Defund means: To cancel funding for.. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up. For most families this word will pass by without incident; it is more a vocabulary curiosity than a parenting concern.
defund
(transitive, chiefly, _, US) To cancel funding for.
Seen in the wild
and look if arbys could declare war or defund usaid, i would also ask obama to come back and denounce the new manager of arbys
The worst of the worst have been recruited for POS president’s private militia, who as we all know masquerade as a legitimate federal agency Disband, defund the fraudulent goons or watch these stories become more freq…
We saw the same thing with "defund the police." That was an op to sabotage BLM and it worked.
defund de rupsjes nooitgenoeg www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...
As I recall, there were two waves of Defund the Police. The original call came from a radical segment of the BLM rallies in Minneapolis. And they actually meant it: Defund and abolish the police because acab.
Definitions
(transitive, chiefly, _, US) To cancel funding for.
Defund means: To cancel funding for.. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up. For most families this word will pass by without incident; it is more a vocabulary curiosity than a parenting concern.
defund means: To cancel funding for.. Register: neutral, standard English. A common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; native speakers immediately notice when slang appears in formal contexts, so always check the surrounding register before producing it yourself. A formal-English equivalent (a synonym or descriptive phrase) is usually safer in writing. When in doubt, paraphrase rather than reuse the slang form.
“and look if arbys could declare war or defund usaid, i would also ask obama to come back and denounce the new manager of arbys”
— Bluesky· May 2026“The worst of the worst have been recruited for POS president’s private militia, who as we all know masquerade as a legitimate federal agency Disband, defund the fraudulent goons or watch these stories become more frequent It’s only just begun…”
— Bluesky· May 2026“We saw the same thing with "defund the police." That was an op to sabotage BLM and it worked.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“defund de rupsjes nooitgenoeg www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...”
— Bluesky· May 2026“As I recall, there were two waves of Defund the Police. The original call came from a radical segment of the BLM rallies in Minneapolis. And they actually meant it: Defund and abolish the police because acab.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
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Other words near "defund" (D)
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Related terms
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Semantically related
- cancel63%
(transitive) To cross out something with lines etc.
- defeasance62%
(US, legal, transitive) To void; to annul.
- cancel62%
(transitive) To invalidate or annul something.
- cancel61%
(transitive) To mark something (such as a used postage stamp) so that it can't be reused.
- defiber60%
(US, transitive) To remove some or all fiber from.