transfer payment

noun

1

: a public expenditure made for a purpose (such as unemployment compensation) other than procuring goods or services

—usually used in plural

2

transfer payments plural : money (such as welfare payments) that is received by individuals and that is neither compensation for goods or services currently supplied nor income from investments

Examples of transfer payment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The total net differential between federal tax receipts from states and federal dollar contributions to states from 2018 to 2022 amounted to a more than $1 trillion transfer payment from blue to red states. —Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 16 May 2025

Over a similar five-year period, that annual $78 billion amounts to nearly $400 billion, or close to 40% of the total transfer payment. —Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 16 May 2025

The biggest part of that money goes out as, well, money: transfer payments for entitlements and welfare programs and aid to states. —Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 11 Feb. 2025

Such transfer payments are the norm at many universities, but not in Chapel Hill. —Zachery Eanes, Axios, 13 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1945, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for transfer payment

• overpayment
• underpayment
• claimant
• copayment
• embayment
• nonpayment
• prepayment
• repayment