"bezzle" meaning in English

See bezzle in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: bezzles [plural]
Etymology: Coined by John Kenneth Galbraith, from embezzle. Head templates: {{en-noun}} bezzle (plural bezzles)
  1. (economics) The level or proportion of financial sector activity that consists of hidden embezzlement, varying in step with the business cycle.
    Sense id: en-bezzle-en-noun-f4rsOblA Categories (other): Economics Topics: economics, sciences
  2. (economics) The time between when a confidence trickster has stolen money from an unsuspecting person and when that person realizes the money has been stolen.
    Sense id: en-bezzle-en-noun-0izfM2Tk Categories (other): Economics, Time Disambiguation of Time: 0 100 0 0 0 0 Topics: economics, sciences
  3. (economics) The difference between the short-term or current market value of an asset and its true long-term worth.
    Sense id: en-bezzle-en-noun-O~ZW3SPk Categories (other): Economics Topics: economics, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Verb

Forms: bezzles [present, singular, third-person], bezzling [participle, present], bezzled [participle, past], bezzled [past]
Etymology: From Middle English besilen, from Old French besiler, besillier (“to mistreat, pillage”); or shortened from English embezzle. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|besilen}} Middle English besilen, {{der|en|fro|besiler}} Old French besiler, {{cog|en|embezzle}} English embezzle Head templates: {{en-verb}} bezzle (third-person singular simple present bezzles, present participle bezzling, simple past and past participle bezzled)
  1. (obsolete, transitive) To plunder; to lay waste to, in riot. Tags: obsolete, transitive
    Sense id: en-bezzle-en-verb-sKUxNdlb
  2. (obsolete) To drink to excess; to revel. Tags: obsolete
    Sense id: en-bezzle-en-verb-ldfLdTQ1 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Drinking, Units of measure Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 25 26 4 3 40 2 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 24 25 2 4 43 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 24 25 2 3 43 2 Disambiguation of Drinking: 15 10 8 10 48 9 Disambiguation of Units of measure: 24 25 1 3 44 2
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To squander. Tags: obsolete, transitive
    Sense id: en-bezzle-en-verb-NzRz24d0
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "besilen"
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      "expansion": "Middle English besilen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "besiler"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French besiler",
      "name": "der"
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    {
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        "2": "embezzle"
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      "expansion": "English embezzle",
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  "forms": [
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      "form": "bezzles",
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    },
    {
      "form": "bezzling",
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      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bezzled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bezzled",
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      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
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  "pos": "verb",
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        "To plunder; to lay waste to, in riot."
      ],
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          "plunder",
          "plunder"
        ]
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        "(obsolete, transitive) To plunder; to lay waste to, in riot."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete",
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    },
    {
      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "25 26 4 3 40 2",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "24 25 2 4 43 3",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "24 25 2 3 43 2",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 10 8 10 48 9",
          "kind": "other",
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          "name": "Drinking",
          "orig": "en:Drinking",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "24 25 1 3 44 2",
          "kind": "other",
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          "orig": "en:Units of measure",
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        "To drink to excess; to revel."
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          "drink"
        ],
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          "revel",
          "revel"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) To drink to excess; to revel."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To squander."
      ],
      "id": "en-bezzle-en-verb-NzRz24d0",
      "links": [
        [
          "squander",
          "squander"
        ]
      ],
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        "(obsolete, transitive) To squander."
      ],
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        "obsolete",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "bezzle"
}

{
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  "senses": [
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      ],
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        "The level or proportion of financial sector activity that consists of hidden embezzlement, varying in step with the business cycle."
      ],
      "id": "en-bezzle-en-noun-f4rsOblA",
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          "embezzlement",
          "embezzlement"
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        "(economics) The level or proportion of financial sector activity that consists of hidden embezzlement, varying in step with the business cycle."
      ],
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        "economics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
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          "_dis": "0 100 0 0 0 0",
          "kind": "other",
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          "name": "Time",
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          "ref": "2015 December 3, Tracy Alloway, “There's Been a Bezzle-Fueled Boom in Bonds”, in Markets, Bloomberg News, retrieved 2021-08-16:",
          "text": "That word is bezzle. It describes the period in which an embezzler has stolen a man's money but the victim does not yet realize he's been swindled.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2021 August 10, Cory Doctorow, “End of the Line for Uber”, in Pluralistic, Cory Doctorow, retrieved 2021-08-16:",
          "text": "Uber is a bezzle (\"the magic interval when a confidence trickster knows he has the money he has appropriated but the victim does not yet understand that he has lost it\"). Every bezzle ends.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "The time between when a confidence trickster has stolen money from an unsuspecting person and when that person realizes the money has been stolen."
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        "(economics) The time between when a confidence trickster has stolen money from an unsuspecting person and when that person realizes the money has been stolen."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "economics",
        "sciences"
      ]
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        "The difference between the short-term or current market value of an asset and its true long-term worth."
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        "(economics) The difference between the short-term or current market value of an asset and its true long-term worth."
      ],
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        "economics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
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  "wikipedia": [
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        "To plunder; to lay waste to, in riot."
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        "(obsolete, transitive) To plunder; to lay waste to, in riot."
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        "(obsolete) To drink to excess; to revel."
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        "English transitive verbs"
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        "To squander."
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        "(obsolete, transitive) To squander."
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        "transitive"
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  "word": "bezzle"
}

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        "The level or proportion of financial sector activity that consists of hidden embezzlement, varying in step with the business cycle."
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        "(economics) The level or proportion of financial sector activity that consists of hidden embezzlement, varying in step with the business cycle."
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      ],
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        "(economics) The time between when a confidence trickster has stolen money from an unsuspecting person and when that person realizes the money has been stolen."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "economics",
        "sciences"
      ]
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        "(economics) The difference between the short-term or current market value of an asset and its true long-term worth."
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    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
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  "word": "bezzle"
}

Download raw JSONL data for bezzle meaning in English (4.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (92124b4 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.