1
: the act of expending
2
: expenditure, payment
outlays for national defense
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
Paresh Dave, Wired News, 24 Dec. 2025
Vasquez then asked if the RDA had outlaid any money for LaPorte County for shoreline development.
—Shelley Jones, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2025
Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Update Kane’s outlays to assume losses of a hundred million annually, in perpetuity.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for outlay
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Verb
Microsoft plans to outlay $4 billion in the next five years worldwide.
—Paresh Dave, Wired News, 24 Dec. 2025
Vasquez then asked if the RDA had outlaid any money for LaPorte County for shoreline development.
—Shelley Jones, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2025
Noun
Disney reduced its outlay by selling regional sports networks and other assets, but the deal left the company with significant debt just before COVID-19 hit.
—Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Update Kane’s outlays to assume losses of a hundred million annually, in perpetuity.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for outlay
Cite this Entry
“Outlay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outlay. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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