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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In July 2025, they were hit with a transfer embargo after failing to maintain transfer payments. — Leon Imber, New York Times, 23 July 2026 So, over a third of Americans’ individual income tax dollars were siphoned away and not used for the provision of government goods, services, and transfer payments. — Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 15 July 2026 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 The bulk of government transfer payments were Medicaid and Medicare, followed by Social Security. — Kristal Dixon, Axios, 2 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for transfer payment

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1945, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of transfer payment was circa 1945

Rhymes for transfer payment

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Browse Nearby Words

transfer paper
transfer payment
transfer picture
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Cite this Entry

“Transfer payment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transfer%20payment. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on transfer payment

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about transfer payment

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