# Question on the use of the word 'defray"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-use-of-the-word-defray/945983>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 8, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-use-of-the-word-defray/945983 "2021-07-08T14:02:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-use-of-the-word-defray/945983/21 "2021-07-09T08:27:41Z")

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> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> It’s a reference to _The Princess Bride_ .

Its a reference to Ralph Wiggum being told he failed English.

And, like Vizzini, I’m not sure it meant what he thought it meant.

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**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-use-of-the-word-defray/945983/22 "2021-07-09T08:33:22Z")

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[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4RkMvcJduSo/maxresdefault.jpg "Watch The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell Highlights: July 7th | MSNBC") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RkMvcJduSo)

Watch The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell Highlights: July 7th | MSNBC  
Listen to Tim O’Brien 56/57 seconds into the video

“It’s meant to defray trust…”.

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**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-use-of-the-word-defray/945983/23 "2021-07-09T18:53:23Z")

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> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> I think so, yes. I’ve only ever seen/heard “defray” used in connection with money; and the online dictionaries I’ve checked agree with this.

The OED lists “to rub off or away” as a now-obsolete sense for _defray_. The only citation given is a metaphorical use that seems to very much fit the context of the OP:

> [@OED](#):
>
> He intendeth not to infringe, annul, derogate, defray or minish anything of the popes authority.

Interestingly, it’s listed alongside “minish”, an archaic synonym of “diminish”, which @Melbourne indicated might have been a better fit.

Of course, it’s unlikely that whoever wrote the sentences in the OP was aware of this obsolete sense of “defray”.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-use-of-the-word-defray/945983/24 "2021-07-09T20:29:03Z")

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Because of my last name, I have been followed around by the “a frayed knot” joke for a long time. I’m no longer dismayed by it, nor minished, but I’m not exactly mayed or defrayed, either.

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