, so they were trying to defund completely after that, too.

  • Yeah, fix the border, defund the police.

  • You want to defund the police?

    Eddington (2025)

  • The power of Congress to defund is such a check.

    Blog text (6)

  • Bill to defund the University of Tennessee Diversity Office.

    Academic text (2016)

  • Considering education is the cornerstone of a successful nation, do you want to defund that too?

    Blog text (13)

  • Three Republican senators have yet again proposed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood.

    Late Night (2019)

  • Three Republican senators are proposing a bill to yet again defund Planned Parenthood.

    Late Night (2019)

  • The city council voted to defund the local arts program due to budget cuts.

Synonyms

to slash spending
vsto defund
5 4.2

To cut the amount of money a person or group uses by a lot

targets stopping or reducing money to a specific organization rather than broad cuts
to curtail spending
vsto defund
1 4.3

To spend less money to save or avoid debt

focuses on stopping or reducing money to an organization rather than general budget saving

Antonyms

to fund
597 3.0

To give money for a particular purpose

to finance
248 3.3

To provide money to pay for something

How Funded

to fund
597 3.0
finance
354 3.6
to defund
  • Literature
32 5.9

Surface Forms

defund infinitive
defunded past
defunded past participle
defunding present participle
defunds third person singular

Morphology

defund = fund (semi-transparent) = de + fund

The meaning is largely inferable as reversing or removing funding from 'fund', but the common use also includes partial reduction of funding, not only complete removal.

Etymology

The word defund has two parts: de- meaning 'remove' and fund meaning 'money' or support. So, to defund is to remove or stop giving money to a program, group, or activity.