Cross-subsidise
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To subsidise a loss-making business or activity from the profits gained from another business or activity. UK
"Even better known is the fact that B.E.A. services to sparsely populated areas and islands in the far north and west lose some £500,000 a year, which is cross-subsidised from other B.E.A. services. [...] The total extent of subsidising and cross-subsidising public transport in large areas of Scotland is, he believes, over £17 million a year, or £14 a head of the population in the regions concerned."
Example
More examples"Even better known is the fact that B.E.A. services to sparsely populated areas and islands in the far north and west lose some £500,000 a year, which is cross-subsidised from other B.E.A. services. [...] The total extent of subsidising and cross-subsidising public transport in large areas of Scotland is, he believes, over £17 million a year, or £14 a head of the population in the regions concerned."
Etymology
From cross- + subsidise.
More for "cross-subsidise"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.