budget

1 of 3

noun

bud·​get ˈbə-jət How to pronounce budget (audio)
1
chiefly dialectal : a usually leather pouch, wallet, or pack
also : its contents
2
3
: a quantity (as of energy or water) involved in, available for, or assignable to a particular situation
the A-bomb … yields its budget of energy … in a fraction of a secondScientific American Reader
also : an account of gains and losses of such a quantity
the global carbon budget
4
finance
a
: a statement of the financial position of an administration (as of a nation) for a definite period of time based on estimates of expenditures during the period and proposals for financing them
b
: a plan for the coordination of resources and expenditures
develop a budget for her company
c
: the amount of money that is available for, required for, or assigned to a particular purpose
a weekly budget for a family of five
a budget of less than $3000
budgetary adjective

budget

2 of 3

verb

budgeted; budgeting; budgets

transitive verb

1
a
: to put or allow for in a statement or plan coordinating resources and expenditures : to put or allow for in a budget
budgeted $200 a month to pay back student loans
funds budgeted by the administration for the project
b
: to require to adhere to a budget
Budget yourself wisely.
2
a
: to allocate funds for in a budget
budget a new hospital
b
: to plan or provide for the use of in detail
budgeting manpower
Budget your time wisely.

intransitive verb

: to put oneself on a budget
budgeting for a vacation

budget

3 of 3

adjective

: suitable for someone whose is following a plan for coordinating resources and expenditures : suitable for one on a budget (see budget entry 1) : inexpensive

Examples of budget in a Sentence

Noun What's the average weekly budget for a family of five? The film has a million-dollar budget. He's been trying to live on a budget of less than $1,500 a month. We'll have to work out a budget so we can buy a new car. Verb They budgeted millions of dollars to make the film. The project is budgeted at more than $100,000. He budgets $50 for entertainment each month. If we budget carefully, we will be able to go on the trip. I need to learn how to budget my time more wisely. Adjective a budget phone plan for people on fixed incomes
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Take, for example, a sprawling camp in Season 2 that had a budget of $50,000 and ended up having a life-size, outdoor checkerboard. Olivia McCormack, Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2024 But, faced with a looming state budget deficit topping $37 billion, lawmakers in both political parties, as well as the Legislature’s nonpartisan financial advisors, have raised questions about the scope and timing. Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2024 As a director, Johnson is known for mind-bending features like Looper, big budget genre entry Star Wars: The Last Jedi and original who dunnit film series Knives Out, which has included sequel Glass Onion and an upcoming third installment, which is aiming to film later this year for Netflix. Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Mar. 2024 The Worst Job in College Basketball: South Carolina Salkehatchie had no budget, players or running water when Matt Lynch arrived. Rory Smith, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024 During the reading of the U.K. government’s spring budget on Wednesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt revealed a 40% corporate tax relief for film and TV studios through 2034. Ellise Shafer, Variety, 6 Mar. 2024 Redford, who had always had an ambivalent relationship with Hollywood, wanted to create a space for something more experimental, less beholden to the corporate imperatives of budgets and deadlines. Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 Oil and gas has a concentrated number of players, with bigger budgets to clean up their operations. Julia Simon, NPR, 5 Mar. 2024 The whole purpose was to impact the budget of the police department. Journal Sentinel, 4 Mar. 2024
Verb
The English, Cantonese and Hindi-language project is budgeted at $1.2 million. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Mar. 2024 As much as 20% of technology money that is budgeted for new products is then diverted to resolving issues related to tech debt. John Kell, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2024 Lawmakers so far are budgeting an extra $10 million across the state to help counties adapt to the changes. Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024 Adequate government money must be budgeted for the FAA to rise to its actual role as a watchdog and arbiter of quality and safety in air travel as the industry seeks to rebuild itself and of course, hire train and properly compensate the right number of controllers. Peter Georgescu, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 After the pandemic first hit, Phoenix budgeted a $26 million deficit in the fiscal year that began in July 2020. Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 29 Feb. 2024 While the city is not adding projects and costs, crews are expediting projects that have already been budgeted, such as art displays, cleanup efforts on public grounds, road and sidewalk paving, said John Roach, spokesman for Mayor Mike Duggan. Detroit Free Press, 21 Feb. 2024 The company usually budgets five days of reshoots into the schedule, but the studio completed the work in just one, fueling a sunny outlook around the show internally, according to sources associated with the series. Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024 The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency is budgeting nearly $14 billion in the coming five years to build out the new system, budget documents show, though delays by Congress in approving a 2024 budget could slow the timeline, Pentagon officials said. Eric Lipton, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2024
Adjective
In terms of airlines, the top five carriers with the most delays were a mix of budget and non-budget airlines. Jessica Poitevien, Travel + Leisure, 4 Nov. 2021 On Friday, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s disaster drama Notre-Dame on Fire opens opposite Japanese rock opera anime Inu-Oh, directed by Masaaki Yuasa, as well as several mid-budget Chinese releases. Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Apr. 2023 Of course, there's something else that will forever link these mid-budget American triumphs, and that's when and where they were made: Portions of No Country for Old Men and There Will Blood were shot concurrently in the same place, the tiny desert town of Marfa, Texas, on the same dates in 2006. A.a. Dowd, Chron, 10 Mar. 2023 Although his turn into action is often the butt of jokes, the vast majority of these projects are quality, mid-budget adult thrillers that are sorely lacking in the multiplex nowadays. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 17 Feb. 2023 Last month it was revealed that the mid-budget Western movie would continue with its production. Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 9 Feb. 2023 As the rom com got further and further buried under capes and spandex and piles of money, so did the mid-budget Austen adaptations, with a few exceptions. Carrie Wittmer, Vulture, 18 July 2022 But Nelson has more on his mind as his characters navigate the rapidly shifting entertainment landscape, amid the rise of streaming and the fall of the mid-budget drama. Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2023 Turns out everyone thought the perfect thing to pair with Thanksgiving turkey was a mid-budget mystery with a superstar cast and a potentially gay detective. Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 29 Nov. 2022

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

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English bowgette, from Middle French bougette, diminutive of bouge leather bag, from Latin bulga, of Celtic origin; akin to Middle Irish bolg bag; akin to Old English belg bag — more at belly

Verb

derivative of budget entry 1

Adjective

from attributive use of budget entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1618, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Adjective

1941, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of budget was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near budget

Cite this Entry

“Budget.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/budget. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

budget

1 of 2 noun
bud·​get ˈbəj-ət How to pronounce budget (audio)
1
2
a
: a statement of estimated income and expenses
b
: a plan for using money
c
: the amount of money available for some purpose
budgetary adjective

budget

2 of 2 verb
1
: to put on or in a budget
budget $50 for entertainment
2
: to provide funds for in a budget
budget a new car
3
: to plan the use of
budget one's time
Etymology

Noun

Middle English bowgette "small leather pouch," derived from early French bouge "leather bag," from Latin bulga "leather bag" — related to bulge

More from Merriam-Webster on budget

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