bezzle
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English besilen, from Old French besiler, besillier (“to mistreat, pillage”); or shortened from English embezzle.
Verb
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- (obsolete) To plunder; to lay waste to, in riot.
- (obsolete) To drink to excess; to revel.
- (obsolete) To squander.
Etymology 2
Coined by John Kenneth Galbraith.
Noun
bezzle (uncountable)
- (economics) The level or proportion of financial sector activity that consists of hidden embezzlement, varying in step with the business cycle.
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “bezzle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)