afford

[ uh-fawrd ]
See synonyms for: affordaffordedaffordingaffords on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to be able to do, manage, or bear without serious consequence or adverse effect: The country can't afford another drought.

  2. to be able to meet the expense of; have or be able to spare the price of: Can we afford a trip to Europe this year? The city can easily afford to repair the street.

  1. to be able to give or spare: He can't afford the loss of a day.

  2. to furnish; supply: The transaction afforded him a good profit.

  3. to be capable of yielding or providing: The records afford no explanation.

  4. to give or confer upon: to afford great pleasure to someone.

Origin of afford

1
First recorded before 1050; Middle English aforthen, iforthen, Old English geforthian “to further, accomplish,” equivalent to ge- y- + forth forth + -ian infinitive suffix

Words that may be confused with afford

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use afford in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for afford

afford

/ (əˈfɔːd) /


verb
  1. (preceded by can, could, etc) to be able to do or spare something, esp without incurring financial difficulties or without risk of undesirable consequences: we can afford to buy a small house; I can afford to give you one of my chess sets; we can't afford to miss this play

  2. to give, yield, or supply: the meeting afforded much useful information

Origin of afford

1
Old English geforthian to further, promote, from forth forth; the Old English prefix ge- was later reduced to a-, and the modern spelling (C16) is influenced by words beginning aff-

Derived forms of afford

  • affordable, adjective
  • affordability, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012