deficit spending

noun

: the spending of public funds raised by borrowing rather than by taxation

Examples of deficit spending in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The report found the district projected deficit spending of $6 million for the 2023-24 school year and $6.8 million for 2024-25. Molly Gibbs, The Mercury News, 1 July 2024 If Biden’s performance had not been so halting and weak, Trump’s own ramblings and flights from reality — on tariffs, on January 6, on deficit spending — might have cost him. The Editors, National Review, 28 June 2024 And in order to prevent further cuts, there will be about $37 million in deficit spending. Alex Derosier, Twin Cities, 12 June 2024 If deficit spending has anesthetized the American people to the fiscal cost of the war on terror, technological and social changes have numbed them to its human cost. Elliot Ackerman, Foreign Affairs, 24 Aug. 2021 See all Example Sentences for deficit spending 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deficit spending.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of deficit spending was in 1938

Dictionary Entries Near deficit spending

Cite this Entry

“Deficit spending.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deficit%20spending. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!