outlay

1 of 2

verb

out·​lay ˈau̇t-ˌlā 

ˌau̇t-ˈlā

outlaid ˈau̇t-ˌlād 

ˌau̇t-ˈlād

; outlaying

transitive verb

: to lay out (money) : expend

outlay

2 of 2

noun

out·​lay ˈau̇t-ˌlā 

1

: the act of expending

2

: expenditure, payment

outlays for national defense

Synonyms of outlay

Verb

• spend
• pay

Noun

• expense
• cost
• expenditure

Examples of outlay in a Sentence

Verb

the nation had outlaid nearly 20 billion dollars on social programs at that point

Noun

The initial outlay for the program will be 2.4 million dollars.

Maintaining a horse requires considerable outlay.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Netflix would have paid nearly $83 billion, and given its resources, would have had more to outlay on live sports. —Andrew Marchand, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2026

Microsoft plans to outlay $4 billion in the next five years worldwide. —Paresh Dave, Wired News, 24 Dec. 2025

Noun

Multiple potential investors expressed concerns to Sportico about the economic structure of the league that would require significant initial outlays for the franchise fee and infrastructure needs, and then have the NBA retain 50% of the entity. —Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 1 Apr. 2026

This is a great unit for music production and creative work thanks to its huge outlay of ports and 32GB of DDR5 RAM. —K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 31 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1802, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1798, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for outlay

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret

Kids Definition

outlay

noun

out·​lay

ˈau̇t-ˌlā

1

: the act of spending

2

: an amount spent : payment