afford

• WordNet 3.6
  • v afford be able to spare or give up "I can't afford to spend two hours with this person"
  • v afford be the cause or source of "He gave me a lot of trouble","Our meeting afforded much interesting information"
  • v afford afford access to "the door opens to the patio","The French doors give onto a terrace"
  • v afford have the financial means to do something or buy something "We can't afford to send our children to college","Can you afford this car?"
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• Interesting fact: Adolf Hitler was one of the people that was responsible in the creation of the Volkswagen Beetle. He came up with the idea of producing a car that was cheap enough for the average German working man to afford.
• • Afford To give forth; to supply, yield, or produce as the natural result, fruit, or issue; as, grapes afford wine; olives afford oil; the earth affords fruit; the sea affords an abundant supply of fish.
  • Afford To give, grant, or confer, with a remoter reference to its being the natural result; to provide; to furnish; as, a good life affords consolation in old age. "His tuneful Muse affords the sweetest numbers.""The quiet lanes . . . afford calmer retreats."
  • Afford To incur, stand, or bear without serious detriment, as an act which might under other circumstances be injurious; -- with an auxiliary, as can could might, etc.; to be able or rich enough. "The merchant can afford to trade for smaller profits.""He could afford to suffer
    With those whom he saw suffer."
  • Afford To offer, provide, or supply, as in selling, granting, expending, with profit, or without loss or too great injury; as, A affords his goods cheaper than B; a man can afford a sum yearly in charity.
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• Interesting fact: There is an organization called SCROOGE in Charlottesville, Virginia that stands for Society to Curtail Ridiculous, Outrageous, and Ostentatious Gift Exchanges. This was formed to keep gift giving affordable and simple
• • afford To promote; further; forward; carry out; accomplish; achieve; manage.
  • afford To give, yield, produce, or confer upon; yield, furnish, supply, as an effect or a result, as of growth, effort, or operation: as, the earth affords grain; trade affords profit; religion affords consolation to the afflicted; the transaction afforded him a good profit; to afford one an agreeable sensation.
  • afford To manage, be able, or have the means (with an infinitive clause); be able to give or bear, spare, or meet the expense of (with an object-noun): always, from the implication of ability, with may or can: as, we can afford to sell cheap; he might afford to gratify us; you can well afford the expense.
  • afford Synonyms To supply, furnish, bestow, communicate, give, impart.
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• Interesting fact: The kilt was invented by a English gentleman who came to Scotland to open a factory because he got tired of his Scottish workers showing up in a long tunic with a belt (they couldn't afford pants). Rather than raise wages so they could afford pants he invented the kilt which is just a lot of fabric and they could afford that. The kilt did not become a symbol of clan pride until the English banned the kilt in Scotland. Then it became part of national pride to wear the newly invented clan plaids.
• • v.t Afford af-fōrd′ to yield or produce: to be able to sell, to expend, or to bear the expense of.
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• Northrop Frye

  

  “The pursuit of beauty is much more dangerous nonsense than the pursuit of truth or goodness, because it affords a stronger temptation to the ego.”
• Marshall Mcluhan

  

  “A successful book cannot afford to be more than ten percent new.”
• Source Unknown

  

  “A woman never knows what she really wants until she fins out what her husband cannot afford.”
• James Baldwin

  

  “A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled.”
• Germaine De Stael

  

  “The sense of this word among the Greeks affords the noblest definition of it; enthusiasm signifies God in us.”
• Georg C. Lichtenberg

  

  “The pleasures of the imagination are as it were only drawings and models which are played with by poor people who cannot afford the real thing.”

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