welfares

Noun

welfare (usually uncountable, plural welfares)

1. (usually) Health, safety, happiness and prosperity; well-being in any respect.
   • Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer...1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
2. (US, informal, usually) Shortened form of "welfare spending", "welfare payments", or "welfare assistance".
   • Oliveira seems to suggest that the Jews of Kiryas Joel are somehow gaming the welfare system to fund their lifestyles, while simultaneously acknowledging the high poverty rates in the town that qualify residents for programs like Medicaid.2026 February 25, Arno Rosenfeld, “After Minneapolis, a YouTuber comes for Jewish ‘welfare queens’”, in The Forward, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2026

   Synonyms:

   welfare assistance, income support, public assistance, social security

See all 3 meanings of welfare