Lend Lease
Preserved but no longer current.
On March llth, 1942, President Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act whereby U.S.A. was committed to lend or lease military equipment, stores, food, etc., to the govern- ments of the powers fighting Fascism in the name of democracy. Fifteen powers in addition to the twenty Latin- American Republics bene- fited by Lend-Lease, and over £1,000,000,000 was expended by U.S.A. It was ended by President Truman on the conclusion of hostilities in 1945.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Lend Lease” mean?
On March llth, 1942, President Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act whereby U.S.A. was committed to lend or lease military equipment, stores, food, etc., to the govern- ments of the powers fighting Fascism in the name of democracy. Fifteen powers in addition to the twenty Latin- American Republics bene- fited by Lend-Lease, and over £1,000,000,000 was expended by U.S.A. It was ended by President Truman on the conclusion of hostilities in 1945.
Is “Lend Lease” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.